Back during March Madness last year, I read an interesting article about how much productivity was lost during that 3-week span itself.  The article reported that 80% of interviewed office workers admitted they probably bet on the games during work hours.  In addition, while difficult to measure, one firm estimated that about 8.7 million hours of work time would be lost as a result of the NCAA championship games.  What caught my attention was the later premise of the article:

“If people are getting their work done, and doing it well, don’t make a big deal about distractions,” she suggests, adding: “The last thing you should ever do is make a formal policy restricting non-work activities in the office. Those policies rarely fix anything. They just make people grumpy.” And who needs that?…”

Which Distractions Can You Afford to Ignore?

I know we all have different opinions, which is why I am referencing this article: proof that there are several ways to look at the same problem.  While I agree that cracking down on petty rules is counter-productive and with later comments that workers are adept at multitasking, I disagree that all workers are that adept or that distraction itself, as a whole, should be ignored.  There are many forms of distraction, not just technology.  A major cause of work distraction is co-worker conversation.  I do not know of many people who can hold a sane, coherent conversation while typing an error-free, cohesive project proposal or email response.  Thus, when that 80% of co-workers are betting on the game and setting up their brackets,endless rivalry and chatter doubtlessly surround it.  That’s hard to ignore even when an innocent bystander.

Thus, I stick with my previous opinion that managers should not set up silly rules about computer use and personal versus business because no one will follow them and it’s hard to police without being Big Brother and running off your staff.  However, I do feel that the other side of distraction- those of conversation and noise- are definitely worth counter-acting with sound masking.  Just by introducing a little low-level background noise, you can cover the unwanted sound and restore a little peace to the office without burning bridges with your employees.  And since hundreds of billions of dollars are lost every year because of distraction, it’s hard to ignore them all with a clear conscience.

Some distractions are worth ignoring, while others- those of noise and conversation- can be counter-acted with sound masking for increased productivity office-wide.

Many studies report that workers are distracted more than 2 hours every day.  This report leads to a variety of reactions, but the common denominator is frustration.  Managers are frustrated because they want more out their workers and their days, and interestingly, workers are just as frustrated, also wanting more out of their days.  So, why is everybody so frustrated?  Why are they losing so much time?

There are a few answers, but they all come back to distraction.  We can all agree that noise is a distracting thing, whether it’s good or bad noise.  There’s a reason we don’t talk on the phone right outside baby’s room- noise is intrusive and can interrupt the natural flow of things.  Thus, on a very base level, noise is distracting.  Take that distraction to an office, especially an open office format, and you get distracted workers.  Distracted workers are prone to more errors and stress than focused workers.  That’s a fairly obvious conclusion because it’s not hard to imagine making mistakes when one ear is tuned in to the office soundtrack on stereo speakers.  They’re more stressed because, contrary to managerial belief, workers do not prefer to lose hours of productivity a day to distraction- in fact, many complain that regardless of the 9-5 clock, they still have projects and deadlines and therefore wind up taking work home evenings and weekends.

Distracted Workers are Disengaged Workers

All of this contributes to what is called a disengaged worker, or a worker who has lost connection with his job.  The problem with disengaged workers is that they cost businesses billions of dollars a year due to

• loss of productivity
• errors
• work-related stress/injuries
• more sick days
• frequent turn-over

Not having enough time is a common complaint, from housewives to children {not} doing homework to office workers.  People just can’t get it all done, yet we are limited to 24 hours a day.  So how can we get more out of days?  The next best question to ask is what are our usual hang-ups?  What exactly drains our time to the point that we aren’t as efficient as we could be, or would like to be?

Focusing on business, both big and small, it’s interesting to find that it’s not usually the internet in general or personal calls or extended coffee breaks that suck our time.  rather, it’s office noise, or conversational distractions to be more precise.  These distractions typically come in the form of co-worker chatter.  Important to note, though, is the fact that co-worker chatter might or might not welcome to all participants.  It’s one thing to be distracted by a conversation you are actively engaged in and quite another to get dragged into it simply because it’s there and can’t be ignored.  Throw in all the other office noises, such as ringing phones and whirring machines, and you have a nightmarish situation productivity-wise.

Sound Masking: From Individuals to Entire Offices

These noises are part and parcel to working in a multi-person office.  It’s inevitable.  The combination of so many workers and adjacent cubicles with low walls prove to be a nightmare for good acoustics because it contributes to an ever-increasing level of office noise in a decreasing amount of space.  The solution is sound masking, the treatment of noise by absorbing, blocking, or covering it.  Usually a combination of all three is most effective, but it is coverage that is most effective in conjunction with others or even on its own.  Coverage is the use of white noise to help the brain tune out distracting sounds, thus keeping it focused on work.

You can plug in a sound machine for individual use, but the most helpful speech privacy system is something like the VoiceArrest.  This type of system is mounted directly in the ceiling tiles and provides uniform, consistent coverage that covers noise and even increases privacy levels for multiple workers.

In sum, sound masking works by reducing background sounds. Speech privacy systems, on the other hand, prevent conversations from becoming background sounds in the first place. Either of these will save any company money.

The average worker is distracted more than 2 hours every day.  They are held hostage to their own internal distractions, as well as everyone else’s.  When people think about distractions, they usually think of day-dreaming and text messages and excessive meetings.  Interestingly, and quite frankly surprisingly, it’s not the internet or personal phone calls that claim the bulk of those 2 hours.  Rather, it’s conversational distraction, which includes those conversations the worker actively engages in, as well as the ones (s)he can’t help but overhear and thus fall prey to.  Such distractions are problematic in two ways: not only are conversations not private or confidential, they also add up quickly for a staggering loss of of focus, in addition to increased errors and stress, as well as fewer attempts to problem-solve.  Distracted workers are disengaged workers, and disengaged workers cost businesses a bundle.  Given this high cost of distractions, it’s no surprise that workplace distractions cost businesses like yours an estimated $587 billion in 2008.

Better Sound Masking Affects your Bottom Line

Whether you’re a small business owner, an open office manager, or simply bound by law to safeguard confidential information, speech privacy has never been more important, and improving your office’s acoustics to achieve it is relatively simple and cost-effective.  More effective than adding sound-absorbent flooring or extra partitions, sound masking is the introduction of white noise through in-ceiling tiles in order to treat a particularly noisy area…or multiple areas.  It’s counter-intuitive, but adding noise, the right kind of noise, actually helps the brain tune out the wrong kind.  The good thing is that the sound masking system doesn’t have to blast sound to be effective.  Instead, a low-level background noise is sufficient to cover, or mask, the unwanted distractions so that workers have greater speech privacy when necessary and all workers can be more productive.

Sound masking is the most effective means of dealing with unwanted noise so workers have more speech privacy.

Office Noise

Office noise is quite a problem.  Studies tell us that distractions, and namely conversational ones, cost US businesses $600 billion a year.    It’s a staggering number that many worry about- how to reduce distractions and lower that number?  How to increase productivity?

Better Focus through white noise machines

Office distractions can’t possibly add up to $600 billion, can they?  Yea, sure we all spend a little more time getting coffee and chatting it up than we have to, but how can that possibly add up to such an astronomical number?   Well, the truth is that the average employee is distracted more than 2 hours a day due mostly to conversational distraction, including both the conversations they actively take part in, as well as those they are held captive to by sheer proximity.  So, when you multiply 2 hours a day times 5 days a week and get 10 hours and then multiply that by the number of employees you have on staff, you start to see a whole lot more zeros.  Losing that much time means you lose that much productivity, which means you lose quite a bit of money, of course.  In what economy is loss of money good?

There’s no point in trying to ban cell phones or office chatter or anything of a decibel level over a pin dropping.  Instead, covering the sound is your best option.  In fact, you have 2 effective sound covering options.

• Office-wide sound masking
• Individual white noise machines

Sound masking is meant to treat large offices, conference rooms, or any larger treated area, such as a block of cubicles. Speakers are mounted within the ceiling tiles themselves and emit low-level white noise so that the brain can tune out distracting noises and stay sharper.

White noise machines do the same thing, but at a desktop level and for individuals (rather than a number of people or offices).

When choosing whether to mask sound with a system or individual machines, it’s wise to consider the amount of space you’re treating.  If you only have problem areas in scattered spots, it might be wise to invest in a few sound machines and place them for a few individuals.  However, if you need more than a few machines, it would probably be wiser to invest in an office-wide sound masking system.

The Freedom to Work

This Independence Day why not give your workers the freedom to be productive?  Did you know that more than cappuccino machines, most workers just want the freedom to do solo, distraction-free work?  So why not give them what they want this 4th of July?

The reason workers want solo, distraction-free work time is more than just wanting to get out of meetings and collaborative work.  Rather, it’s wanting time to just work, to check things off their to-do lists, to actually accomplish something in the midst of all the office chaos and drama.  Anyone who has spent a single hour in an office knows how difficult being productive can be, especially if it’s an open office floor plan.  From overly loud sales guys to excessive text messaging to chatty co-workers, it’s nearly impossible to get a full day’s work in.  Actually, it is impossible- the average worker is distracted more than 2 hours every day.  And once distracted, it takes minutes to get back on track…and who can really say how much in the game the brain really is after 70 interruptions a day?

Enter sound masking, the best way to facilitate distraction-free solo work.  Sound masking is the use of white noise to cover, or mask, unwanted noise so that even nearby conversations are rendered unintelligible.  The result of this use of sound is that the brain cannot focus on any one distraction and can stay more tuned in to work. Many people wonder about using sound to combat sound, but rest assured that sound masking is loud enough to drown out conversational distractions, but quiet enough to not be annoying or to impede work-related interaction.  So, unlike headphones or strict rules about noise (that are unlikely to be followed), sound masking still allows for discussions and collaboration when necessary. And, according to many studies, your workers will thank you for it.

Offices can be chaotic and too loud to get any real work done.  That’s where sound masking comes in- it gives your workers the freedom to be productive, which is what they really want.

How can we harness technology's advantages without suffering its toll?

Average Distraction Levels

Most workers clock in at 9 and out at 5, which should add up to 8 hours, minus lunch.  However, most studies are showing that nowhere near 7-8 hours of work are being done in any work place.  Why?

Well, let’s break down the typical day at work:

• Workers are interrupted as many as 11 times an hour, with managers at about 6 times/hour and cubicle workers as much as 70 times a day!
• It takes most workers 5 minutes to get back on track
• This usually adds up to 2 hours per worker every day

Two hours per worker per day costs businesses around $600 billion a year.  That’s a staggering number, especially so since your business is not immune.  Now, it’s only fair to say that many interruptions are self-imposed or simply part of the job, such as having an open door for your employees when they need you.  However, these types of interruptions do not cover the entirety of those 2 hours per worker per day.  In fact, many polled workers state that office noise is just as much to blame.  Most are frustrated, and all but a few are less productive as a result of it.  From office gossip to personal calls to texts zinging in, office noise is at an all-time high.  And staying plugged in seems to be the name of the game.

What can you do to help your workers stay more focused on work-related tasks?

Since shutting off all distracting electronics would pretty much shut down business for the day, is there anything you can do?  Yes. Sound masking.  Truly a simple approach, sound masking is the use of white noise to cover the distracting/intrusive sounds in the typical office.  Workers can still take care of their own business, but not feel captive to others’ conversations and noise.  Basically, the white noise is run through speakers mounted directly in the ceiling tiles- many systems have paging and music systems, as well.  So, all in all, sound masking is a quick, non-invasive solution for recovering all those lost hours.

Rather than blame technology for distraction and loss of productivity, take advantage of it with sound masking!

When we think of our college experience, we usually equate it with some of our best and worst memories.  We made lifelong friends, possibly met the love of our life, and hopefully left with a degree that enabled us to get a job that we enjoy.  For most of us, college lasted 4 (okay, maybe 5 or 6) years and then we were done.  However, for some, the whole university gig  lasts a whole lot longer.  Certainly professors spend more than 4-6 years “in college,” as do teaching assistants and other lecturers.  These guys spend lots of time in their offices for office hours (meeting with students and generally being available), as well as for personal study, reading, and writing of journal articles and even books.  And there are also graduate students, both at the masters and PhD level.  Dependent upon the program, many of those students have an on-campus office in which the study, read, and hopefully write their dissertations and theses.  All in all, there are many individuals who spend a great deal of time in an on-campus office.

Most on-campus offices are anything but sweet.

Unfortunately, most universities do not have the funding to equip lavish office set-ups.  Graduate students either get a corner or share a communal office, while the more distinguished professors and lecturers might have a tiny office to themselves.  The problem with so many people crammed in so few offices is simple: noise.  College and noise usually go hand in had, but this type of noise is not the result partying and drunkenness.  No, this noise is quite a bit more subtle, yet just as insidious because it is horribly distracting.  Whether you’re a top professor in the field or a lowly student, focus is essential, and nothing kills focus quite like a peer typing loudly or a meeting next door.  It is irritatingly distracting, to the point that it’s hard to read or write without interruption.

A simple solution is sound masking.  Businesses use it to reduce distractions to enable their employees to be more productive.  Why wouldn’t university business be just as important?  After all, university rankings are largely based on the success of their faculty and their student placement.  Supporting professors and students is in everyone’s best interest.  And sound masking is a low-cost solution in that the system itself is quite affordable and no structural or aesthetic changes are required, nor is there maintenance.

In terms of bang for your buck, a sound masking system is the fastest, most effective means of reducing noise, and therefore distraction.  And reducing distraction can only help our scholars publish their work and make a better world.

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.