I frequently talk about the benefits of sound masking in general, namely that this practice blocks distractions and provides speech privacy.  These are extremely important benefits for open offices, hospitals, government offices, and military bases because workers and staff can be more productive {ie less distracted} and enjoy more confidentiality.    It is a well-studies fact that office noise contributes to workers’ levels of stress, error rates, and even levels of absenteeism.  These workers are more stressed, more prone to making mistake,s less likely to problem-solve, less likely to make ergonomic adjustments to their work stations, and turn over more quickly than workers in quieter offices.  Additionally, loud offices or headquarters or bases are not private.  Conversations can be easily overheard, leading to an economic or safety disadvantage.  All of this revolves around noise and noise leaks in the work place.  That is were sound masking comes in to play.  The introduction of low-level white noise into a treated area or several zones allows workers’ conversations and noisiness in general to be covered, or masked, so that fewer people are bothered by it or privy to it.  However, what kind of white noise should be used?  How loud should it be?  Isn’t adding noise to noise counter-productive?  Do I need a sound machine or a sound masking system?  How can I mask sound without making too much noise?  Can I have paging, too?

In the next few posts, I am going to answer these questions with regard to the superior sound masking capabilities of the VoiceArrest System.

White Noise: What Is It & How Does It Work?

First, a quick definition: white noise is a term to describe sound combined from all points on the sound spectrum. The idea is that this range of sound, even at a relatively low volume, is effective in covering unwanted sounds because its very nature of containing so many different sounds doesn’t allow the brain to process or tune into in any one specific sound.

Next, as touched upon briefly, the sound masking system does not need to be cranked up to be effective.  In fact, the VoiceArrest System can operate at lower volume levels than competitive systems and still provide effective voice masking and privacy. In practical terms, most masking systems must operate at 48 to 51 decibels of sound in order to provide acceptable privacy for most of the office space. The VoiceArrest™ system, however, is normally operated at 45 decibels under the same conditions. The increased effectiveness of the VoiceArrest™ Sound Masking System provides for equivalent privacy and quieter, background sound. Or if you require even higher levels of privacy than most offices, you can utilize the higher settings without increasing the noise to an intrusive level.

Sound masking systems like the VoiceArrest™  deliver spacial and spectral uniformity of sound, operating at lower levels than competitive systems and still providing effective sound masking and privacy.

Block out distractions. Try covering the office noises and distractions with white noise. Today’s sound masking technology is specially focused on the frequency of human speech, so it effectively covers unrelated converations, lowering your distractions by up to 51 percent. Even if you have no control over the sound quality or co-workers around you, a personal sound machine can create a distraction-free zone at your desk.

Set your priorities. Always start your day with your high-priority work; don’t even open email or pick up your phone until you complete at least one important task. For better productivity, you can’t allow lesser tasks like e-mail or phone calls take up more time than they warrant. Accomplishing something at the very start of the day can help boost your confidence and improve your attitude about your work day.

Improve your posture. Poor posture can actually drain your energy and limit your ability to focus. The goal should be to maintain a neutral typing posture in order to minimize the work load for your muscles and stop you from wasting valuable energy. Start with a well-adjusted ergonomic chair to help you maintain good posture; this will give you better concentration and will also lower your stress levels. Next, make sure your feet rest firmly on the ground and that your armrests are out of the way. Also, if your chair is somewhat lacking in back support, try adding portable lumbar support.

Limit your interruptions. The average worker is interrupted more than 70 times each day, and half of those distractions are self-inflicted. Set up a “no-interruption” time to focus on your work for 30 to 60 minutes at a time. Turn off all your self-distractions, like your phone and e-mail, and turn on a white noise machine to block office noise around you. Find an alternate place to work, such as an empty conference room, or consider hanging a sign at desk requesting that you be interrupted, but will be available in 30 minutes.

You can learn to accomplish more during a work day by eliminating distractions. Start by maintaining good posture with a supportive ergonomic chair. Next, decrease the time-consuming distractions with a white noise machine. At the end of the day you will feel less stressed, more productive and ready to enjoy a relaxing evening.

Prioritize your day. Before checking e-mail or phone messages, start working on your more important tasks first. This ensures that your priority projects are accomplished while you are fresh and focused.  Only check your voice mail or e-mail once or twice a day, and keep your own messages short and direct. Don’t let low priority tasks interrupt you constantly throughout the day.

Use white noise. Today’s sound masking technology is very precise and floods the background with “white” noise that focused on the spectrum of human speech. Office-wide sound masking can lower distractions by up to 51 percent by covering the excess conversations and noise in an open floor plan. You can also try a personal sound machine, if you don’t have control over the sound quality in the office.

Limit distractions and interruptions. The average worker is interrupted more than 70 times each day. And most people suffer almost equally from self-distraction. Try establishing a “no-interruption” time of about an hour to focus on important tasks. Start by turning off all your self-distractions, like your phone and e-mail. Spend this time in focused concentration. Turn on a white noise machine to cover office noise. And post a sign indicating that you currently cannot be interrupted, and a time when you will next be available. You can repeat this focused time throughout the day to make the most of your time.

Improve your posture. Most people do not realize how much energy is wasted with poor posture. Good posture can boost productivity and energy. Start with a good, ergonomic chair and adjust it to properly fit you. First, adjust the height of the seat so that your feet are flat on the floor. Next, move the backrest on your chair to fit the curve of your spine. You should also add portable lumbar support if your chair does not fully support your lower back. Finally, move your arm rests low enough or out of the way while typing to allow free arm movement.

Making changes to your daily habits can increase your productivity and efficiency. Make an effort to maintaining good posture while sitting with a good, ergonomic chair that is well-adjusted to support your body. Also, upgrade your office space with sound masking technology, or try using a white noise machine block out the distracting conversations and office noise that interrupt your concentration. Better focus and productivity at work help you feel better about your work and enjoy less stress at the end of the day.

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- Ben Pate

As a manager, you know that distractions have a cost.  Usually it’s loss of focus/productivity, and therefore money.  A distracted worker is a disengaged worker.  Disengaged workers lose their sense of ownership in a project or task and also make more mistakes.  They usually suffer more stress and even miss work more frequently.  Sadly, disengaged workers also turn over faster, and training their replacements  is costly.  Add it all up and it’s a rather large price tag: $600 billion.  That’s right, distractions cost businesses hundreds of billion of dollars every year.

2 Tips for Avoiding Distraction at Work

To regain your workers’ attention and focus, it’s smart to enable them to have distraction-free solo work.  For many, time blocking allows for this.

1. Time Block.  The basic idea is to cut away from all the turmoil in your office and devote a specific block of time to working on a project.  You set a start and stop time and during that period you focus on your work.  This means you shut down any unnecessary electronics and anything that rings.  You can do it, I promise.  With fewer (or no) distractions, you should be able to make some progress.

However, not all offices offer conference rooms for regular work, nor do they have enough rooms to house every distracted worker.  Another effective time-saver and productivity-booster is the use of a white noise machine.

1. White noise machines.  By using white noise, you cover office distractions.  With a simple desktop generator, you can block out office noise and get to work because your mind is more focused.  You can hold a thought long enough to process it, and you aren’t drawn into unnecessary chatter.

Half the battle of reclaiming lost time at work is having a game plan.  By time blocking and covering noise, you allow your workers’ brains much needed-time to process and recalibrate.

White noise can help you increase your productivity at work and experience more restful sleep at night. With the increasing availability of free white noise generators and portable sound machines, everyone should give this technology a try. The benefits are definitely worth it!

- C. Sumner

Personal white noise provides a more focused environment, free of intrusive and distracting noise. This can increase your productivity at work, or provide you with a more restful night’s sleep. Sound masking can also be utilized throughout a open office space to provide better productivity and confidentiality for everyone. Try sound masking for yourself, and begin enjoying the benefits of improved concentration and better sleep!

- C. Sumner

"Efficient" is defined as working without waste or using a minimum of time, effort and expense. But, the definition is silent about the goals of the operation. A person can be very efficient at what they are doing but still not get to where they want to be because they aren’t doing the right things. That’s where "effective" comes in. "Effective" means "having the desired result". Once the desired overall result is defined, the tasks leading to the result can be isolated and these tasks can then be completed efficiently….

So, while your business’s specific goals will determine how to be effective, being efficient is a little more universal.  In fact, the average worker wastes 2 or more hours  a day because he is distracted by conversations, ringing and/or buzzing phones, and who knows what else…A loss of 2 hours per employee is not exactly efficient.  One option might be sound masking.  Most people can’t work in ceaseless clamor, but at the same time, they can’t be productive in silence either.  Sound masking is like white noise in that it provides a low-level "hum" that can help workers to tune out irritating distractions that keep them from being productive. Many companies and small businesses have found that plugging the leak of conversational distractions is more than worth the initial investment.

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

Distractions may not seem like a big problem.  Maybe your employees shoot off a few unnecessary texts or answer a couple personal calls.  Everybody does, right?  That’s the problem.  Everybody does, which means that the average worker loses more than two hours every day to distractions.  In fact, the work place, and open offices in general, have become so distracting that more than 70% of surveyed workers said that their productivity would be increased if their work place were less noisy.

How do you conduct business with less sound? 

While you can try to ban personal calls, you can’t keep people from making business calls, closing doors and flushing toilets.  That’s the cost of doing business.  But you can minimize the distraction level with sound masking.  Sound masking functions like white noise, cancelling out unwanted and distracting noise.  Unlike white noise, however, sound masking can be distributed uniformly and at the lowest volume necessary for maximum productivity.  That way, you’re not trading one problem for another. 

Contact us for more information on how to keep your employees focused on what really counts: work.

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