Navigating Low and High Context Culture Communication
The way people communicate with one another varies from culture to culture. In a diverse company composed of different members from different cultures and countries, it is important to understand these distinctions. Diversity is an asset. If handled well, cultural diversity can be tapped to produce diverse ideas. On the other hand, it can also be a source of inefficiency, confusion, frustration, anxiety, and stress at work.
I will explore some of their differences and discuss some possible strategies for overcoming them.
Culture is the medium through which people express their world and organize their lives.
With the varying definition of culture, I will mainly talk of culture as the accumulation and the sharing of a common world of experiences, values, and knowledge that a certain social group constitutes.
In 1976, Anthropologist Edward T. Hall proposed that cultures can be split into two categories — high context and low context. These are measures of how explicit or implicit the messages exchanged in culture are, and how important the context is in communication. The ‘context’ here is the basis of the mutual understanding of everything.
High VS Low Context Culture
Prof. Erin Meyer, author of the book “The Cultural Map” says in her research that the United States is one of the lowest context cultures in the world followed by Canada, Netherlands, Germany Australia, and the Netherlands. Countries that belong to the other side of the axes are Brazil, Africa, and other Asian countries and Japan is High context culture.
Along with Japan, the Philippines is a high-context communicator. Most of the Filipinos working with foreign colleagues avoid confrontation and speak to maintain harmony at all costs.
There is no dichotomy of culture or even the idea that one is better than the other. As Prof. Erin Meyer presented in her diagram, there is a spectrum of cultures composed of both extremes and between.
The table below shows some of the characteristics of high and low context culture with a range of communication abilities that can be observed.
Bridging the Gap
It is important for a multicultural organization to know the distinction between high and low-context cultures to communicate effectively and avoid misinterpretation of actions and unintended decisions.
Building Trust. Trust is one of the building blocks of every company. To do realize this we need to give value and build relationships. Connecting to the team members before trying to jump on the outcome will increase the chance of achieving better collaboration and results.
Agree on Communication Rules. Secure an agreement from all members of the team. A document signed by them will help them gain their confidence that it is a mutual effort and stepping out from the habitual communication style is needed to create a harmonious relationship with other culture.
Observe different styles. Awareness of your own style will help you avoid stepping into your own trap. When interacting with someone from another culture, try to observe, listen more and speak less.
Keep the Conversation Simple. Beating around the bush without getting to the point is sure to lose attention and may cause confusion. Answering basic questions, sending signals in topic transitions, or chunking it will help simplify the conversation.
- What’s happening?
- Where’s it happening
- When’s it going to happen?
- How’s it going to happen?
Do not assume you have understood each other well. Clarify your understanding. If possible ask the other person what s/he understands about your conversation. You can also try to summarize, paraphrase, and ask questions open-ended questions.
Ask open-ended questions. This will give more time to the other culture to increase their speaking time while attentively listening and observing their non-verbal communication style.
As a cultural being, a man not only is a creator of symbols but also a builder of systems, a builder of communities. This has been used by our ancestors to survive and reproduce. We learn to filter, label, classify, repress, and interpret verbal and non-verbal communication. In the facade of present globalization, the tribal man should learn how to communicate, work together, achieve a common goal, and co-exist with other tribes for a long time.
Update: This article has been hitting views every month, and this convinced me that my decision to publish a book was on the right track. This book is now available on Amazon and it has a title called “Unlocking Cross-Cultural Success: Navigating Challenges for Filipinos and American Employees.” As I delved deeper into the world of cross-cultural dynamics, I realized that the challenges and opportunities presented by diverse workplaces are more crucial than ever before.
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Amazon: Unlocking Cross-Cultural Success: Navigating Challenges for Filipinos and American Employees
