Oleh: Nur Kholis, S.S., M.I.Kom.

Models of communication have changed  significantly year by year. Earlier communication models described communication as a linear process which one person literally transmits a message to another person. Nowadays, communication models descibed as a transactional process in which both sender and receiver influence each other as they interact in the scoiety. When the early communication models only focus on the sender and receiver, the recent communication models provides the possibility for misunderstandings caused by disruptions (noise).

H.L. Goodall, JR., Sandra Goodall and Jill Schiefelben in the book entitled Business and Professional Communication in The Global Workplace describe that noise includes the physical, semantic and hierarchical influences that either disrupt or shape the interpretation of mssages. There are three types of noise that can affect a message:

– Physical noise, may emanate from the environment such as: loud talking from the next room, opening and closing of doors, or sudden announcements over a loudspeaker that disrupts a conversation.

– Semantic noise, refers to differences people have for the meanings of words. Semantic noise includes misheard or misunderstood terms, gender bias (such as saying “he” when referring to all managers or she when referring to all child care givers, the perception of racial undertones (such as a fear or anxiety expressed as something dark), in house or professional jargon and culturally derrived metaphors (such as the predominance of sports metaphors in North American Business).

– Hierarchical noise, refers to the shadings of meaning we attribute to a message based on a person’s rank or status within an organization. For example, in a work situation, a customer may insist on complaining to the customer service representative supervisor rather than to the customer service representative, even though the manager will refer the message back down the chain of command.

By knowing and understanding types of noise, a communicator will be more ready to practice all of communication activities. A communicator will know better what to prepare and do to face the receiver and all of the noises that may appear during the communication process so that it will be more effective. Know the noise and be a better communicator.