Today’s business offices are hardly quiet places. Between personal calls, loud voices, coughing, music players, and arguments, not to mention phone tones and fax machines, concentrating at an open office environment can be a challenge, and even in other industries, customers like to keep things quiet. To get more work done in an office, distraction-free, there are ways to find some peace and quiet for boosted productivity.
No One Likes a Loud Office or Hotel
Plenty of surveyed office employees and hotel guests have voiced their interest in a quieter environment, and soundproofing, such as a phone booth office space, can make all the difference, according to the statistics. For one thing, soundproofing an office may lower work errors by around 10%, and that is something to be desired. Soundproofing has already shown its worth: employee stress can be lowered by as much as 27%, whether by soundproof walls or a phone booth office space, and if an office is soundproofed, 51% of conversational distractions can be eliminated. Employee concentration, similarly, can be boosted by up to 48% when an office is soundproofed. Guests at hotels have similar sentiments; their #1 complaint was about noise, but when sound levels are managed at a hotel, guest ratings can be 32% higher, due to no noise complaints. It is clear, then, that a quieter place is preferred. How can this be achieved?
Get Some Peace and Quiet
How to soundproof an office room? According to NPR, there are some elementary steps to take. For one thing, hard surfaces on walls and furniture easily reflect sound and carry it around, so softer materials can help absorb the sound-waves. Drapes, thick carpet, curtains, and covering or removing hard surfaces can go a long way, and although it sounds counter-intuitive, removing cubicle walls can lower noise levels, too. After all, a person in a cubicle underestimates how much sound he or she makes and how far it travels, since the walls make them think that the sound is being trapped. An open office space makes the person better aware of the noise they make, and they can adjust accordingly.
Another strong option is an office phone booth, typically a soundproof booth. A good phone booth office space may be the last word in office noise control, and although installing one can be pricey based on the model, the results are clear. For one thing, many surveyed workers often say that working in a space they believe is private will boost productivity, and a phone booth office space can provide just such an environment, where the worker doesn’t feel helpless and stressed about noise levels. The added benefit of phone booth office design is limiting the spread of illness in the office, which can reduce how many sick days an employee needs to take. In such a booth, an employee can dial and receive business calls in peace and quiet, free from distractions, germs, and stress to get more work done.
Hotel guests don’t have access to such phone booths, but soundproof paint may help control noise levels in a hotel. Soundproof paint, for example, can curb noise levels, and the industry for this is big: the soundproof paint market is currently estimated to be worth $200 million, and in fact, it may grow at a rate of 30-50% per year. With noise control a vital issue for hotels and similar spaces, it is easy to see why the business is booming.
