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Sound Masking: Covering Noise and Even Reducing It

August 12, 2010 By

We recently interviewed Nick Barber from Sigma Relocation about his experience with sound masking in his call center. His business has benefited from it greatly. He mentioned a positive change  that occurred during the course of the interview that I found interesting because I hadn’t thought about it before. Perhaps you haven’t either.

Nick noticed that his employees were not socializing as much during working hours. Because conversations could not be heard more than 10 to 15 feet away (unlike before, when they could be heard all the way across the 4500 square foot call center), people were not getting into so many conversations, and were consequently experiencing less distraction and able to work more. Nick had several employees tell him they feel they are now more focused and efficient during the work day. “I think we’re covering up the noise that’s there, but I think there’s less noise to begin with because people aren’t talking quite as much.”

So not only does white noise reduce distraction by taking away a lot of the common things that distract people, but it also lowered the overall volume of the call center because people were not talking and interacting as much since they were working. People working more with less distraction? Sounds like sound masking was effective here.

Could you use sound masking in your space to help your employees focus and work better?

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Fighting the ‘Tyranny of the Urgent’ with Sound Masking

April 29, 2010 By

“The Tyranny of the Urgent” was a small pamphlet written by Charles Hummel in 1967. In it, Hummel talks about all the “urgent” things in your life crowding out the “important” things. A current example would be emails and phone calls taking away from quality time with your family because the emails and phone calls are “in your face” and needing to be accomplished right now, while family bonding is something that is important to you, but is not actively vying for your attention.

It can similarly be applied in an office setting. Distractions from coworkers, phone calls, and  unnecessary or extraneous paperwork  could all be examples of ways that urgent things crowd out important things, i.e. actually getting some work done. It can make your workers feel frustrated because they feel like they are constantly busy, but not actually getting much accomplished.  If you, as a manager, can find a way to cut down on some of the urgent things that your employees encounter then you free them up to do the important work.  Not all urgent matters can be cut out–you still have to take phone calls and paperwork still has to be done. However, one way you can cut down on urgent crowding out the important is through the use of sound masking to decrease conversational distraction. 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

By using sound masking effectively, you can filter out the urgent things that are taking away from the important task of working and finishing projects. Fight the tyranny of the urgent with sound masking!

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Let Them Work In Peace

March 29, 2010 By

In 2004, Justin Mardex,  who at the time was a Masters student at Cornell University in the department of Design and Environmental Analysis, wrote a paper about “Auditory, Visual, and Physical Distractions in the Workplace” and has graciously published it online. (What a guy.)  In this paper, he quotes some eye opening statistics and I would like to highlight a couple of them. We are focusing on auditory distractions, but the entire paper is worth a read should you have spare time this afternoon.

‘Ability to do distraction free solo work’

The first startling statistic he quotes is from a study done in 2002. “In a survey of 13000 office employees, the workplace attribute found to be most effective was the ‘ability to do distraction free solo work‘ followed by ‘support for impromptu interactions (both in one’s workspace and elsewhere.)” These employees just want a place where they can think and work by themselves, unless they need help or need to bounce some ideas off of someone else.

Improved Productivity
Mardex also quotes some findings by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). This group did a national survey and found that “more than 70 percent of respondents indicated that their productivity would improve if their workspace was less noisy. A similar ASID survey of corporate executives indicated that only 19 percent were conscious of any sort of noise problem.”  In other words, the workers say they would just like a quiet place to work ,and their management is unaware of the problem.

You are aware of a problem if you are reading this site. Your workers would like a quiet place to work, but still have the (much needed) freedom to share ideas and provide important feedback on work that is being done. They also feel that if they are given a quiet place to work, their productivity will go up. We think the best way to facilitate this is sound masking.  It is loud enough to drown out conversational distractions, but unlike headphones or strict rules about noise, still allows for discussions. According to these studies, your workers will thank you for it.

Next Monday, we will highlight some other points that Mr. Mardex made in his very helpful paper. See you then!

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Being Proactive

March 15, 2010 By

In today’s difficult economy it is important that you take a proactive approach to your company’s profit margin. Not only are there fewer dollars to go around these days, but it is increasingly competitive to obtain those dollars. You have to continually be proactive and think of new ways to shrink your bottom line and to make a profit.

This is definitely NOT what you want to see in your office!

One way is to better utilize the resources you already have—your workers. The average American worker is distracted more than 2 hours a day, with conversational distraction ranking right after internet usage. That is 2 wasted hours that you are paying for that you are not getting anything in return. Instead of starting an office task force to nag your workers into what they are supposed to be doing, why not take a proactive, but less invasive approach–sound masking.

By masking the source of the distractions, you enable your workers to be more productive without adding unnecessary stress to their work environment. Studies have shown that sound masking increased a worker’s ability to focus on tasks by up to 48% and eliminated distractions (especially conversational distractions) by up to 51%.  With even minor adjustments in the office sound environment a substantial increase in performance and productivity can be seen. 

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Lend me your ear

March 8, 2010 By

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.

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Identifying problems as problems

January 25, 2010 By

Who knew this simple machine could be such a challenge?

I have recently noticed an interesting trend in my family  Actually, I am not sure “trend” is really the right word.  It’s more a difference in personality types.

  • For example, we moved to the UK last year.  I noticed that our vacuum was not really that helpful.  It liked to grab the pieces of dirt and hair and just move them around to a new spot on the carpet.  Since I had heard several American friends comment on theirs doing the same thing, I just assumed, “Oh, I guess UK vacuums just aren’t as efficient as what I’m used to.”
  • Similar thing happened with our washing machine.  Having never operated a UK washer before, I just assumed that all of them took the entire day (and most of the night) to run a cycle.
  • I also assumed that the washers just weren’t very good at dispensing the fabric softener (a must-have when you are sans dryer) since I kept seeing blue spots on various lighter garments.

I could go on…but long story short, my husband ran the vacuum and the washer just once and immediately deduced that there was a problem.  It truly never occurred to me to say anything or wonder if there was a problem- suck it up, right?  With a few tweaks and creative ideas, the vacuum actually picked up dirt (I couldn’t believe it!), the washer was replaced due to obvious malfunction, and I was shown exactly which of the three sections fabric softener was meant to go in (the one with a flower, by the way).

My point is this- sometimes we’re so used to a problem that it doesn’t even register as a problem anymore.  We assume we have to live with it the way it is, and there’s nothing we can do except try to have a good attitude about it.  As you think about your business, it may seem as if office noise, especially conversational distraction, is just a part of working in an office.  You may or may not be aware that the average office worker is distracted more than 2 hours very day and that an estimated $600 billion was lost in 2008 to distractions such as these.  It may never occur to you that while office noise is the norm, it is also a problem that can be easily resolved through acoustic treatments.  In fact, there are a few things you need to know about treating office noise.  Commonly referred to as the ABCs of sound masking, you have three options for how you treat intruding sound:

  • absorb- through carpet and panels
  • block- with walls
  • cover- sound masking

Many managers are hesitant to change the aesthetic of the work place or add what could be an allergen, which would be inevitable with absorption techniques.  Similarly, the addition of walls certainly changes the look of an open office (by closing it), as well as drastically reduces collaborative work and the number of workers in a specific area.   That leaves us with covering distractions, or what is known as sound masking.  Sound masking is the corporate super-version of white noise.  Simply put, sound masking provides low-level background noise that drowns competing, intrusive noises.  The most effective sound masking system  is installed directly in the ceiling, providing the most direct, uniform, and precise coverage possible.  While there is an initial investment (the same would be true of absorption and blocking techniques), sound masking is a one-time (meaning no maintenance) solution that enables your employees to tune out the hustle and bustle so typical in an open office, while still maintaining the feel of an open office.

Don’t be like me- when you see a problem, identify it, fix it, and enjoy the benefits- in this case, the benefits would be happier, less stressed, and more productive workers.

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Are your employees slaves to sound?

September 17, 2009 By

Slave to sound

It makes sense to cut costs where you can, especially in this declining economy.  That’s why you have a very efficient cubicle office.  The downside is that without doors, each of your employees is a slave to every word and sound that is emitted in that office…whether they want to be or not.  In fact, more than 70% of surveyed workers said that they could be more productive at work if there were fewer distractions. 

Sound masking

A Cornell study found that, “as sound levels increase, the complexity of the task one can complete generally decreases.”  This means that as the office comes to life, your employees’ ability to concentrate dies. Fortunately, the article didn’t stop there: “the most prevalent way of dealing with excessive noise is through the introduction of an artificial masking noise.”  Like white noise, sound masking cancels out the typical, yet highly distracting sounds found in every American work place, without the aggravating buzz. 

While you can’t make your employees play the quiet game, you can control the role that auditory distractions play in your office.  Contact us to see if a Speech Privacy System is the right fit for your distracted employees.

 

Mardex, J. (2004).  Auditory, visual, and physical distractions in the work place.  Retrieved August 14, 2009, from  http://www.scribd.com/doc/13038258/Auditory-visual-and-physical-distractions-in-the-workplace

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