Having an open plan office has many advantages as well as drawbacks. An open office encourages communication among workers, improves layout flexibility, and keeps costs down since there are no cubicles to be made.
The downsides of an open plan office include the lack of privacy and the number of distractions. The distractions can come from people moving about in the office, the sound of conversations, and all kinds of office noises.
Stopping Noise from Ruining Your Open Office
When it comes to distractions due to noises, there are some things you can do to improve the situation. These five tips can help workers to stay focus in a noisy open office.
# Have a dedicated noisy place
Want to discuss the new revision with your coworker? Go to the dedicated noisy place to talk about it.
The noisy place can be somewhere in the corner, preferably far from the working area. Complete the corner with sofas and desks so people can have lengthy discussions without distracting those who are deep into their work.
# Have a dedicated quiet place too
Hey, if you have a dedicated noisy place then you certainly need a dedicated quiet place also, right?
# Use sound masking
Applying sound masking is now common when it comes to sound management in open plan offices. The main idea is to use pink noise in the background to drown out the conversational, machinery, and external noise.
When you play pink noise during office hours, all the other annoying noise will become less distracting. Your brain pays less attention to them so you can focus on your work.
# Wear headphones
Noise-canceling headphones are getting better by the year. Put them on and not a single distracting sound can pass through. You can get a pair of good headphones without breaking the bank too.
While wearing the headphones, try playing some ambient sound too. Find the right sound to help you focus on ambient-mixer.com. There are tons of excellent ambient sound compositions there.
Using headphones is also a good method to tell people that you want to be left alone. So if you’re working on something that requires total concentration, put the headphones on. That way your colleagues will know that you need to stay in the zone for a while.
# Switch to carpet flooring
If you’re working in an open office and the noise is driving you crazy, ask your employer to switch to carpet flooring. Carpet has excellent noise reduction properties. The maintenance is a bit costly, but if your office can shell out the money for it, the reward will be tremendous.
“But my employer is stingy”
Alright then. In that case, go with vinyl flooring with rubber underlayment. Vinyl is easier on the wallet in terms of installation and maintenance. Your employer will be more inclined to follow your advice.
