Office Noise Management 101: Tips to Reduce Noise and Improve Focus | Every office is a story of its own. There are offices filled with cubicles where every employee sits in front of a desk and a computer, there are open offices that are cubicle-free and there are those new, more relaxed offices that resemble your living room and study. The concepts don’t end there. However, there is a problem that is often common to each and every office around – too much noise. People become loud and invade each other’s privacy which ultimately doesn’t bring anything good. So, let’s take a look at how you can reduce noise in your workplace.
Special headphones
Reducing noise in the office is really easy if the company is willing to buy noise-canceling headphones and give them out to their employees. The gist here is to aim at quality manufacturers since cheap knock-offs don’t do a good job. On the other hand, various renowned brands claim that their products can eliminate noise 100%. They use microphones and special processing to produce an opposite sound wave that is facing the wave headed to your ear. Sounds crazy? Well, that’s the modern-day technology.
Noise-friendly flooring and glazing technology
Flooring and windows are really important when it comes to noise levels. For example, if these are made of wood, you are bound to hear quite a lot of noise. Porcelain and ceramic may look nice but they are awful when it comes to noise pollution too. On the other hand, laying down a carpet or going for vinyl flooring is a great idea since they serve as ideal flooring solutions for noise reduction. Also, windows are usually a huge source of noise penetration in a building and everything that comes from the outside will be heard inside if your office doesn’t have good windows. However, there is a solution offered by a company that does retrofit double glazing in Perth. Their concept revolves around the additional system that stops air leaks and has a large air cavity to buffer the noise. They apply this concept both to windows and doors.
Introduce quiet spaces
This is similar to a quiet car on a train. Some companies use an empty office room or unused conference room and transform it into a so-called quiet room. Employees visit that room whenever they need 100% of their focus. And that usually happens when there is an important task or project that needs to be dealt with immediately. Of course, the idea is that no one makes noise here so these places are made for non-group work. In turn, employees’ productivity increases and they get things done.
Introduce loud space
It’s not a joke. It’s a good idea. Contrary to the quiet space, a company can decide and designate areas in the office that actually stimulate employees to interact and discuss various things with each other. There are game rooms, lunch areas, and even phone rooms and they all send a message to employees that there are rooms where talk is okay and there are rooms where talk simply isn’t okay and shouldn’t happen. When one has a lot of work to do, one needs to be at their desk working. Talking while doing that work is never a good idea because that only makes an employee scruffy and that can result in even more work that consists of correcting what has been done badly.
Ask nature for help
Bringing in plants and placing them wisely can help. Mother Nature is always there for us and this is no exception. Well-placed plants are quite efficient when it comes to noise reduction in an office. The bigger the plant, the greater the impact. On top of that, the office will look better and the air quality will improve.
Conclusion
No work can be done without focus and everyone needs to vent every once in a while. That is quite clear. That’s why it would be good to at least consider a method or two from the list and help your employees feel better at their workplace.
