NOISE - it’s all around us and influences everything we do. When noise gets into your business processes and procedures, expect trouble! Noise takes many forms, distortion, misinterpretation, misrepresentation, delay etc and the result is a map that describes the wrong territory!

There is an inverse relationship in operation - as noise in any process communication increases there is a consequent decrease in information and/or data accuracy. So the "volume" of noise in any given communication directly effects how clearly others can listen and understand. It’s the classic "Chinese Whisper" syndrome where the original message becomes more corrupted the more it is received, interpreted, then communicated to another.

A typical business example is where a consultant is brought into a business to understand and fix a particular problem. To start with, the consultant my collect information and data and may talk with and observe employees. However, the employees’ "normal" environment has been disturbed as soon as they become aware of a third party. Employees will also work and talk differently as they know they are being observed and/or questioned. Most will respond by behaving and answering in a way they think is best under the circumstances.

All this leads to a misrepresentation of the "normal process" and the inaccurate recording of the process. To accurately "capture" a system, process or procedure, noise must be minimized and this is where video shines!

Instead of interpreting a process as best possible then distilling it into words and still pictures to produce a fragmentary view of a process, video can be used to record in "real time" and "at source" with nothing left out. Screen capture video can record all PC based processes while full motion video records physical processes. By joining the two, a complete end-to-end picture can be built of a "live" process or procedure and with it, a map that accurately describes the territory!

Jason

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