Many factors can hinder the progress of employees inside the office. These small disturbances can result in a lot of negative things for the business in general which is why business owners must take the necessary steps to reduce these.
One of the most common forms of distraction inside the office is noise. It’s caused by a lot of things including but not limited to the tapping of keyboards, cars honking from the outside, employees talking inside the office, and much more. Here are 6 ways on how you can help reduce the noise in your office.
Play Ambient Sounds
This is going to sound counterintuitive but you can block out the noise with the noise of your own. There is some unnecessary noise that can cause distractions for your employees. On the other hand, ambient noise such as white noise can effectively block out what’s unnecessary and keep your employees focused.
This is a technique used by many companies. The idea is to simply block out the distracting noises from around your employees with something more subtle – and in some cases, even relaxing.
Install Cubicles And Partitions
The more open an employee’s work area is, the more noise he can hear from the outside. You can create a workstation for your employee by installing cubicles and partitions. At first glance, this might seem like it won’t do much in terms of noise cancellation but in truth, it does wonder.
Partitions can help block out the sound coming from the surrounding area near the employee. It will help them concentrate a lot better while at work. Aside from canceling noise, some people tend to work better if there aren’t eyes watching them do their job so this is a big plus too.
Dedicate An Area For Socializing
It can’t be helped if your employees are constantly chatting with one another. This is especially the case if they are in a good working environment where everyone sees each other as a friend. Sadly, the sound coming from friendly banter can be quite distracting at work as well.
It would be bad to bar your employees from socializing with one another. What you can do instead is to create an area where they can socialize. This can be the pantry, the lounge, or just any area that’s outside the working space. This will help them socialize without causing any distraction.
Isolate IT Equipment
Most of the office-related noise that’s produced comes from IT equipment inside your office. These include printers, photocopiers, and many others. On a busy day, these machines are going to be loud and distracting which is why it’s important to isolate them instead.
What you can do is put the IT equipment inside a separate room. That way, it won’t distract anyone inside the office. Of course, you shouldn’t put it too far because that can make it harder for your employees to use them just in case they need it. Just keep in behind closed doors and that will be good enough to reduce the noise. If you find that the your equipment’s noise is not normal, you may need to look into a commercial copier repair service.
Create A “Living” Wall
What you might not know is that plants actually help reduce the noise too. That depends on how you use them though. What you can do is create what’s called a living wall. This is a wall that’s lined top to bottom with actual plants. If placed properly, it can reduce the noise inside the office.
A living wall does not just benefit your office by reducing sound. It can also make the office’s air feel fresher and more lively. On the plus side, it can also make the office look better as well.
Hold Basic Meditation Classes
Learning how to tune out the noise is a good way to create productive employees. You should consider holding basic meditation classes for your employees. This will allow them to work as properly as possible even if there’s a bit of noise that’s happening around them.
The more your employees master the art of meditation, the more focused they’ll be during various work scenarios. Teaching them to meditate and focus will do a lot more than help them through a noisy workday as well. They’ll appreciate the extra lessons.
Noise can be such a bother inside the office which is why it’s important to take the necessary steps to reduce it. There are many ways to minimize distraction but these 6 tips above are the best that we’ve found so far.