The acoustics in your office can have a profound effect on your staff.
Good acoustics can be fantastic for your workers, whilst an office environment with bad acoustics will have a negative impact on quality and productivity.
Often, acoustics are an issue in open plan offices. Too often, businesses do not wholly consider the impact of noise distraction when designing their office.
This noise can come from necessary or unnecessary communication between workers, as well as equipment. It’s may be a product of your office design, but it can be improved.
The Effect of Poor Acoustics
When the acoustics in your office are poorly designed, a number of things can happen.
First of all, unwanted auditory distraction can affect your employees.
Their quality of work can fall, and studies have shown that workers are more likely to make small errors while distracted by background noise.
As well as errors occurring, productivity will fall. When distracted, your staff will often need to backtrack, restart and correct work.
This can become frustrating for your staff, and that frustration can make the situation worse. And when your workers are frustrated, they’re not happy.
Moreover, unhappy workers report higher levels of stress.
Therefore, poor acoustics can have a negative effect on the mood of your workers, as well as their output and quality.
The Effect of Good Acoustics
On the other hand, an office with good acoustics can work wonders.
Better acoustics and sound control means your workers won’t be subject to as much distraction. Therefore, quality and productivity will not suffer nearly as much.
Furthermore, less distraction means less frustration. With a quieter office, your workers will be happier, and as a result, creativity and innovation will thrive.
A happy, productive office is more likely to attract new clients and talent. Therefore, the benefits make it well worth improving the acoustics in your office.
How to Improve Acoustics in Your Office
So, how can you improve the acoustics in your office?
First of all, consult with an office design company like Niche Projects. Take into account all the materials used in your office; the floor, wall and ceiling finishes.
They may exacerbate the noise in your office – for instance, surfaces like concrete and hardwood will cause sound to echo or bounce, more than a finish such as carpet.
Moreover, ceiling finishes can have an effect on acoustics too. Exposed ceilings are more likely to deflect sound, while ceiling tiles and hanging ceilings can absorb noise.
As well as this, you can add plants and partitions to your office to muffle sound.
Partitions don’t have to be standard or boring; book shelves can do a fantastic job, whilst looking great and being functional aspects of an office.
Furthermore, consider high-backed chairs for your workers, separating the printer and scanner from your main work floor, and utilising desk screens to divide workstations.
These are all fairly simple and cheap measures to take, but can have a great effect on the acoustics in your office.
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