The open-plan office brings many benefits to businesses, including increased communication and easier collaboration between team members. Unfortunately, it also has many negatives – such as the distractions from open-plan office noise.
Common open office noise annoyances include:
- Colleagues’ telephone conversations
- Personal conversations
- Sudden laughter
- Telephone ringtones
- Doors slamming
- Eating noises
- Business conversations
- Coughing, sneezing, sniffing, and
- Music
When you consider that it takes employees around 15 minutes to regain focus once they are interrupted, you can see that these distractions result in a substantial amount of lost productivity. Many people use noise-cancelling headphones as a solution – which defeats the purpose of an open-plan office!
It’s not just the distracting nature of office noise that causes problems. In a recent survey, 64% of respondents said they suffer from a lack of privacy at work. 51% stated they overheard sensitive information, and over half of the respondents were reluctant to speak about confidential business-sensitive or personal issues for fear they would be overheard.
So, what can be done to help employees who suffer from noise in an open office situation? Plenty!
How to soundproof an open office?
Avenue Interior Systems offer a range of discreet commercial noise control solutions. Our desk dividers and booths still allow for open office collaboration but absorb excess noise and create individual workspaces that improve privacy and office soundproofing.
Our office noise reduction office products include:
Alternatively, if ‘discreet’ is not what you’re looking for, we can turn your acoustic solution into a piece of art! Read our blog article Acoustic Panels Your Way to see how we can turn an acoustic panel into a feature in your space.
For more information on how we can help you improve productivity in your office space,
contact the team at Avenue Interior Systems today on 1300 827 177.
