There are hundreds of studies relating to noise and office productivity. Specifically relating to open plan offices. Indeed, open plan offices have a reputation for being the worst possible environments for worker productivity. Or do they?
What does the research say?
One recent study found a causal link between open plan office noise and both stress (+35%) and negative mood (+25%). While there was no immediate effect on reduced work performance, the authors concluded that those stress levels over the longer term would be detrimental to productivity.
This conclusion is borne out by years of other research. Several studies1 outline in detail the inability of workers to concentrate for sustained periods of time greatly stemming from interruptions from other colleagues and speech intelligibility. We covered this in an earlier blog. There’s also a documented negative effect that a lack of visual and acoustic privacy has on overall dissatisfaction, stress levels and anxiety of workers.
What can be done?
Flexible design is one solution to this kind of dissatisfaction and stress. This is where the open plan office is designed with fluid zones that allow worker movement depending upon the task at hand. However, it is not a panacea. A poor office design, however flexible, can still lead to negative outcomes.
Thankfully, there is a solution to much of the stress and loss of productivity. Modern research shows that sound masking can improve productivity by reducing the impact of distracting noise and improving speech privacy. It is also a superior option compared with sound absorption.
Conclusion
While noise does have a significant impact on productivity in the office, it is not difficult to solve. A combination of working from home, integrating more flexible zones into the workspace, and including sound masking can all improve productivity and ensure that workers are not suffering from noise-related stress.
- Hodzic, S., Kubicek, B., Uhlig, L., & Korunka, C. (2021). Activity-based flexible offices: Effects on work-related outcomes in a longitudinal study. Ergonomics, 64(4), 455–473. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2020.1850882; Kaarlela-Tuomaala, A., Helenius, R., Keskinen, E., & Hongisto, V. (2009). Effects of acoustic environment on work in private office rooms and open-plan offices–longitudinal study during relocation. Ergonomics, 52(11), 1423–1444. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140130903154579; Lee, Y., & Aletta, F. (2019). Acoustical planning for workplace health and well-being: A case study in four open-plan offices. Building Acoustics, 26(3), 207–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140130600679142; Jahncke, H., & Hallman, D. M. (2020). Objective measures of cognitive performance in activity-based workplaces and traditional office types. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 72, 101503. ↩︎