Background Noise Issues in the Office
Peace & Quiet. It helps us get our work done, problem solve, relax and overall just reflect on the things that matter the most. Major companies and organizations such as Google are investing in creative ways to give their employees more privacy to help their focus and overall mental state. One of the biggest entrepreneurship centers in the country, located at the University of Tampa has even purchased soundproof quiet pods where entrepreneurs can gather by themselves or with others to get away from the bustling noise just outside the pod.
See How Commercial Acoustics uses Sound Masking to eliminate Office Noise Complaints
Related: Acoustic Treatments in Offices and Commercial Projects
Some of us like to listen to music in the background while we work but is that actually beneficial? It depends. A recent study in Glasgow, UK looked at how background music effects introverts and extroverts. Turns out background music on all levels affected task performance on both groups to some extent. Extroverts were affected less than introverts while performing cognitive tasks such as reading and writing, paying attention and working with numbers, while introverts performed much better when the background music was LA (low arousal) or there was complete silence.
Benefits of Sound Masking in Workplace
So if background music doesn’t help with cognitive tasks on the workplace, can you use a white noise machine instead? Perhaps not, according to one study on school children in a middle-school setting. The study showed that children with no attention problems had more difficulty paying attention during class than with a white noise machine. Interestingly enough though, children with attention problems actually performed better with the white noise machine.
Silence might be the one tried and true way to improve attention and cognitive performance for everyone in the workplace. However, there are some exceptions to this. A recent study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign looked at how different noise levels affected creativity. Participants were asked to brainstorm unique uses for a brick while listening to different levels of noise. Surprisingly, participants performed worse when listening to low noise (50 decibels – the equivalent of a large office) than when listening to high noise (70 decibels – a little quieter than a noisy urban area during the day). When the noise level increased, participants had more difficulty thinking, leading to more abstract and “big picture” ideas. However, when the noise level increased to 85 decibels (the sound of a garbage disposal), thinking became so difficult that the creativity boost they had went away.
Negative Effects of Sound Masking – Are there Side Effects of White Noise?
Many times employees are reticent to embrace sound masking systems, often-times due to a past work experience where it was improperly employed. The most common issues that can lead to negative side effects are 1) Transition Zones and 2) Excessively Loud Speakers.
Transition zones are particularly problematic, because sound masking is often only needed in certain loud spaces. However, it is best engineering practice to provide homogeneous background noise in a space, meaning that the speaker coverage is consistent everywhere. Due to cost constraints, it is cheaper to install speakers in only the loudest areas.The “transition zone” from the noisy office areas to quieter areas are generally not appealing to the naked ear, and often-times cause complaints when implemented in the field.
Sound masking speakers are also tuned too loud at times, especially when noise complaints are very common. The idea is that a louder background, ambient noise will be more successful at masking unwanted sounds. However, there is a cutoff, above which it is no longer recommended to continue increasing speaker volume, often-times around 50 dBA. At that point, other acoustic treatment options should be considered.
When properly installed, Sound Masking is an excellent acoustic treatment for background noise. However, on the rare occasion that it is improperly installed, sound masking has been found to lead to increased stress.
Sound Masking – Solution for Office Background Noise
So it seems that when it comes to dealing with noise in the workplace, like most things, isn’t as easy or black and white as one would like it to be. As it may be, it’s not about getting rid of any noise but having control over it. Implementing absorption panels or putting that white noise in the right place can quickly turn the office environment around.
Consider consulting an acoustic engineer if you have unique sound requirements in your space, or are dealing with excessive noise complaints.
