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Reducing direct vs indirect communication friction

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Audience member working at an Asian company asks for tips on reducing the friction caused by huge differences in direct vs indirect communication — a direct European giving 'nice or cool' feedback can deeply hurt an indirect colleague who is used to everything being wrapped in nice words. Amelia's answer: set up a communication 'contract' at the start of cooperation — explicitly discuss the rules you'll use. Example from The Culture Map: a French woman in the US heard her American manager's mostly-praise/mostly-negative feedback as happy feedback and missed the negative point; the manager should have pre-announced the structure. Companies should add cultural training to onboarding instead of only teaching technology — giving feedback is hard even within one culture.

answer_summary
Establish an explicit communication contract at the start of cooperation; have managers pre-announce the structure of feedback; push companies to add cultural trainings to onboarding rather than only technology.
question Reducing direct vs indirect communication friction
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Answer centers on setting up an explicit communication contract.
question Reducing direct vs indirect communication friction
about
Answer argues companies should teach cultural differences during onboarding.
question Reducing direct vs indirect communication friction
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First Q&A question after the talk.

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