Strategies To Reduce Noise in the Workplace

Office settings can be loud, noisy places, particularly open-plan offices where employees work alongside each other in expansive corporate spaces with no borders.

For many employees, such environments can be annoying, stressful, frustrating, and distracting, making concentration difficult. They can also increase stress and lower productivity, job satisfaction, and employee morale. That’s why many employers, including offshore call centers, are using background noise removal tools. Here are other strategies to reduce noise in the workplace.

Install Sound-Absorbing Wall Panels

Acoustic wall panels can effectively reduce workplace noise pollution. Now, it is true that traditionally, such panels have lacked in the looks department. However, some of the more modern designs have been much more aesthetically pleasing.

Use Partitions

They may not be all that exciting, but they do work — partitions. Along with cubicles, desk partitions, even those that don’t entirely close workers off, can separate employees and lower overall noise levels.

Install Sound Insulation

Improving your office’s insulation can lower noise transfer between office areas. Note that due to how time-consuming and extensive such installation can be, you may want to use this strategy during a renovation or some other time when it makes more sense.

Create a Quiet Space

It’s beneficial for employees to have a quiet place at work where they can decompress for a bit. These can be dedicated quiet spaces or makeshift sanctuaries within conference rooms,

Manage Background Noise

You can fight noise in open spaces with background ambient noise or white noise such as rainfall or crashing waves, which can help cover up unwanted sounds. Battling noise with noise may seem counterintuitive, but it can work.

Improve the Office Layout

You can tinker with your office layout to reduce noise. If you want to compartmentalize noise, for example, you can arrange desks in clusters. Or you can put all that noise equipment — fax machine, printer, copy machine — in a dedicated room away from employees. You can also install touch screen monitors or soft-key keyboards to reduce office noise.

Use Different Furniture

An open space’s acoustics can be affected by furniture, including lounge chairs, sofas, filing cabinets, and partitions. Pieces such as enclosed booths or high-backed couches can basically separate an employee from the rest of the room.

Use More Plants

Strategically placed plants, especially larger ones, can lower noise levels in open-office settings. In fact, plants are natural sound absorbers. These “green walls” or “living walls” also offer aesthetic advantages and can positively benefit air quality.

Put in Noise-Friendly Flooring

Hard-floor surfaces such as porcelain, natural wood, or ceramic can create a ton of office noise pollution. So, think about installing carpeting or easy-to-maintain vinyl flooring instead.

Invest in Noise-Canceling Headphones

In lieu of redesigning the office, you might want to simply buy good noise-canceling headphones. There are those that completely eliminate noise by using special processing and microphones to produce a countering sound wave. Note, though, that this solution affects collaboration, since coworkers won’t be able to easily converse.

While open-space floor plans are conducive to employee collaborations, they can be so noisy that they end up hurting productivity. The trick is to come up with an environment that reduces noise while creating a sense of belonging and collegiality.