"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.

If you’re like many managers, you’ve had to cut your staff this year.  It’s easy to assume that you can’t maintain, much less increase, productivity with the staff you have left after lay offs.  So, if time is money, then you need more time.  Sound impossible?  What if you could reclaim hours of lost time? 

• The average employee is distracted more than 2 hours every day
• That same employee is interrupted more than 70 times per day
• 80% of surveyed employees said that these distractions limited their ability to focus

It’s no wonder that being distracted that often curbs productivity.  What is shocking is that only 20% of managers were aware of the reported distractions and their effects. 

How can you increase your productivity?

If your employees are distracted hours on end, then might be time to consider un-distracting them.  You probably can’t ban cell phones or loud shoes, but you can reduce the effect these annoying distractions have on your workers.  One option is sound masking.  It’s like "white noise" in that it adds low-level background sound to reduce the intelligibility of surrounding noises.  The result is that most workers are able to tune out distractions and focus on work.

Times are tough.  There’s no question about that.  The problem is that a struggling economy simply does not allow for less productivity.  Your clients still expect your very best- and if you can’t give them your best, they’ll go to someone who can. 

In one study of 11 surveyed buildings, 80% of workers felt that the noise levels distracted them to the point of not being able to get their work done.  Thus, it comes as no surprise that the average worker is distracted more than 2 hours every day, thus making him a disengaged employee.  A study by the Towers-Perrin Group found a 52% gap in one-year operating income, when comparing companies with highly engaged employees versus companies with disengaged employees. High engagement companies improved 19.2% while low engagement companies declined 32.7% in operating income over the study period.  Furthermore, according to an American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) study, workers in offices with even small acoustic treatments:

• Were 48% more focused on their work
• 51% less distracted, resulting in
• 10% fewer errors and a
• 27% decrease in worker stress

While it’s understandable that office distractions drastically reduce a worker’s ability to concentrate and work attentively, it’s your job to find a way around them.  By implementing sound masking technology, you have the ability to override those noisy distractions in order to enable each worker to realize his or her potential every hour of every day. 

Distractions at work are an all-too-familiar occurrence.  In fact, our beloved best friend and infamous distractor, the Internet, provides many helpful tips for dealing with distractions, most of which are based on the fact that distractions are inevitable.  One wesbite did suggest that there are 3 options for dealing with distractions:

·         Running

·         Hiding

·         Fighting

While distractions may indeed be an inevitable part of an open office, your employees do not have to accept them as timewasters.  Let’s take a look at that thrid option: fighting.  The best way to fight distraction is to tune it out with sound masking.  With the gentle swoosh like that of an HVAC system, sound masking allows your workers to do just that- work- instead of getting caught up in distractions more than 2 hours every day.  The best thing about sound masking is that it covers noise, yet is barely perceptible itself.

If you’d like to improve your bottom line, give sound masking a chance.

How do improve your bottom line, but with fewer resources than ever?

Unfortunately, that’s what this economy has done this Christmas season- except you don’t even get jelly out of it.  You have to maximize the resources you do have: your employees.  The heart of your productivity lies with your workers.  Whether you have a staff of 1 or 100, each of your workers could be more productive.  They say that the average worker is not working due to distractions for more than 2 hours a day, which resulted in an estimated loss of $600 billion last year.  That’s a lot of money to lose over an easily-resolved, but obviously all too common problem.

Takin’ care of business

You can reclaim your chunk of the $600 billion with a simple solution: sound masking.  Not unlike white noise, sound masking is the addition of low-level background noise to enable your employees to do what they came for- work.  You might be surprised how much more focused workers are with fewer distractions, not to mention less stressed. 

If more productive and less stressed workers sound good this Christmas season, sound masking might be the best option for your company.

Sustainability is the word of the day.  Even shows like Top Chef show a concern for sustainability when they ask competing chefs to cook with "sustainable" products- those that are environmentally-friendly, as well as renewable. 

In the business world, you might not think sustainability applies to you.  You’re not exactly cutting down trees or catching salmon.  However, you do have to put forth a product that meets you current and future needs without depleting the resources you already have.  For you, sustainability is using what you have without squandering it. 

So, what do you have?

Your resources are your employees and their time spent working.  And, if you’re like most companies these days, you have already lost quite a few of your workers to a cut-throat economy.  That means your second resource- their work time- is even more crucial.  Thus, it might be horrifying to discover that Average Worker loses more than 2 hours of work day to distractions, namely conversational ones.

Sound masking

Rather than throwing your employees’ cell phones out the window (they’re not exactly biodegradable) or banning personal conversations, you might consider sound masking.  Similar to white noise, sound masking provides low level background noise to render intruding speech and noises less intelligible.  It’s not that your workers need silence (in fact, most complain that silence is even more distracting!), they just need an environment that doesn’t lend itself to unintentional eavesdropping.  Let’s be honest- it’s hard to focus on work when the latest gossip is right inside your grasp. 

In this economy, every minute counts.  Don’t lose another to an easily-resolved problem.

Interestingly, you’re not alone in your stress.  Besides the inevitable tension a declining economy ushers in, your employees are distracted and stressed in their distraction.  You probably already know that most workers are unfocused at times during the work day.  What you might not know is that:

• the average worker is distracted more than 2 hours every day
• most workers feel stress as a result of that distraction

In fact, disengaged workers:

• are 18% less productive
• have 27% higher rates of absenteeism
• are 20-40% more likely to seek employment elsewhere
• make 40% fewer attempts at problem-solving
• experience more stress-related injuries as a result of not making ergonomic adjustments

Your company cannot afford loss of productivity, in addition to high rates of turn-over.  On the other hand, you can afford an ideal solution.  Sound masking is the addition of low-level background sound to reduce the impact of ambient noise.  Employees in treated areas feel less stress and are noticably more engaged and therefore more productive.  Tough times call for creative measures.  Give us a try.

You probably know that the average employee is unproductive more than 2 hours every day as a result of distractions.  Not only are distracted employees unproductive, but their loss of concentration ushers in unnecessary stress and stress-related injuries (such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome).  Thus, each unfocused hour adds up to the $700 billion lost last year because of distractions.

How do you get the same reuslts with fewer resources?
 

The answer is to maximize what you already have by reducing distractions.  Endless noisy distractions may seem part and parcel to working in an office.  You can’t exactly tell your employees to quit making phone calls or to wear rubber-soled shoes.  But you can help your workers not to notice every sound.  Similar to white noise, sound masking adds a low-level background noise that covers irritating noise. 

In times like these, you just can’t afford not to take action.

What do you think of when you hear the word noise?  Here are a few online definitions of "noise:"

Noise (noun): noiz

• sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound); "he enjoyed the street noises"; "they heard indistinct noises of people talking …
• the auditory experience of sound that lacks musical quality; sound that is a disagreeable auditory experience; "modern music is just noise to me"
• electrical or acoustic activity that can disturb communication
• a loud outcry of protest or complaint; "the announcement of the election recount caused a lot of noise"; "whatever it was he didn’t like it and he was going to let them know by making as loud a noise as he could"
• incomprehensibility resulting from irrelevant information or meaningless facts or remarks; "all the noise in his speech concealed the fact that he didn’t have anything to say"
• make noise: emit a noise
• randomness: the quality of lacking any predictable order or plan
• any unwanted sound and in both analog and digital electronics, noise is an unwanted random addition to a wanted signal. 

It’s interesting that noise actually is a neutral term- it really is just a sound of any kind.  Yet, the first connotation most people have when they think of noise is that of being irritated or distracted by it.  That’sbecause most people associate noise with not being able to relax or concentrate.  So, whether it’s trying to fall asleep or attempting to be productive at work, noise is not a friendly interruption.  In fact, the average worker finds herself distracted more than 2 hours a day.  In a tough economy 2 hours day per worker is not a welcome sacrifice for any business. 

Sound masking

Your company doesn’t have to lose productivity to distractions in the work place.  A simple and easy solution is sound masking.  You can’t rid your office of distracting noise, but you can cover it with a low-level background sound similar to white noise.  By camoflaging irritating and distracting noise, you and your employees can reclaim those lost hours of unprodictivity. 

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