Does office noise affect employee productivity?

There are many factors that affect a person’s ability to work, one of which is noise. First of all, it concerns people engaged in mental work and work that requires complete concentration and accuracy. Therefore, an employer who employs office workers should take care of soundproofing and acoustics of the room.

The architecture and design studio ZIKZAK, together with the company Silence Solutions, has prepared an article that will finally dot all the i’s and cross all the i’s.

Noise in open-plan offices is becoming epidemic proportions. International studies reveal an alarming trend of increasing numbers of office workers suffering from noise pollution. Oxford Economics considers this to be a serious problem that needs close attention.

Compared to previous studies conducted in 2015, an increasing number of employees are intolerant of noise.
The latest studies were conducted by interviewing 500 executives from around the world.
The noise situation is assessed by executives in different ways:
● Only 1% of employees confirm their ability to distance themselves from noise without the use of special means.
● 54% of managers believe their employees are provided with the means to mitigate noise exposure. And only 29% of the subordinates agreed with this statement.
● To concentrate, 75% of employees leave the office.
● 32% use headphones to block out distractions.

During the study, employee dissatisfaction with working conditions was revealed:
● 63% of employees said they couldn’t concentrate, and that reduced productivity and well-being.
● Only 40% of managers see a link between office noise and productivity.
● Only 6% of executives were concerned about equipping the room with noise-absorbing equipment.

The study showed the dependence of revenue growth on the organization of office space. More than 3/4 of the companies with more than 10% revenue, with minimal staff turnover, told about the measures they have taken to combat noise interference and improve acoustics:
● Use of noise-absorbing finishing materials.
● Zoning the space.
● Use of individual headsets.

Sources of sound irritants are divided into intra-office and external (outdoor). The noisiest are large open-space spaces with areas for talking on the phone, socializing, conferences, etc. Two-thirds of employees might work better if the office space were quieter.
The No. 1 complaint is considered distracting noise, which can be divided into three groups:
● Noise created by employees themselves, including conversations, footsteps, and sounds created by moving furniture and closing doors.
● Sounds coming from the technical installations of the building. These include heating, hydraulics, ventilation and air conditioning systems, as well as noise from elevators.
Noise from office equipment, without which it is impossible to organize work in an office. This group includes computers, printers, scanners, servers, shredders, telephones, and other devices.
External sources of noise are sounds from traffic, conversations of passersby and neighboring buildings coming from the street.

Architectural acoustics will provide information security and a comfortable acoustic environment in the office. It is solved with the help of soundproofing technologies and special acoustic finishing.

To create a comfortable acoustic environment, acoustic panels are used:
● Decorative panels;
● Acoustic screens;

● Special boxes;

● State-of-the-art sound absorbers;

● Acoustic baffles;
●Decorative panels;

● Acoustic screens;

● Special boxes;

● Office partitions;

Acoustic decorative panels partially suppress the sound reflected from the walls and ceiling. The overall noise level is reduced by 7-9 dB. The amount of sound-absorbing materials must be balanced. This will ensure speech intelligibility and no unpleasant “wadding” effect, when the endings of words are lost.

Calculation of the amount of materials is carried out by special techniques. According to state regulations, the noise level in offices should not exceed 50 dB. The panels have a high coefficient of sound absorption, available in different shapes and sizes.

Acoustic baffles are elements installed or suspended from the ceiling. They absorb or scatter sound waves and prevent them from propagating. They are porous fibre panels with a fabric covering. In addition to their primary function, they have a decorative role.

The list of noise-absorbing products also includes table and sliding partitions. With their help, you can easily rearrange the space and achieve a sense of privacy. When using office partitions, you can create a zone for relaxing or holding a meeting.