I’ll take a mocha frappucino and 2 more productive hours, please

Did you know that some workers have to actually leave work to be productive?  They find that leaving all the office distractions behind and working from home or even at Starbuck’s.  Phenomenal- having to escape work to actually work.  Now why is that?  Well, the average worker in an open-style office:

• Is distracted more than 2 hours a day
• Gets interrupted more than 70 times per day
• Struggles to stay focused more than 30 minutes at a time
• Suffers from stress and fatigue
• Experience high levels of stress
• Made 40 percent fewer attempts to solve difficult problems
• Make only half as many ergonomic adjustments to their workstations as did their colleagues in quiet offices, resulting in an increase in repetitive strain injuries (such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) and workers’ comp claims.

Go figure they’d have to leave the cramped, not to mention distracting, quarters of the cubicle farm to be productive.

So what can you do about it?

Your job as a manager is to minimize distractions so your employees can maximize their work.  You have several options: the quiet game, addition of walls and sound-absorbing paneling, or covering sound with sound masking.  I think we can agree that the quiet game is out, though always a fun choice.  Adding walls and paneling is expensive, doesn’t always line up with design aesthetics, and also contributes to VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) and/or the collection of dust mites or allergens.  That leaves us with sound masking- an invisible noise solution (like white noise) tucked away in the ceiling.  Most sound masking systems are easy to install and very low-maintenance.

In times like these, every hour counts.  Survey your options and help your employees return to work.