Conversational Distractions
Office noise is continuing to be a problem on many fronts. The first and foremost issue that has arisen is employee distraction with conversational distraction in the lead for what keeps your workers off-task and unfocused. Thus, many offices have looked into acoustic treatments, such as sound masking, to cover intruding noise so that employees can be more productive.
An overheard conversation can be more than a distraction- it can be a deal-breaker...literally.
More than just a distraction
Interestingly, though, we often overlook the obvious when we state that conversations are the most frequently reported distractions. For some businesses, office noise may just be an inconvenient distraction that doesn’t allow for maximum productivity. For others, though, it means that workers overhear each other’s business and personal conversations, which may include private and confidential matters. If other workers can overhear specific business deals and trade secrets, for example, they can also leak that information or use it unwisely. This may be a deal-breaker for your company. A simple solution is to raise the background ambient sound just enough to cover conversations and phone calls so that the privacy index
Whether you’re looking for ways to increase productivity or you’re trying to safeguard your business and your own employees’ private information, sound masking is an effective solution that can achieve both. There is a wide variety of options, and it’s worth your time to find the best solution for your business’s needs.
Office Noise- it's a love/hate relationship for most.
Have you ever really listened to all the noise that takes place in your office?
Some of your employees can work through that no problem, like your sales guys, for instance- they were born to multitask, God love ‘em. However, your writers and editors cannot- each clickety-clack, ring, and new conversation distracts them from their detailed work. It’s not their fault- certain types of work require intense concentration.
The above example was actually pretty low-level background noise- you and I both know that most offices can and do escalate more than that. The problem here was that it was inconsistent- it lacked uniformity. Each different, distinct noise presented a new distraction. Surprisingly, though, low-level background noise is not such a bad thing if used correctly. In fact, many workers use white noise to provide a consistent, uniform hum to cover all the little inconsistent, irritating sounds so prevalent in an open office (like above). Similarly, a good number of companies and entities have employed sound masking units to provide uniform coverage for entire offices. The result has been increased productivity and less distracted (read that happier and less stressed) workers.
From the blogworld to office life
2 hours a day adds up quickly to lots of days of lost time.
The other day, my mom and I were talking about blogging. I mentioned that I had noticed that there are significantly fewer views on a weekend than during the week, which led me to advise her to blog frequently during the week and take a much-needed break on the weekend (who wants to lose traffic and their own weekend at the same time?). She was curious as to why the weekend readership waned so dramatically- that’s simple, I said. People like to pass time by playing on the internet during work, but they have plenty to do on the weekend to keep them otherwise occupied. She marveled at this revelation and asked me a fantastically funny question, “Emily, doesn’t that make you wonder how much time people waste at work?” This is actually a great question- the only reason it’s funny is that that very question is my job- I blog about it every week. So, let me give you a few stats:
- -The average worker is distracted more than 2 hours every day
- -In other words, he is interrupted more than 70 times a day
- -Many estimate that it takes a solid half-hour to get back in the zone after being disrupted
So, no, I don’t wonder how much time people waste at work- I know, and I seek to offer possible solutions. If you’ve read this blog for long, you’ll know that I lean towards acoustic treatments, such as sound masking. While I wholeheartedly believe that the individual worker can make acoustic and ergonomic adjustments on his or her own, I also suspect that not many actually take matters into their own hands. They chalk it up to working in an open office and assume there is no long-term solution. Or they try ear plugs or headphones, only to miss important phone calls or jam to their favorite song.
Office Sound Masking
That’s why I urge at the managerial level to take action on behalf of your employees. Even simple acoustic adjustments, such as sound masking systems enable your workers to stay focused and therefore improve productivity. That’s great for your business, but it’s also good news at the employee-level, as well. When annoying distractions are properly dealt with, even stress levels improve. Consider the following improvements from improved speech privacy levels:
- -Focus: the ability of office workers to focus on their tasks improved by 48%
- -Distractions: “conversational distractions” decreased by 51%
- -Error-rates: performance of standard “information-worker” tasks (measured in terms of accuracy [error-rates] and short-term memory) improved by 10%
- -Stress: when measured in terms of the actual physical symptoms of stress, stress was reduced by 27%
As always, I’ll leave you with this- consider the value of productivity and happy, less-stressed workers. What is that worth to you?
White Noise & Sound Masking
Many blogs, websites, and companies suggest the use of white noise to aid in covering distracting office noise. White noise (and its super-power brother, sound masking) have many fans and these systems are being installed nation-wide, resulting in less time lost to distraction, and therefore more productivity. There are even free white noise generators for the individual worker. However, as is true for all things, white noise and sound making have their cynics, too. I thought it was time to dispel some of the myths about both:
The truth about white noise and sound masking
1. White noise is not actually “white” in that it does not have an infinite band-width. Usually when people refer to “white noise” they are actually describing pink noise.
2. You do not have to crank white noise or sound masking systems – they are used to add low-level background sound to a distracting area (see #3).
White noise is only beneficial if used properly (ie at low-levels).
For example, when I was vacuuming this morning, the loudness of the vacuum drowned out my children’s noise. However pleasant it was not to hear them bicker was counteracted by the annoying loudness of the vacuum itself. However, the quiet hum of my electric tea kettle was enough noise to cover my kids’ fight, but not so loud I was irritated with its own sound.
3. Similarly, the purpose of white noise is not to overwhelmingly drown out competing noises, but to neutralize them to an unintelligible level on the Privacy Index, thus rendering them non-issues in terms of privacy, peace of mind, or productivity. (That was a nice use of alliteration there, I must say)
4. Sound masking it not noise cancellation. Sound-masking covers sound, it does not cancel it.
5. Covering sound is not your only option for acoustic treatments. You can also absorb or block sound (These 3 options are often referred to as the ABC’s). Most sound masking companies are the first to admit that it is usually a combination of the ABC’s that yields the best results. However, they will also quickly point out that covering techniques (sound masking) gives you the most bang for your buck out of the 3.
Hope that helps clear up any confusion on what white noise and sound masking are and how they work.
Whether you work from home or are a salesman, a manager, or a small business owner, learning how to deal with distractions may be one of the most important skills you acquire. Every workplace has its own unique distractions, and most have the usual suspects:
- water cooler gossip
- internet/emailing
- cell phones/texting
- loud coworkers
Chris Yeh, a Harvard Business School grad, writes:
Learning how to deal with distractions is every bit as important to your business as learning to sell. If distractions cost you just one hour per business day, that’s over 250 hours per year, or six full 40-hour weeks. Think you could use the additional income from an extra six weeks of work per year? Or: would you want to take an extra six weeks of vacation per year?
Interestingly, most workers lose 2 hours a day to distraction, not 1. That’s 12 weeks per year per employee. A bit unsettling to say the least. Unfortunately, most distracted workers don’t realize how distracted they really are. And if they do, they are ill-equipped to deal with it, assuming that it’s an inevitable part of work.
Are distractions really inevitable? Yeh suggests three possible (and amusing) courses of action:
- Run
- Hide
- Fight
These options allow you to either avoid or face distractions head-on, but they assume a work from home environment. Since most workers still commute to work, let’s look at another option: sound-masking. With the addition of low-level background white noise, sound masking can be easily installed in your office’s ceiling tiles and evenly distributed throughout your office.
The long and short of it is that most employees won’t choose to deal with distraction on their own, either out of hopelessness, fear, or apathy. The result is billions of dollars lost every year to pretty easily resolved distractions. Many businesses have turned to sound masking for resolving office noise issues. Have you considered what your business could do with more productivity?
The Olympics
Apolo Anton Ohno is currently the most decorated U.S. male Winter Olympian. He only needs to win one medal to become the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian in history.
Millions of people are watching the Olympics right now. It’s a way that while we compete with other nations, we ourselves are united as a country. Whether it’s snowboarding, skiing, or ice-skating, each competitor has something in common: his or her edge. Whether it’s a special move or turn or simply just being faster or better than the rest, it’s that edge that wins the gold….and if you lose it, you lose the medal, too.
Medaling in your sport: Business
In your business, you can’t lose your edge either. You may have a crack team or even several sharp individuals, but your business may still not be competing as well as it could. Why? Plain and simple: distractions. Distractions are time-killers and cost you thousand, possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. In 2008, an estimated $650 billion were lost as a result of these easily-overlooked annoyances.
Smart companies are protecting their employees’ time by implementing some form of sound masking. You see, a wise manager knows he can’t stifle coworker chatter or personal calls, but he also knows he can help innocent by-standers from falling prey to it. Similar to white noise generators, sound masking systems provide just enough low-level background noise to cover distracting interruptions. And unlike music, sound masking units are not distracting themselves. In fact, most workers report never noticing the hum of the system, just the lack of intrusive sounds.
It’s time to quit settling for less. Go for the gold.
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Note that work does not trump anything.
If you google distracted at work, you might be surprised at what you find. While you hope your employees are committed to their jobs and focused on their tasks, one glance at this site will set you straight. Based on the number of websites and blogs devoted to passing time during your work day, it’s a fair guess that many workers choose to be distracted by email, iPhones, texting, messaging, coworkers, etc. On the other hand, many of your workers do want to concentrate on their work, only to find themselves held hostage by office noise or the target of the distracted coworker previously described.
Regardless of how many of each kind of worker you have, office distractions are a given. In fact, the average worker loses more than 2 hours every day to them. Don’t be alarmed- there are many courses of action you can take to prevent office noise from killing productivity.
According to Associated Content, here are few active steps you can take to minimize distractions:
- Know yourself and what distracts you
- Change your atmosphere if necessary (turn down music, for instance)
- Limit computer distractions to certain times of day or a certain number of times (such as checking your email 3 xs/day)
- Don’t take calls unless convenient for you; you can call back
- Shorten conversations with coworkers, and if that doesn’t work,
- Nicely confront distracting coworkers
Unfortunately, these steps are only effective for the self-motivated, and self-aware worker. If the worker does not care about the time frittered away to distraction, neither will he care to implement time-saving steps. In that case, it might be wise to install a sound masking system office-wide. These units are particularly helpful for open offices.
Whatever route you choose, know that you are working in the best interests of not only your workers, but also your company.
El Nino/El Economia How many times have you heard the economy cursed in the past year and a half? The phrase “the economy” has become a sort of a cliche. One cannot help but think of El Nino weather patterns:
It is believed that El Nino may have contributed to the 1993 Mississippi and 1995 California floods, drought conditions in South America, Africa and Australia. It is also believed that El Nino contributed to the lack of serious storms such as hurricanes in the North Atlantic which spared states like Florida from serious storm related damage.
Akin to every storm attributed to El Nino, every loss in the business world is lamented as the latest prey of the wretched economy.
Ebb & Flow
It’s easy to blame the economy for less than ideal profits. And, similar to weather patterns, the economy does seem to have a sort of natural (and inevitable) ebb and flow. It is futile to resist it. However, that does not mean that your business has to ebb and flow accordingly. Desperate times call for creative measures. You may not have as many resources as you’d ideally like, but every company has the same amount of one invaluable resource: time. No one has figured out how to get more than 24 hours from a day. Unfortunately, most employees have figured out a way to get even less time on the job: distractions. Whether it was technology (emails, phones, cells, texts, messaging services) conversations, or good old fashioned interruptions, in 2008 an estimated $600 billion were lost to distractions.
Make a change
If you’re not okay with that number or your business’s contribution to it, consider cutting back on company-wide distractions. Whether it’s restructuring the office (saying farewell to cubicles) or alternative solutions such as sound masking, it’s time to be productive again. Don’t be another victim- be proactive.
Distracted interrupted, & unfocused
Is that how you would describe your business?
Distracted workers are not engaged workers.
The economy has cost many workers their jobs and most businesses a big chunk of their profits. It’s no one’s fault really, just a part of doing business. However, very few businesses have the resources to just coast and wait for everything to get better. As managers have taken a deeper, more penetrating look at their budgets and productivity, they have discovered a shocking truth- the average worker loses a quarter of his work day to distractions. That same worker is interrupted more than 70 times a day, and some studies show that once distracted, it takes half an hour to get on track again. That lack of focus and attention to detail is a handicap few companies can afford. A simple solution is to get rid of the distraction- it’s easier than you think.
Sound Masking & How it Works
Rather than re-design your entire office, you can install a simple, but effective sound masking system. Similar to the concept of “white noise,” sound masking systems employ compact speakers in areas where speech is heard to add low level background sound to an environment. This low level noise fills in the spectrum of sound around building occupants to create an almost undeterminable low background signal, thus drowning out undesired speech or distracting sounds. Contrary to what you may think, sound masking systems use as low a level of sound as is necessary for covering, and ultimately are not any louder than the gentle “whoosing” sounds typical of an air conditioning system. Through sound masking, the typical open office noises are covered so that employees can maintain steady work and avoid the pitfalls of distractions. What could your company do with a quarter more productivity?
I once was in a doctor’s office for a normal prenatal check-up. I was horrified, however, when I heard the nurse’s answer on a telephone call she received right outside my door. Not only was I surprised to realize I could hear her, I was surprised that there was a phenomenon, previously unknown to me, I might suffer from after delivering a child. I was a little overwhelmed with mental images and got a little dizzy. I was mere weeks away from delivering.
What are other people hearing?
In that specific situation, I was hit with the stark reality that medical (and what I always assumed was private) information obtained on the phone or in the office is not at all private. When I pour my postnatal hormonal feelings out in my doctor’s office, I want the comfort on knowing she was the only one who heard me. I don’t want to look over my shoulder, wondering if anyone in the waiting room or adjacent office heard me.
HIPAA is in place to safeguard such information, but it doesn’t force doctors to implement any acoustic treatments like sound masking to further guard our medical records. However, I love my doctor and would like to keep seeing her. I just wish she would value me as much as I value her.
