Conversational Style Differences in the Workplace

Mysterious misunderstandings in professional settings can result in managers feeling disrespected or ignored and employees feeling bullied or confused. We being aware of conversational style differences is something that applies in every conversation. I was once told by a career naval officer, when he heard me talk about indirectness, that's how the military works. And they're both perfectly legitimate ways of entering the conversation, but the ground rules need to be shared for the conversation to actually unfold successfully.