Being able to hear clearly in your office is very important, but to overhear another’s conversation and having your conversations overheard is very annoying and unproductive.
In fact, according to a study by office furniture manufacturer Steelcase more than 70% of workers believe noise is the most significant workplace distraction. More than 80% believe a quieter environment would increase their productivity. Of the distractions, workers say conversations are the noise that most affect their performance.
That is why many office managers turn to me and my affiliate partner, Norm Gruskin of Lencore, for help within the office environment. That’s right, by adding sound to one’s environment and increasing the ambient background noise level of the office, we can mask conversations and increase the privacy level of most spaces.
I know it’s ironic to hear about sound masking after we’ve recently talked about a collaborative work environment. But, as an office and workspace specialist for more than 40 years, my job is to help companies find a better acoustical balance that facilitates efficient workflow.
Locally, some Lencore installations include Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Bank of America, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FPL, JM Family Enterprises, AutoNation, as well as almost every large law firm in the Miami-Dade area
Don’t put your employees through unnecessary workplace noise scenarios. Remember they are your biggest expense in doing business, more so than your rent or power bills. Here are two ideas to improve your office acoustics, thereby increasing worker productivity:
- ACOUSTIC DESIGN– Some people think it’s enough to add partitions or carpets to spaces to quiet a room, but the true problem is that the space is too quiet and therefore everything can be heard. With today’s technology computers are quieter, HVAC systems are quieter, and printers also make little noise. Consequently, to achieve speech privacy, sound must be added to the space to increase the ambient background level.
Today’s technology not only allows speech privacy via sound masking, but we can now incorporate music, paging and emergency notifications to select areas or throughout your space. You will want masking throughout the space, but might want music in the lobby and cafeteria. In case of an emergency you have a responsibility to be able to reach your employees by an overall voice page or via texts and e-mail. In this crazy world we live in we all have to be prepared.
- PRIVACY OPTION – There are differences to consider when choosing a sound masking system. Think about if there are hot and cold spots or if sound is intrusive when walking through the office. If the sounds are annoying and you turn down the system then you have no acoustical privacy. If the sound is not adjusted properly or tuned, it can become intrusive and create an uncomfortable environment.
An experienced office furniture specialist (like me) who surrounds himself with other specialists in different fields, can help you choose the right solution to remove workplace distractions and increase worker productivity. Then you will be able to give our most precious assets, your workers, a better place to be from 9-5.
Check out his video from Lencore to get a better understanding of how sound masking works: VIDEO
Using the proper sound masking system and creating a better acoustical office environment is proven to help increase productivity and make a more pleasant work environment. Call or e-mail me if you want to create a better, more productive, private work environment for yourself and your employees.