Some time ago, the American workforce started to feel caged in. We got tired of monotone rows of cubicles covered in drably-colored cloth. We began to compare ourselves to the computers we work on. And we quietly muttered from inside our boxes that we were not just information processors, but individuals with ideas! and thoughts! and personalities! that didn’t fit in with the corporate overcast environment.
So walls were knocked down. Workspaces were pushed into groups. Muttering turned into coherent conversations, and a din rose over our desks. The open office environment was born.
For a time, we all sat back and saw that it was good. But then the quarterly reports came in and exposed that our productivity plummeted by 66%. Our work quality had not necessarily decreased, but our use of time was far from beneficial.
Reconstructing cubicles seemed blasphemous, so we began to look for remedies. Searching lead to the exploration of how sounds affects our moods and actions, and that is where you’ll find us now.
Rise Creative Group is an open office environment, and we’re about to embark on a journey of self-discovery. How does sound affect our output?
In a video by Julian Treasure, we learned that sound affects both the ways we think and act.
Sound can make us want to leave or stay. It can make us focus or flee. It can inspire or discourage. And it’s almost always subconscious.
Our everyday lives are noisy – we talk over the conversations of others; we block out the sounds of traffic; and we even tune out of commercials on the television and radio.
Our relationship with sound has become muddled. What we think is just background noise can make or break our moods and your company’s productivity.
At Rise, we’ve already sent out the polite emails asking others to use the office chat for conversations rather than speaking across the room. We suggested using headphones to listen to our music of choice and to block out some of the inevitable exchanges. Our conference room is used for collaborative work when possible. And the dream of sound-proof collaborative spaces has been placed in our heads thanks to Jason Fried of 37signals.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be experimenting with sound. This morning, the radio remained off, and yours truly wrote a coherent and evenly-toned blog.
Like Julian Treasure suggested in his video, we’ll also try out the lovely sound of bird song. My personal response to the thought of bird song was skepticism, but after just a few seconds of it, I felt more refreshed, encouraged and ready to get down to some business.
For now the question remains: how do you cope with the noise and distraction of working in an open office? We’re hungry for suggestions!
