A Cornell study found the following to be true (emphasis mine):

The environmental psychologists found that the workers in the noisy office experienced significantly higher levels of stress (as measured by urinary epinephrine), made 40 percent fewer attempts to solve an unsolvable puzzle and made only half as many ergonomic adjustments to their workstations as did their colleagues in quiet offices. Typing performance, however, was not affected.

With a cut-throat economy and the need for creative solutions, now is not the time to increase stress, while simultaneously decreasing the ability to problem-solve and make needed adjustments to one’s workspace.  If you need your employees just to type, then you don’t need to worry about acoustic treatments, so that’s good news.  Otherwise, you might want to consider making acoustic adjustments so your employees can make the adjustments necessary to get their work done.  Interestingly, the same study reported (emphasis mine):

“In terms of practice, our findings are potentially important, because if worker motivation is lower under open-office noise because of its uncontrollability, various design options could be adopted. For example, when concentration is required, workers might use a quiet, enclosed room or sound-making devices that they would control. These kinds of measures might help alleviate the harmful effects of open-office noise on workers.”

There are a variety of sound masking units and systems currently available on the market.  Some can be installed office-wide and others can be installed for individual use and adjustment.  Either way, sound masking is a relatively simple and cost effective measure to take for you and your employees to get the most out of each work day.

Businesses have fewer resources but clients who demand better service.  Every manager is looking for ways to cut costs and somehow not cut corners.  How can you get more from less? 

Maximizing the resource you have

Let’s face it, in an open office sound carries.  As one Cornell study found, “as sound levels increase, the complexity of the task one can complete generally decreases.”  In addition, they found that high levels of noise generally lead to higher levels of fatigue and irritability.  So, you get less or at least worse work from tired and stressed employees. 

The same Cornell study also stated that the best way to contend with excessive noise is by using a sound-masking system.  Sound-masking provides a uniform and low-level background noise to cancel out unwanted distractions, thus enabling your workers to produce higher-quality work in less time.

Without hiring any new staff, you can increase your company’s productivity exponentially by reclaiming the time lost due to unnecessary distractions. Don’t you think it’s worth maximizing your workers’ time? 

Mardex, Justin. (2004) Auditory, visual, and physical distractions in the workplace.  Retrieved August 17, 2009 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/13038258/Auditory-visual-and-physical-distractions-in-the-workplace

Cutting costs doesn’t mean cutting corners

Businesses have fewer resources but clients who demand better service.  Every manager is looking for ways to cut costs and somehow not cut corners.  How can you get more from less? 

Maximizing the resource you have

Let’s face it, in an open office sound carries.  As one Cornell study found, “as sound levels increase, the complexity of the task one can complete generally decreases.”  In addition, they found that high levels of noise generally lead to higher levels of fatigue and irritability.  So, you get less or at least worse work from tired and stressed employees. 

The same Cornell study also stated that the best way to contend with excessive noise is by using a sound masking system.  Sound masking provides a uniform and low-level background noise to cancel out unwanted distractions, thus enabling your workers to produce higher-quality work in less time.

Without hiring any new staff, you can increase your company’s productivity exponentially by reclaiming the time lost due to unnecessary distractions. Don’t you think it’s worth maximizing your workers’ time?

Mardex, Justin. (2004) Auditory, visual, and physical distractions in the workplace.  Retrieved August 17, 2009 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/13038258/Auditory-visual-and-physical-distractions-in-the-workplace