Anybody who has ever worked in a busy office understands the extent to which office noise and conversational distractions waste time, decrease productivity, increase stress levels, and increase the incidence of avoidable errors. Recent research validates the common experience of office workers everywhere, and provides employers ample justification for investing in systems designed to decrease office noise.

According to a recent study conducted by Cornell University researchers and published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, even low levels of office noise caused an increase in stress levels, a decrease in motivation and a decrease in productivity. Researchers speculate that these increases in stress levels, as indicated by increases of adrenaline in the bloodstream, could, over time, contribute to more serious health problems, like heart disease. Aside from the cost to the employer due to the decrease in productivity, there could be an additional burden because of the health care costs related to this issue.

Another study by the American Society of Interior Designers also demonstrated that employee productivity decreased as ambient noise levels increased. This study found excessive noise especially prevalent in the modern open-office environment where frail cubicles have replaced walled offices, and electronic devices add to the cacophony.

Offices in mixed areas sometimes create one of several problems for the modern office worker. For instance, there may be a person in a near by partition which may be using the phone this can cause problems for a technical writer, who needs complete concentration, from working at his/her best work ability in a particular time frame.

There are ways to correcting the serious problem of loud office noise. Employees who become preoccupied end up using things such as ear muffs, ear plugs or sometimes use desktop white noise machines. But, by using these things to lessen the sounds, this has caused workers to slow down in work. There are headphones which do not cause important sounds to be blocked, however, it does have active noise canceling.

The intelligent business solution to excessive office noise starts with proper office design, adequate sound insulation, or the installation of an effective office sound masking system. The price of such systems has decreased dramatically over the years. With the evidence available and the solutions affordable, the wise employer no longer has an excuse for ignoring the problem of excessive workplace noise.

If you have ever worked in a busy office then you know how much office noise and conversational distractions slow down work and sometimes cause mistakes. Excessive noise in the office is a serious problem with many available solutions. Ear plugs or earmuffs, as well as desktop white noise machines are often used by distracted employees. Distracting noises can be diminished without muffling important sounds by using headphones with active noise cancelling technology. The smart solution for reducing noise levels begins with the design of the office, along with proper sound insulation, or a sound masking system.