While preparing my column, much like choosing a subject and structuring it, it hit me: am I doing good enough to do this? Then, a sense of shame came, along with a letdown. However, I got up the nerve once again in the hope that my company could be an organization that promotes everyone, including myself, to put together, share and discuss their thoughts. In my last column, I wrote that “Communication is the only way to achieve change,” and this time, my writing will be about everyday communication in the workplace. Having grown up in a family from Gyeongsang-do though, an area that is known for having a brusque manner of speaking, communication is not easy for me, and I am still working on it.

On the first week of January 2022, I had a small talk with my friend H, who works for a different organization, during lunch, and it was about the first working day of the New Year. He said that he was offended by some of the young members who worked from home on the first day of the New Year when it'd be the right thing to come into the office and exchange New Year's greetings in person, regardless of the company’s work-from-home policy.

#High-context culture vs. low-context culture
I feel a kind of dislike for the increasingly used word, MZ because I have heard it too much, like when I got feedback about how I should find out what these young generations like and that it was difficult to target MZ when beauty is really about personal taste. But with the theme of communication, I should use the word, MZ to explain the difference between MZ and non-MZ, or simply Generation X.

MZ and Gen X have different communication styles, as has been found in many studies. Gen X has grown up and interacted with each other in the high-context culture whereas MZ has been raised in the low-context culture.

A high-context culture relies more on context and social norms, while a low-context culture is more dependent on the explicit message being spoken. In the high-context culture, communication takes place using contextual elements, for example, hints, feelings, and emotions, rather than the message being spoken. In contrast, the low-context culture requires a more explicit, clear message. If a message is not clear enough, members of a low-context culture will be puzzled and may even sometimes feel offended and cross question.

There are people who excel particularly at reading into hidden messages through the underlying context, and nonverbal signals, for example, overall mood, nuance, and voice tone. Unfortunately, most managers are MZ and perhaps because they are less familiar with the high-context culture, discussions rumble on over the meaning behind what's been told by their superior during reporting.

#Communication in the workplace, and communication in everyday life
A few weeks before Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), I asked my mom what gift she wanted. (It's not easy finding a new item every year.)

After a lot of thought, I bought Red Ginseng Extract Ampoule. And when I went to her house on Chuseok, I found a big pile of the Ampoule on the kitchen table. I felt frustrated but my generous mother seemed not to care much about the gift, whether it was something she wanted or not. Seeing her son healthy, it was all that mattered to her, and we had a great time together.

But it is different in the workplace. Such a mistake can lead to a tragedy. Let's say, there is this department, in charge of preparing gifts for employees at an event celebrating the company's anniversary. Imagine that a member of this department picks Red Ginseng Extract Ampoule and gives it away without reporting it to the superior, or imagine the department head says like “something edible would be good,” and later when you bring Red Ginseng Extract Ampoule you picked as a gift, he flatly turns it down and tells you to return it. It would be a nightmare.

Communication is key in the workplace, and no matter whom we communicate with, whether it is a superior, colleague or customer, language is the essential tool of communication. Language skill, the ability to assist communication is closely related to work performance. Every working individual must learn how to communicate their thoughts and intentions to others, and to ask other to be explicit when they do not communicate clearly by words.

Besides, MZ are as good at reading between the high context lines as Gen X. It would be nice if everyone could catch an unspoken message, and quickly get things done, but sadly that isn't the case. Younger generations are more familiar with direct communication and when your communication is too subtle, nuanced or layered, it will bring nothing but confusion. It’s like you think, you gave them a message, but they heard nothing from you. If you want something to be done, you should be as explicit and clear as possible. Plus, if it is something you feel uncomfortable talking about, it is better to keep it to yourself.