What You Need To Know About High Context and Low Context Culture

The polite communication of Asians, Arabs, Africans and Latins helps maintain harmony. The meaning of what they are saying is implicit. That is, the meaning is found more in the context surrounding the words rather than in the words themselves.
When low context speakers communicate, more of the meaning is explicit - contained in the words themselves.
There are many cultures that value indirectness and are high context in communication. And there are reasons for that. Indirect communication accommodates the values of Face-saving and harmony. High context communication focuses on preserving relationship and long-term vs. short-term gain. The indirectness of high context communication can also be due to generational or learned behavior
North Americans, who are generally more explicit and low context, often make assumptions about high context communicators and indirectness. When listening to communication from a high context communicator, low context communicators may wrongly translate the high context message. Low context communicators can easily slip into assigning intention when faced with this different communication style. When this happens at work, it’s problematic. A low context manager can limit a high context communicator’s career growth if they do not understand the difference.
If it is a situation that needs addressing, the manager might think the indirect high context communicator lacks the courage to confront the person, are unwilling to deal with the issue or have a lack of commitment to solve the problem based on what they say ( or don’t say).
A low context communicator might assume a high context communicator is refusing to take responsibility for actions or that they have a lack of concern for the other person based on what they hear. These misunderstandings can cause a real mix up that affects the perception of the high context communicator.
What about when a low context communicator is speaking to a high context communicator? How can they message more effectively and avoid a misperception?
Remember silence is common in high context messaging. Get comfortable with it and use it. Be very careful about how you show strong displeasure in communicating.
Defer to age and/or position by using proper titles, greetings, and courteous manners. Ask questions as much as you use tell statements.
Recognize that evaluative statements or blaming statements will cause mistrust and conflict. Instead tell a story or quote a proverb that indirectly deals with the problem or points out the issue.
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