Can you really blame a worker for being unproductive here?

Cubicles

This set-up does not exactly inspire one to work.  Talk, yes.  Eavesdrop, sure.  Trip people as they walk by, absolutely.  Work, no.  While efficient in terms of a corporate budget, cubicles are horribly inefficient in terms of worker productivity.  For instance, the average worker is distracted more than two hours every day.  When your work day conists of 8 hours, losing one-fourth of that time seems ridiculous.

Get rid of the cubicles?

You don’t have to tear out the cubicles or remodel to fix the sound leaks inherent to this type of office.  In fact, many workers have been creative on their own- they wear headphones to work or try out free white noise generators or purchase their own white noise machines.  The problem with headphones is that an employee’s favorite music is rarely conducive to work either, and individual sound masking units only help that one worker (and not the hundreds who are still untreated and therefore still working only six hours a day).  Many businesses have opted to treat the entire office with sound masking that is mounted directly in the ceiling itself.  This type of technology (direct field) delivers consistent, uniform sound that covers the intrusive noises so common in the typical cubicle-ridden office.

As a manager, it’s your job to get your employees to work.  Times are tough, money is tight.  But a simple investment in sound masking could help you reclaim your company’s portion of the $700billion lost to distractions in 2008.  Don’t you think it’s worth it?