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.

Older offices or executive suites (read: offices with walls and doors) are great for achieving speech privacy.  But they’re terrible for collaboration, and when everyone gets to work and shuts themselves in their office, it can be a pretty cold, sterile environment.

On the other hand, open office plans are great for collaboration (to say nothing of getting the latest gossip on your coworkers!).  The chatter can be great for team-building, and is essential for collaboration – one of the primary reasons so many business have moved to wide open areas with low cube walls.

The downside is that there’s little control over how far speech travels in such environments.  If you work in one, you know the drill: you can hear someone speaking two rows away in some places!  Always makes me wonder how much of what I’ve said reaches an unintended audience.

Is Speech Privacy Just Not an Option in Open Offices?

Most workers just endure it, and tell those around them to use “inside voices,” assuming speech privacy is just the price you pay when you work in an open office.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  It’s actually quite possible to achieve speech privacy in open office spaces – and at a price even small open offices can afford.

How to Achieve Open Office Speech Privacy

Achieving open office speech privacy is really just a matter of covering speech.  If you think about it, it’s not rocket science.  When you’re in a crowded, noisy space, you can’t pick out any one conversation and listen in.  But if you’re in a library, you can often hear a whispered comment from across the room.  So then finding an effective covering sound – known as “sound masking” that isn’t itself distracting or irritating is the key.

If you’re looking to provide open office speech privacy for your workers – or even just for your cubicle, Speech Privacy Systems offers some good solutions for open office workers and cube-farmers.  There’s a great article on that site explaining the ABC’s of office speech privacy in even the most challenging environments.