The United States Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has strict guidelines and requirements for workplaces to provide a noise-free environment. However, even if your workplace ensures and maintains all SOPs, it can still be noisy. Jobs requiring colleagues to constantly communicate with each other can especially feel noisy and distracting.
If your organization is one such place, you can take the following measures to make it less noisy and more productive:
Plan a Better Layout
Even if your business depends on continuous communication between employees, not all employees will be required to talk to their peers equally. These employees can be the ones most affected by the noisy workplace. However, a more efficiently planned office layout can resolve this issue.
Plan a better layout by dividing the departments based on the communication needed between the teams. Instead of one open floor where everyone can listen to everyone else, soundproof the different departments, so the noises are contained within the teams.
Establish Quiet Areas
Another effective solution to a loud office is establishing quiet areas. Building a few soundproof quiet areas can be an alternate, budget-friendly solution if the company is short on budget for a complete layout renovation. These areas can provide open workspaces so any employee can bring their laptop there and work when needed. However, reserving these spaces as quiet areas is important to ensure they serve the purpose.
Provide Noise Cancellation Headphones
If most positions in the office require both communications with others as well as focusing on work solo, noise cancellation headphones can be the best solution. Noise cancellation technology has proven advantageous to many individuals with sensitive ears or tinnitus. You can utilize this technology for your employees to make the noisy workplace more comfortable.
Minimize Distractions
Besides colleagues communicating with each other, everyday objects such as noisy printers, squeaking chairs, ringing or vibrating smartphones, etc. can also make the workplace noisy. In such scenarios, loud offices can be more comfortable by reducing distractions.
Moving printers and copiers into a separate section can be significantly helpful. A policy to keep smartphones silent at all times can also be helpful. Moreover, regular workplace maintenance, including replacing squeaking chairs and ensuring noise-free movements of doors, can also improve the work environment.
Offer Flexible Schedule
If daily deadlines do not bind employees, allowing them to come to the office at their preferred times can be helpful. A hybrid work culture where employees can work from home for a few days and come in to work the rest of the days can also provide a practical solution to noisy workplaces.
While this tip doesn’t make working in a loud office any better, it provides the employees the freedom to come in to work only as required, making the noisy workplace bearable for a limited time.
Lastly, investing in a noise-cancellation machine can mask the distracting noise and make the work environment more focused and productive. There are various noise-cancellation machines specifically designed for offices that can provide effective results.
