Imagine that you must prepare an important report concerning your company’s sales over the last three months and on the preferences of your customers as determined by your company’s sales force. On the day that you must prepare that report, you will make sure to be well rested and to be in the office early. You certainly do not want to have to deal with irrelevant and uninteresting distractions while you’re preparing that report, such as a colleague who yammers endlessly about the odd date that she was on last weekend.

Work-related noise pollution can result from multiple causes but no matter where it originates, noise lessens your ability to work effectively. Also, noise pollution makes you stressed and can result in depression and other problems.

Having said that, though, a majority of employees have to deal with office noise sooner or later. Often, this noise presents itself in the form of chattering colleagues, who are discussing almost everything except work related issues. If you’re in this situation, and you’d like to extract yourself from it, the best approach is to be sympathetic but direct, and to inform them that their discussions are distracting you from your job. Often, your colleagues will apologize and relocate their conversation.

If you are experiencing disruptive noise due to a printer or facsimile machine located near your desk, you might politely request that your information technology colleagues look into the origin of the sound. It is probably the result of a malfunction, since the majority of office equipment firms manufacture noise-free machines at great expense to themselves. If the offending devices are properly and regularly serviced, that will usually eliminate the sound entirely or at very least lower the noise level.

In some offices, the office noise can be attributed to the coffeemaker. Yes, the machine is installed to provide convenience to workers. That said, if the noise it makes hinders you from concentrating on your work, its time to raise the issue with the administrative staff.

A noisy office does no good, regardless of the source of the noise. As such, there are many low-cost noise control methods for most offices. Sound absorbent panels and higher cubicle walls can help cut down on how far office noise – whether from human or mechanical sources – spreads. The huddle rooms and cafeteria are located at corners, away from the place where workers sit. And one of the most effective solutions is to cover the noise with comfortable, low-level noise, often referred to as “white noise” or “sound masking.” This is best done in the initial design phase, but newer systems are easily able to be retrofitted into most office spaces. The key, of course, is to do something to control the noise in your workspace.

No matter where it originates, office noise is detrimental. It interferes with productivity and may trigger stress in employees, possibly even snowballing into more debilitating illnesses, including depression. It is difficult to work in a noisy office, no matter how the noise originates. Yet there are numerous inexpensive noise reduction systems available which fall under the heading of “sound masking.” The most appropriate time to think about the use of this technique is during the office design, but modern systems can be retrofitted into most work areas with relative ease. The bottom line, though, is to take at least some kind of action to reduce noise in the office.

- Frank Barnett

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