Noise Costs

Yes it’s true, noise is distracting, 70% of workers indicated that they felt that if their workplace were less noisy they would have increased work productivity, according to a study conducted by the American Society of Interior Designers.

I sometimes wonder why we need to have someone else tell us what we already know. It seems that it is obvious that noisy environments result in decreased productivity. Yet despite many of us realizing this, we do not always consider this in planning our work environments.

While common sense may seem to be enough to make a decision, when it comes to spending money, sometimes we are asked for something more tangible than our beliefs to show that the investment will bring a positive return.

Think about your day, think about the times a loud conversation, a sound like a buzzer or ring, or even noise from outside your office broke your concentration. If the noise persisted you might spend some time being irritated and swearing to yourself or to an adjacent (and now also distracted) colleague about the completely worthless human being who was in some way responsible for this sound. Eventually the distraction passes and you return to your work.

How much time did you lose? How much frustration did you experience? Maybe you only lost a minute or two, but it adds up through the day and though the year and is compounded when others in your company are distracted by sounds too.

The noise problem is exacerbated by the increased move toward open office plans and shared space. While these designs have many other benefits, the acoustics issue must be addressed for this type of office to function at an optimum level.

So what can be done about all of this bothersome noise? First we must acknowledge that it is not something that we need to endure. We (the human workforce) are good at adapting, sometimes so good that we forget that we can be doing more to make the environment adapt to us. Additional impetus for resolving this issue comes in recognizing that noise is more than just an annoyance, noise is costing us money.

Now that we’ve identified the problem, we can devise a solution. Sound solutions can start with a simple examination of where the distractions are coming from. The ideal time to address these issues is in the planning stage of your office design or refurbishment, but smaller changes can reap benefits as well. Start with moving noisy fax machines, copiers and printers to an enclosed area, or adding some acoustic panels to existing walls.

If the problem is more serious, it might be worth examining what it is really costing you. Investments in environmental improvements are shown to pay for themselves again and again and in addition to increasing your profits (an easy thing to measure) you end up in space where you feel better. Feeling better may be a result that is not easy to quantify, but it can be the biggest reward of all.