When you ask a person if they would rather work in a quiet or a noisy environment, it’s not even a serious question – even the most extroverted person will choose the quieter variant. Still, while everyone knows that this is preferable, people often underestimate the importance of a quiet office.
- Sure, it’s good, but how good?
- Perhaps even more importantly, how bad is the noise exactly?
Here’s what you need to know about the importance of acoustics for the working environment.
- Productivity
Imagine trying to work while something is buzzing in the background. Sure, it’s not impossible, and after a while, your ears will “adjust” to the sound, allowing it to blend into the background, but the effect will never be the same. First, the anxiety and stress levels will still build up, making you less productive overall.
In a quiet room, you’ll easily focus on a single task. While we did say that you can “get used to” the background noise, this is not the whole truth. In reality, a part of your brain will still have to process it, which restricts you from giving it your 100%.
Another thing you should consider is the duration of your attention span. With fewer distractions, you’ll be able to focus your attention longer. Some tasks require continuous cognitive effort. This is especially important when there’s a complex problem to be solved.
Ultimately, productivity heavily relies on efficient communication. You won’t be able to pull this off as effectively in a noisy environment. Even when typing, interfering noises make you mistype or type out the wrong word (something you’ve just heard in the background and not something you meant to type).
- More pleasant work environment
The previous section briefly mentioned how a noisy work environment builds stress levels. This is not just bad for productivity, but it also makes your employees feel worse by default. Soon, even though they may not make that mental connection, they’ll figure out that the atmosphere in your office is not pleasant. This can harm your talent retention efforts quite a bit. Fortunately, it’s a problem that you can solve with just a few acoustic panels.
Well-being is not the only factor contributing to high talent retention in your office. The factor of confidentiality matters, as well. Improved acoustic spaces improve privacy in the office. When there’s no echo, being quiet means that others probably won’t be able to eavesdrop on your conversation.
Have you ever tried speaking in a nightclub? Sure, the person you were talking to might have been pleasant, but how do you assess the conversation (objectively)? Probably not that great. Collaborative spaces become more efficient with great acoustics because of better conversation acoustics.
- Keeping the overall noise levels down
An office is a busy and noisy place. Printers are buzzing; people are chatting (even if it’s just a whisper, there are many people here), foot traffic, and more. The thing is that there’s an acceptable noise level, and there’s noise that’s so distracting that it makes people lose productivity, feel anxious, and, overall, lose focus. Remember that while you can’t eliminate these noise sources, you can do quite a bit to keep the noise down.
There are a few things you need to consider. First, you need to think about the sound source. For instance, dividers (like the ones in the cubicle office) will do the trick when chatting. Furniture, in general, absorbs the noise. Different materials and surfaces can also make the room quieter.
The size and shape of the room will affect the noise levels. Things like reverberation and echo are important factors to consider. Now, having many people working in a small environment will always be noisy, but noise levels are always manageable. With the right acoustic redesigning, while the room may not become quiet, it will become quieter than it was.
- Sound insulation
Some office spaces are located downtown, and there’s too much external traffic for the room to stay quiet. This is why you need to consider blocking external noises through sound insulation. If it’s not an open office, but you have smaller rooms/office spaces on the floor, you might also want to consider adding additional soundproofing to these internal rooms.
Previously, we’ve talked about acoustic panels, but if you want to make the wall thicker, you can just go with the drywall. The problem is that these office spaces are usually rented, so you’ll have to get permission for renovation and negotiate a better deal. After all, you’re investing in someone else’s property and want it deducted from your rent. Remember that you’re undergoing an effort, so it’s not simple 1:1 cost-to-rent-deduction.
If you’re just moving into a new office, you can always use the level of insulation as a factor.
- Health and well-being
We’ve already alluded that noise causes stress, but how much are we discussing, and why is it such a big problem? Well, it’s not just about the exposure. It’s about exposure over a long time.
Let’s be honest about it if you had to pinpoint one area where you spend most of your time, it would probably be your office, wouldn’t it? After all, you’re spending 6-10 hours in the office, and when you consider that you sleep at least 6-8 hours, this is more than half of your day. Spending this much time exposed to noise will harm you in the long run.
Sure, there are many things you can try to relieve stress.
You might even suffer from hearing impairment if the noise is particularly loud. As an employer or a manager, you must do all possible to prevent this. This is not just an employer’s moral and ethical responsibility but may also be regulated.
Wrap up
Overall, having a quiet office is much better than suffering stress, anxiety, and productivity fall due to loud noise. The best part is that these soundproofing or acoustic-improvement projects are done just once, and you reap the benefits in perpetuity. This alone ensures an amazing ROI, and it’s also worth a quality-of-life investment.