Office Noise

US businesses lose $600 billion a year to distractions.

If you knew there was a problem that cost US businesses $600 billion a year, would you be concerned?  What if you knew that problem could be resolved?  How likely would you be to find and implement that solution?  I imagine most managers wouldn’t rest until they knew what the problem was and how to fix it.

Problem: Office Distractions

Solution: Better Focus through white noise machines

Office distractions might not seem as sinister as they really are.  Can water cooler gossip, loud sales guys, and slamming doors really cost us $600 billion?  Yes.  When you add up all those little and medium-sized noises over the course of a day, you end up seeing that the average employee is distracted more than 2 hours a day.  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.  Loss of time is loss of productivity, and loss of productivity is loss of money.  In this economy, nay in any economy, loss of money is never good.

Now, back to the solution.  Instead of banning conversation or anything of a decibel level over a pin dropping, you can cover sound.  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 barin 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 sage to invest in a few 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 system.

Do you struggle with distraction at work?  Chances are you do.  In fact, most people are distracted more than 2 hours every day.  What could you do with 2 more hours every day?  Now, what could your business do with 2 more hours per employee??

3 Uses of White Noise in the Office

How do you regain lost time in the office?  Well, you can’t ban cell phones and texting, but you can take control of all the noise heard round the office.  Rather than try to control noise, why not moderate it?  With white noise, you actually add noise to tune out noise.  By adding low-level unstructured noise from all over the sound spectrum, you allow your brain to tune out potentially distracting sounds and focus in on work.  Here are 3 common uses of white noise.

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  An emitter, or speaker, for a sound masking system

  Free White Noise Generator: a free online generator that can be customized by the user.

• Sonet Sound System: A great individual solution for noise that is even and effective and doesn’t require any specialized knowledge.
• Sound Masking: The best office-wide sound solution with invisible uniform distribution through speakers in the ceiling tiles.

Choosing which form of white noise to implement is largely dependent upon how large a group you need coverage for.  Ideally, every office would install sound masking, thus protecting the time of every employee.  However, not all businesses have a budget to cover that and some companies have opted for individual systems, such as the Sonet.  The main difference is how much space is treated.  It’s up to you to decide what your company needs and how valuable your time is.

Do your employees struggle to stay focused or to meet deadlines?  Most workers are distracted more than 2 hours every day.  It could be co-worker chatter, phone calls, constant computer correspondence, and the list goes on forever.  Regardless of the cause, most workers feel frustrated by the end of the day, having accomplished little on their to-do list, knowing that tomorrow will likely be no better.  For some, it’s a monotonous cycle of chasing a seemingly elusive goal or deadline, while for others, it means extra nights and weekends and less time with family and friends.  You can see the problem.

2 Tips for Increasing Focus and Productivity

Part of increasing productivity is making the office more work-friendly.  Here are 2 easy ways to do just that.

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  It's important for workers to feel like they have time to work and not to be distracted.

  Time Blocking.  Some go-getter, self-motivated employees will do this for themselves, but most will simply get caught in the rut of feeling unproductive and therefore living a self-fulfilling prophecy.  You should encourage time blocking for your staff.  Whether it’s an office-wide plan or open to individualization, allow your employees the opportunity to set certain boundaries on when they’re going to work on what.  For instance, it may be that the first hour of the day is spent checking and prioritizing emails and messages.  Then, the next 2 hours are spent isolated in a conference room for a specific project.  Or, it could be that certain teams need to meet at a mutually agreed upon time and they set up in a private room.  Whatever the routine is, every employee needs to know that he or she will have time to get to their actual work.

• Sound Masking.  It’s one of those counter-intuitive things, kind of like children sleeping well at night often makes them more likely to sleep well during the day. Similarly, adding noise to a noisy office actually helps your brain focus.  By adding soft unstructured noise to the office, the brain is able to focus on that consistent noise instead of the millions of diverse, and therefore distracting, sounds surrounding them.  The result is more engaged, productive workers.

Regardless of the economy, workers are distracted.  So, in these tough times, loss of productivity hurts even more. Enable your workers to get focused by allowing them freedom to schedule out blocks of time and by decreasing office noise.

So often we complain about noise problems in relation to the accompanying distractions and loss of productivity.  While noise-related distraction is indeed a problem (since it costs businesses $600 billion a year), so are breaches of confidentiality.  There are many businesses and facilities that  require privacy and a certain degree of trust and mutual respect.

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  There are times when privacy is essential.

  Doctors’ offices

• Hospitals
• medical facilities
• Boardrooms
• Churches
• Counseling
• Government
• Military
• Call Centers

Whether a patient is sharing personal history details, a rape victim is reliving her trauma through much-needed counseling, a board of directors is planning its next move, or a caller is giving credit card information, each party needs to feel that their words are safeguarded from the wrong ears.

Sound Masking

In addition to noise coverage, sound masking provides a high level of privacy and confidentiality, as measured by the Privacy Index.  Rather than mute the conversations taking place through highly distracting means, low-level white noise is added through speakers mounted directly in the ceiling tiles.  The white noise renders the conversations unintelligible to the degree that every party is covered ad protected.

For better understanding, think of how much a flash light stands out in a dark room.  However, if you turn on even low lighting, the beam of the flash light is much less noticeable.  Similarly, by adding some low-level noise to the atmosphere, the important conversations taking place are much less likely to be overheard.  Adding the right amount of noise ensures privacy.

Rather than whisper, look over shoulders, or altogether decline having sensitive speech, why not try sound masking?

Instead of hiring a company masseuse, a few effective ergonomic adjustments could be made. (Although a masseuse would be nice....)

Some common reasons for lack of productivity are  distractions. In fact, studies have shown that distractions cause up to 2 hours a day of lost productivity which costs  companies $759 billion a year. So, one of the ways that would (hopefully) make a noticeable difference is to cut down on those distractions.

Ask your workers what is distracting them and then think of ways to help them overcome those. Is office noise and conversations constantly breaking their train of thought? Installing sound masking could help with that. Are constant emails and new email notifications a problem? Some software that minimizes that would help. Perhaps by the end of the day your employees shoulders and wrists are aching from sitting in front of the computer all day. A few ergonomic adjustments could go a long way in solving that and allowing them to focus on their working instead of tight muscles.

You won’t know how to implement effective solutions unless you know what the problem is. So, go ahead, ask your employees how you can help them work better and with less stress.

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?

Another experience I had with an effective brand space was a mother’s lounge in Tesco Supermarkets. They offered a private place to feed baby, a selection of their brand of diapers for changing the baby, and some other activities for a toddler to do while mommy is feeding the baby. I will admit to going back to that store numerous times in part because of that one room in their store.

Is there some way you could utilize a brand space to promote your company or product? It doesn’t have to be child- related to be effective. The examples I mentioned above are empathetic brand spaces–spaces used to help a person out. Some other types are brand spaces used for trying things out or for learning things. The one that comes to mind first for me are Apple Stores. Not only are you able to hold and use all their gadgets in the stores, they also offer free workshops about their products and how to utilize them in their customer’s lives.

Think about how you and your company are uniquely capable of helping people and create an experience based on that. It’s very effective advertising, and you know word travels!

What lengths would you go to to deal with office noise?

I work in an open-plan office which is shared by several disparate teams. What the team on the other side of my partition actually do[es] I know not, other than that it appears to be something hilarious as their conversations are frequently punctuated by loud laughter that reverberates around the entire floorplace. I’ve tried looking daggers at them whenever a particularly noisy guffaw interrupts my train of concentration, but I am tempted to ask of them: “If there’s a joke, let’s all share it!” Can you suggest an alternative approach?
Louisa Radice, Exeter

Stunning Stentor! Lord of the loud-mouths. Red ear-plugs, as worn by tractor drivers? Wax from the chemist? To work in open-plan one has to cultivate an invisible carapace that cuts out extraneous noise. It is the job of the manager to cut out stentorian uproar that distracts others from their work. For Puck’s sake do not look daggers. You will make your neighbours laugh louder, and get yourself a reputation as a spoilsport and a prude.

I have to agree.  While the complaint is noteworthy, the response is dead-on: It is the job of the manager to cut out stentorian uproar that distracts others from their work.

Attention, all managers!

Did you know that your employees look to you to solve office noise issues?  The average employee loses more than 2 hours every day because of distractions like the one described above.  Interestingly, most employees do not appreciate this loss.  Your job is to keep your workers focused- not by micro-managing, but through reasonable means, such as sound masking.  Sound masking is the use of white noise to help your employees tune out irritating distracting noises so they can focus on their work.  Many sound masking systems can be installed directly in the ceiling tiles themselves, so while highly effective, they are practically invisible.

Distractions cost businesses over $500 billion every year, possibly as much as $700 billion.  What do you want to bet your company has a piece of that?

If you answered no, then you are in a small minority indeed.  The fact of the matter is that national averages show that between $500 and $700 billion are lost each year as a result of office distractions, such as a noisy environment.  Office noise may be as simple as whirring machines or as complicated as intermittent conversations and sales calls.  And while much office noise can be contributed to the employees themselves, most employees do complain about it because it keeps them from completing their tasks quickly or effectively.  In fact, many employees lose their evenings and weekends due to unfinished work.

What can you do about office noise?  You can’t exactly ban sales calls or unplug crucial machinery to provide a silent office.  Actually, most workers find that silence is even deadlier than too much noise.  (Can you imagine what the loss to productivity would be if it’s even worse than the $500-$700 billion problem of distraction??)  It may seem as if it’s a catch 22 and nothing will work.  That’s where you are (happily) wrong!

White Noise and Sound Masking

Rather than silence noisy distractions, why not cover them?  That way workers are focused on their tasks without feeling nervous about a sterile environment.  I offer you 2 simple solutions.

1. Sound Masking.  Sound masking is the emission of white noise through speakers mounted within the ceiling tiles.  This white noise (like all white noise) is loud enough to cover distractions and even provide greater privacy levels.  You could treat as many areas as you like with no aesthetic change since the speakers are practically invisible.
2. However, if office-wide coverage is not in your budget (though with billions of dollars of loss, it may need to be), it might be time to consider individual white noise systems, such as the Sonet.  The Sonet System is also highly effective, but on an individualized basis.

To determine what you need, you might want to take a day to spend in the common office area(s).  Check out how much noise there really is, where’s it’s coming from, and how distracting it is.  As you survey your noise problem, you’ll know whether you need a larger or smaller system.

All parents want the best for their kids.  Just look at Baby Einstein.  From the moment our little angels utter their first syllables, we’re all sure they’re geniuses.  We start wondering what schools to send them to and what grade point average they’ll graduate from Harvard with.  Most of our children end up attending some series of public, or possibly private, schools in which even the most dedicated pupils will probably struggle to learn.

Why you ask?

Sound masking

Many people assume it’s poor curriculum or less than passionate teachers.  Others assume it’s inherent in the system.  That may all be true, in part or whole, but often there’s an even subtler problem that distracts many students every day.  That problem is noise.  Unfortunately, the quiet game isn’t possible at a junior high or high school level.  However, there is a simple solution: sound masking.  Sound masking is the use of low-level background noise to cover louder, more distracting sounds, such as rambuctious kids or even teachers in adjacent classrooms.

I can't remember the last time I saw a classroom like this. And I was a good teacher.

Imagine that one class is taking a test, a test that will determine their final grade in a class they’ve invested a semester into.  Now imagine that the class next door took their test yesterday and are now playing a distracting game of Mafia.  How focused on the test is your child?  Besides checking that teacher’s lesson’s plans, another option would be sound masking.  With sound masking, just enough background sound the human brain can tune out even the worst of distractions.

Freeing up your child’s brain can go a long way in helping him or her succeed in school.  Isn’t it nice to know that there is a simple way to do just that?