Cultural Dimensions

COMMUNICATING

How Different Cultures Communicate

In a low-context society, communication is meant to be clear, to the point, and transparent. Low-context communicators say precisely what they mean. Words carry meaning and the speaker assumes others have a low shared understanding of the context of the conversation. That means the speaker is obligated to explain very explicitly and clearly what they mean. Low-context communication is often identified as a direct communication style. Meaning lies predominantly in what is said, and written and spoken communication often have the same value in carrying meaning.

In a high-context society, speakers and listeners assume that there is a great deal of shared context and mutual, unspoken understanding. Communication is layered, nuanced, and implicit. The speaker doesn’t have to say exactly what they mean because gestures, tone of voice, facial expressions, and even status and environment add meaning to the message. This means that high-context communication is often identified as an indirect communication style. Meaning lies in what is said, how it is said, who is saying it, and even by what is left unsaid. In other words: silence has meaning.

Edward T. Hall compared low-context communicators to newlyweds: they have no shared history therefore everything needs to be explained explicitly. They’re the couple in the restaurant that talks all the time. High-context communicators, on the other hand, are more like a couple that has been married for decades: there are years of shared history and therefore not everything needs to be spelled out. This is the couple that talks less and understands each other perfectly from a look, a gesture, or a few words that might not mean much to outsiders.

Key Characteristics

LOW CONTEXT

HIGH CONTEXT

In low-context cultures, good communication is :

Precise, simple, explicit, and clear.

People take messages at face value.

Repetition, clarification, and putting messages in writing are appreciated.

In high-context cultures, communication is :

Sophisticated, nuanced, and layered.

Statements are often not plainly stated but implied.

People put less in writing, more is left open to interpretation, and understanding may depend on reading between the lines.

COUNTRY COMPARISON

The chart shows examples of where certain countries fall on the communication scale.

EXAMPLE Nr. 1

In the U.K., as in the U.S., if you send someone an email and that person doesn’t have the answer at their fingertips, both common sense and etiquette call for the receiver to respond within 24 hours saying something like, « I got your message and will get back to you on Wednesday ».In other words, even if you have nothing to say, you should spell out explicitly in a low-context way when you WILL have something to say. A lack of explicit communication signifies something negative.

Now, I send an email to our Spanish supplier-who I know does high quality and on-time work and has very good level of English- and I may not hear back from himany of his colleagues for 3 or 4 days. I am biting my nails assuming all sort ofproblems with my request that prevent a speedy reply…either that or the entire staff has fallen ill or the building has burned down so that no one can read their emails.

And then 3 days later, I receive an email telling me that they have done exactly as requested and everything is under control. Why couldn’t they have said that in the first place ?

EXAMPLE Nr. 2

The CEO owner of a British investment firm who wanted to expand internationally said the following:- « every day, as I see how my new counterparts work in Spain, France and Italy, I am asking myself if it is possible that what is obvious common sense to me may not be common sense in those environments. Take, for example, the simple process of recapping a meeting. In the U.K., it is common sense that at the end of a meeting you should verbally recap what has been decided, which is most frequently followed by a written recap, including individual action items, which we send out to all meeting participants. Clarification, clarification, clarification- in the U.K. this is simply good business practice.

I attended a meeting the other day in Paris with a group of my France-based employees and one of our Parisian clients. As the meeting was clearly winding down, I awaited the final « here’s what we’ve decided » recap of the meeting. Instead, one of the clients announced dramatically « et voilà » (there it is) as if everything has been made clear. The others all stood up patting one another on the back and shaking hands, stating words of appreciation and future collaboration.

I couldn’t help but wonder « but voilà what’ ». It seems that my French colleagues simply KNOW what has been decided and who should do what without going through all of the levels of clarification that we are used to in the U.K.

In the following video, Erin Meyer provides several concrete examples of how collaborations among high and low-context communicators can sometimes lead to misunderstandings.

In the second video, Erin Meyer provides another concrete example of how body language, especially eye contact is interpreted differently across cultures

HISTORICAL ROOTS OF THIS DIMENSION

The more homogeneous a country is (Japan, for instance), the higher the shared context and the more indirect the communication style.

Heterogeneous countries like the US have little shared context. Americans have different backgrounds and share less history compared with citizens in a more homogeneous country, which is one reason why Americans’ communication style tends to be more direct.

THE LINK BETWEEN THE COMMUNICATION DIMENSION & LANGUAGE

Languages with a rich vocabulary (such as English with more than 500’000 words, or German) tend to me more low-context. Languages with poorer vocabulary (such as French, with approximately 70’000 words) are more high context.

THE ROLE OF SILENCE

Some people are more confortable with silence than others. The chart shows examples of where certain countries fall on this scale. A longer period of silence during a conversation might be misinterpreted.

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