Of all the things a workplace needs to be productive, a bit of quiet is further up the list than you’d think.
A noisy work environment was shown to be the number two reason for low productivity in a recent study, so it’s important to reduce noise as much as possible.
Contributing to a negative mental wellbeing, lowing productivity and even causing damage to employees hearing – noise is a nuisance that should be dealt with accordingly, but how?
As experts in acoustics and sound engineering, we’re here to let you know the best ways to reduce workplace noise and increase the productivity of your valued employees.
Review Your Workplace Design
Designing the workspace can go a long way to helping reduce noise pollution that could harm your employees’ wellbeing and productivity. It’s a common misconception that an open plan office is the best way forward.
It’s true that encourages collaboration and openness and presents an inclusive environment, but it doesn’t do anything to help with noise control. Without buffers within the room, noise travels unencumbered throughout the space.
It’s best to ensure that you have designated areas for louder activities, like meetings or brainstorming sessions, as well as quieter areas or booths for ‘quiet’ work that requires more concentration.
Using dividers to section off departments can also help, especially on sales floors with other departments in the same room.
Select the Right Furniture
One aspect you probably haven’t considered in your quest to absorb and control noise in the office environment is furniture.
Having a minimalistic approach can work wonders aesthetically, but without furniture to absorb some of the everyday office sounds, it might not be the productive.
Thanks, in part, to the modern-day trend of open plan office design, there’s a whole host of furniture that’s specifically designed to help with noise levels. Aptly named acoustic furniture, the sound-absorbing sofas, chairs and other items have specially crafted dimensions and are constructed from specialist fibres and materials in order to maximise their sound absorption.
As well as the office furniture, you can also think about installing fixtures that can absorb sound. Baffles and horizontally suspended ceiling clouds are both great ways to naturally and easier reduce office noise.
Add Ambient Noise
What better way to drown out the chatter of colleagues than with some ambient noise? As a recent study shows, we find it much harder to tune out the varied rhythms and volumes of speech than the consistency of ambient noise.
There are several great ways to reduce the overall noise levels in your office using the methods we’ve outlined, but actually increasing the noise by using masking sounds of low-level ambient noise can be just as effective.
Hire the Experts
As well as hiring professional experts in acoustics such as Nova Acoustics to produce a noise at work survey to ensure that your company adheres to the legal noise safety guidelines, you can also hire experts to maximise the noise control you can achieve in your office space.
With expert knowledge in how to drown out and absorb noise using layout, furniture and other techniques, the noise experts are always on hand to help you make your workplace a more productive and happier environment.
