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The wasteful abyss of distraction

August 31, 2009 By

“Working” 9 to 5

It’s hard to ignore the fact that the US economy is struggling in a way many have never seen before. While unemployment rates have gone up, those who do have jobs end up wasting about 2 hours during their 8 hour work day. That’s right- a staggering one-fourth of your employees’ “work” day is squandered away by such activities as surfing the net, chatting it up with co-workers, making personal calls, and conducting personal business.

Time IS money

The truly worrisome part is that when one worker is distracted, usually several co-workers follow suit. You may think there’s nothing you can do but mourn the loss. Fortunately for your company and your bottom line, that is simply not true. You may not be able to keep your employees on-task 100% of the time, but you can minimize their distraction level tremendously by installing a sound masking sytem. With the aid of sound-masking, your employees do not have to get sucked into the wasteful abyss of distraction 120 minutes a day. Rather, they will be able to concentrate on their work more fully, thus wasting less of their and your valuable time. 

In a suffering economy and unarguably tough times, isn’t it worth a small investment for big dividends? 

Malachowski, Dan. Wasting Time at Work Costing Companies Billions. Retrieved August 10, 2009, from http://www.davidsonstaffing.com/articles/salary/wasted-time/.

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August 27, 2009 By




Cutting costs doesn’t mean cutting corners

Businesses have fewer resources but clients who demand better service.  Every manager is looking for ways to cut costs and somehow not cut corners.  How can you get more from less? 

Maximizing the resource you have

Let’s face it, in an open office sound carries.  As one Cornell study found, “as sound levels increase, the complexity of the task one can complete generally decreases.”  In addition, they found that high levels of noise generally lead to higher levels of fatigue and irritability.  So, you get less or at least worse work from tired and stressed employees. 

The same Cornell study also stated that the best way to contend with excessive noise is by using a sound masking system.  Sound masking provides a uniform and low-level background noise to cancel out unwanted distractions, thus enabling your workers to produce higher-quality work in less time.

Without hiring any new staff, you can increase your company’s productivity exponentially by reclaiming the time lost due to unnecessary distractions. Don’t you think it’s worth maximizing your workers’ time?

 

Mardex, Justin. (2004) Auditory, visual, and physical distractions in the workplace.  Retrieved August 17, 2009 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/13038258/Auditory-visual-and-physical-distractions-in-the-workplace

Filed Under: Blog, Business, office noise, Sound Masking Tagged With: , , , ,

White noise generators and sound masking, the key to a productive office environment

August 12, 2009 By

Most of us experience distraction at work. The funny thing about this is that we usually feel most distracted when we need to finish a report or when we are rushing a presentation. The slightest noise veers us off course. Sometimes we just wish that we can shelter ourselves from such distractions so we can get the job at hand done as soon as possible. But the reality is that the workplace is really littered with noises that we just can’t eradicate.

Nothing can be worse than being unable to focus when you really need to, so cubicle workers and office dwellers need all the help they can get in order to compose their thoughts efficiently and without distractions. This is where sound masking and white noise generators come in.

White noise generators and sound masking is the technology that discreetly tunes out background noises that may prove to be a distraction by altering the ambient sounds locally heard by office workers and cubicle dwellers. By introducing white noise into the environment, it tunes out the other sounds heard in the space it is applied. White noise is commonly used by for song recording purposes when sound levels must be at their highest and most acute, but another application is the drowning out of other distracting noises in the area.

In sound masking, a new sound is introduced in the environment to drown out the unwanted sounds. So this is very different from white noise generators. For some, sound masking can be the use of music, or reading aloud etc. it differs from person to person, and from job types to job types.

There are new technologies that make the most out of white noise generators and sound masking; in fact, there are even cases in which both are combined to completely block out unwanted sounds. However, no matter what the approach, the effect can be greatly felt. The noises that may prove distracting can be drowned out creating a more relaxed and serene working environment.

By eliminating distracting noises in the work place, cubicle dwellers will surely enjoy increased productivity and decreased distractions. White noise generators and the masking of certain sounds will be a sure way to get a serene working environment that is conducive to creativity!

White noise generators are an office employee’s best friend especially when an ambient sound in your workplace distracts you from getting the job done. You know the usual office chatter, keyboard tapping and the mouse clicking; can surely veer you away from concentrating on your work. Sound masking also helps as it supersedes the distracting sound with another ambient sound that is more conducive to get the job done.


Filed Under: Business, office noise, Sound Masking

Sound Masking Helps Workers Focus by Reducing Office Noise

August 5, 2009 By

Back in your school days, did you ever have to slog through your required reading while there was a party going on at a neighbor’s place? If you did, then you know what it’s like to work distracting surroundings. And it also applies to the office environment. Some studies show that noise levels in an office can result in lower levels of productivity in workers. The Data Entry Management Association has found that bad acoustics in the office can result in up to a 27 percent increase in data entry errors. In recent years, noise levels have gone up in the average office. Cubicles and offices are getting smaller and placed closer together, so that it’s hard to tune out the sound of your colleague making a call, or just tapping on his keyboard. Phones and faxes are everywhere, adding to the din of of the workplace. All this has triggered dramatic improvements in sound masking.

Now, this practice isn’t new. The ancient Romans used indoor fountains in homes to mask the noise outside. You’re probably familiar with this phenomenon yourself: have you tried to have a conversation with someone in another room while you’re in the bathroom with the water running? This, in principle, is how sound masking works. Every noise (a conversation, for example) travels at a certain frequency. The human voice is travels at a high frequency. To make it inaudible, you need another sound to offset it: not necessarily a louder sound (which will just drown it out), but another sound with a low frequency that "cancels out" the other sound at the listener’s ear. Specialists use this principle to apply masking to your office. With a series of speakers usually mounted in the ceiling tiles themselves, a barely-noticeable sound is generated throughout the workplace. This sound is soft and non-distracting, and it will mask much of the noise in a busy work environment.

Not all offices are alike. Sound masking technicians will need to asses how to mask your office noise based on the size and shape of the room, which has an effect on acoustics, and on the usual activity that goes on in the work area, as certain offices are naturally more noisy than others. So try and consult a specialist. There are several companies out there that offer sound masking services. They can help you design your office in such a way as to ensure optimum acoustics, which will lead to greater productivity. They can also set up active masking systems for you, and make sure that your environment can help you work harder and focus better.

Today’s average office has gotten much noisier. Sound masking technology is now available to employers who want to help their workers focus and increase their productivity. With effective masking systems, a soft, unobtrusive low-frequency sound is generated by speakers throughout the office, which reduces much of the noise generated in a workplace. Specialists can also consider factors like the size and shape of the room and the usual office noises that can affect productivity.

Filed Under: Business, Sound Masking

Sound Masking Helps Workers Focus: Make It Work for You

August 3, 2009 By

Back in your school days, did you ever have to slog through your required reading while there was a party going on at a neighbor’s place? If you did, then you know what it’s like to work distracting surroundings. And it also applies to the office environment. Some studies show that noise levels in an office can result in lower levels of productivity in workers. The Data Entry Management Association has found that bad acoustics in the office can result in up to a 27 percent increase in data entry errors. Recently, the average noise level in the office has been on a steady increase. Cost-cutting and efficiency measures have made offices smaller, and cubicles closer together. More workers are finding themselves in closer proximity with their co-workers, and having to deal with the noise they generate as they go about their business: phone calls, keyboard tapping, and conversations. There are more telephones and faxes, which increase the noise levels even more. All this has triggered dramatic improvements in sound masking. Now, this practice isn’t new. The ancient Romans used indoor fountains in homes to mask the noise outside. You’re probably familiar with this phenomenon yourself: have you tried to have a conversation with someone in another room while you’re in the bathroom with the water running? In essence, that is precisely the way that sound masking works. Sound – like people having a conversation, for example – carries on certain frequencies. By introducing a new, low-frequency, complementary sound, the conversation becomes harder to detect, and therefore is less distracting. Now, how do we apply this principle to the workplace? Specialists today use cutting-edge technology to provide effective sound masking. A sound is generated by speakers that are usually mounted in the ceiling tiles, which will mask certain sounds in the work environment. This sound is designed to be unobtrusive, and is soft and uniform enough so that it doesn’t become a distraction itself. Every office has unique needs that a sound masking technician has to address. The size and shape of the room that needs masking (which affects how sound travels), and the usual every day noise level (which can vary from office to office), for example. So try and consult a specialist. There are several companies out there that offer sound masking services. They can help you design your office in such a way as to ensure optimum acoustics, which will lead to greater productivity. They can also set up active masking systems for you, and make sure that your environment can help you work harder and focus better.

With the increasing noise levels in modern offices, sound masking helps to create environments that are conducive to work. This is done by generating low-frequency sounds that can cover up office noise for the listeners. Factors like the shape of the office, and the usual level of activity can also contribute. With this technology, workers can focus, ensuring that productivity isn’t reduced by the office environment.

- Frank Barnett

Filed Under: Sound Masking