One of the top employee complaints about the workplace is office noise. Noise typically ranks in the number two spot behind complaints about the office temperature.
The trend in office design in the last decade has been the open concept office. Companies have ditched the cubicles, reduced square footage and replaced permanent walls with glass partitions or displays of art, fabric or plants. The open concept office is modern, collaborative and accommodates a mobile workforce that is no longer tied to a desk, city or even country.
At first glance the open concept office can look appealing. Large open space to move around. Windows with natural light to brighten the space. Meeting tables for gathering over morning coffee and team meetings. High energy hum of busy people all around you. In some workplaces, ping pong tables, comfy chairs, an espresso machine and even snacks for break times. It all sounds great, right?
The trouble is this environment is not ideal for some personalities or for certain types of work. Some people are also far more sensitive to loud noise. If you work in an open concept office you might describe the office noise level as similar to being in the middle of a parade or band practice!
There are lots of pros to having an open concept, but there are downsides too. Preference for open concept vs. closed office space depends a lot on a person’s personality, work style and the specific job.
Even for those who prefer the open concept office, noise is a real distraction. Noise distractions can come from many sources – first there is your co-workers talking and laughing, some much louder than others; then there is the normal bumps and bangs of opening and closing doors, cabinets and drawers; and there is also the beeping, buzzing, ringing, and clicking of office phones and equipment. In an open concept office, it can be very difficult to focus on your work, while trying not to listen to the meeting or phone conversation going on a few feet away.
There are a few things companies and employees can do to manage office noise:
- Create dedicated spaces for quiet activities, such as an office or unused meeting room.
- Increase the background noise by installing a white noise machine – this system emits a low level air flow sound that helps muffle speech and other distracting office sounds.
- Ask staff to try using headphones to block out noise around them. The large over the ear type headphone is better than an earbud style.
- Add sound absorbing materials such as plants to your space.
- Increase flexibility to work from home for part of the workweek.
- Assign a certain time of day as “quiet time” or an entire office area as the “quiet zone”.
- Come up with a system that easily allows other people to know who is available to chat and who is busy – your own “do not disturb” sign at your computer.
- Encourage staff to discuss noise distractions and come up with unique solutions.
