When it comes to working in an office, there are many factors that can hinder productivity. But the main factor is noise.
Now we are not saying absolute silence is the answer, however, excessive noise levels can harm productivity, well-being, happiness and our physical health.
Nowadays, many offices comprise of open-plan spaces with materials that tend of reflect sounds and create harsh echoes. And while open-plan offices are great for a more collaborative approach, they aren’t so effective for individual productivity levels. And as they don’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon, there are ways we can help to reduce the acoustics to better enhance productivity, rather than hinder.
Let’s take a look:
Excess noise leads to stressful working environments
When exposed to loud and prolonged sounds, physiologic stress can be triggered in our bodies, such as high blood pressure and increased heart rate. Even being exposed to intermittent loud noises can lead to higher long-term stress and hypertension. By trying to block out the noise without any help or assistance, you’re having to work much harder to ignore the sound, and so therefore increasing your own stress levels.
Conversations can disrupt concentration
Whilst open plan offices have been designed so employees can work collaboratively together by sharing and communicating openly; a simple conversation between two colleagues can be very disruptive to your own workload. Even if you don’t want to listen to a particular conversation, without some way of blocking out the sound, you will find yourself listening to it, and in doing so, being unable to listing to your own inner voice. This inability to hear yourself think further hinders productivity as your focus is now elsewhere.
Background music can be as bad as talking
Unless you have some form of white noise or background music choice, having music on in the background can be just as distracting as a conversation. Unless you are focusing on a repetitive task that may benefit from music, you might find yourself drawn into the words of the song which can hinder tasks that require some form of retention of information.
And for those who use earphones to pull away from office noise, they might find the increase in decibels damaging to the ear drum – by having sounds closer to the inner ear the sound levels are increased significantly and can disrupt soundwaves being relayed to the brain.
Sound affects motivation and ergonomics
Too much noise can cause many employees to slouch in their chairs as a way of reducing the noise volume surrounding them. By crouching lower to the desk, the sounds appear less obvious. However, in doing so, your body is at risk of musculoskeletal disorders. Behaving in this way can also encourage a lack of motivation for the task at hand. As slouching can lead to increased levels of lethargy, which in turn hinders productivity.
Office acoustics products can trap sound
A great way to trap sound waves and stop noise levels from building up too high is through office acoustic products such as office partitions between desks or even room dividers to break up the space further. Not only are these a great way to create designated workspaces for each employee, they are great for sound absorbing purposes too. Alternatively, acoustic sound panels can be wall mounted, free standing or suspended from ceilings to improve concentration through their sound absorbing qualities.
Improve your office acoustics with Presentation Spaces
Noise is a stressor. Fact. Exposure to excessive noise levels can raise blood pressure and increase stress levels significantly; it can prove distracting, disruptive, and it can also affect motivation and our physical bodies. Not the best outcome when looking to improve productivity within the workplace. However, there are ways and means to help reduce noise levels in an office, and therefore increase productivity. You simply have to give thought to your office environment and look to improve the acoustics through some clever sound absorbing products.
If you think the acoustics within your office environment are harming employee productivity and wellbeing, we at Presentation Spaces believe we can help. We have many different products to help boost productivity; our office acoustic products including acoustic panels and sound absorbing office partitions are the perfect choice to help with the noise levels.
Whatever you are looking for, we are confident we are able to supply you with just what you need. Call us on 01382 913 913 or contact us with an enquiry and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
