Time management - High and low context culture
High and low context culture
High
When the culture context is high general communication does not require a lot of background information to pass from one person to the other as a lot is already known. Persons in these cultures encourage sharing information regularly by keeping in closer contact.
Japanese, Arab and Latin American cultures are like this.
Low
Similar to the monochronic trait these tend to be American, German and North European. Detailed background information is usually lacking as they tend to pigeon hole aspects of their lives reducing the frequency of contact.
Information transfer
When high and low context people meet it can lead to friction when information transfer becomes an issue.
The high context person may be quite happy with his or her level of information but the low context person may feel a need to provide unnecessary detail. In a similar fashion the low context person may become frustrated with the high context person who is reluctant to deliver the required information.