by Christopher Calisi — As a facility manager you strive to create a more productive and enjoyable workplace for your colleagues and visitors to your business. What would you say is the one factor that negatively affects workers perceptions of the workplace more than any other? Maybe the office temperature, or perhaps the workspaces visual aesthetics? Nope.
The answer actually relates to workplace acoustics. According to a recent survey of more than 25,000 workers in more than 2,000 buildings, lack of speech privacy is the environmental factor with which workers are by far most dissatisfied.
What is speech privacy? Simply put, its the inability of an unintended listener to understand outside conversations. People with a lack of speech privacy overhear conversations they shouldnt and are concerned that their own conversations may be overheard by others.
This is understandably annoying to employees, and is often embarrassing as well. For example, in a recent New York Times article on office overcrowding, an employee remarked that many of his employees overheard him on the phone canceling a client meeting due to a private medical issue.
The noise problem
Researchers at the University of Sydney recently discovered that lack of speech privacy is the number one complaint among cubicle workers and open-plan employees, with 60 percent and 50 percent respectively describing it as a major issue.
In another study, approximately 24,000 office workers in private offices, shared offices, cubicles and open offices were asked to rate their satisfaction with noise and speech privacy levels. Those with private offices (a small percentage) were the only ones satisfied with their speech privacy, and even they only indicated a satisfaction rate of .55 out of 3 on average.
In addition to making employees miserable, lack of speech privacy is also expensive. According to research from The University of California, Irvine, employees are interrupted once every 11 minutes and it takes them up to 23 minutes to get back into the flow of what they were doing before they were interrupted.
In a study presented to the International Congress of Noise as a Public Health Problem, researchers found that on average employees waste 21.5 minutes per day due to these conversational interruptions and distractions, making lack of speech privacy the number one cause of reduced productivity. An additional Steelcase/Ipsos study found that this number could actually be as high as 86 minutes. Even using the conservative 21.5-minute estimate, thats roughly 4 percent of an average employees work day (based on an eight-hour day). This means that a company with 100 employees and an average employee salary cost of US$100,000 would forfeit US$400,000 a year in lost productivity.
A lack of speech privacy can lead to costly distractions, but also makes it possible for employees to overhear conversations. As walls to private offices become cheaper and thinner, closing the door to an office no longer guarantees speech privacy, and may even be worse because it can provides an illusion of confidentiality. Many private conversations, such as sexual harassment complaints, could be HR nightmares if overheard and, in some cases, not providing sufficient speech privacy can even be illegal. For example, medical offices need to provide speech privacy for conversations between doctors and patients in order to comply with patient confidentiality regulations.
Contributing factors
A variety of factors, such as the use of less expensive acoustical materials and office overcrowding, has contributed to making workspaces less acoustically comfortable over the years. However, the most significant of these factors is the trend toward open office spaces. Open offices were created in the 1950s with the invention of the cubicle but have become more popular over time as a way to facilitate collaboration, maximize space and allow more natural light. They also allow designers and architects to create more visually appealing and functional spaces.
However, openness comes with a price. Low cubicle walls do not block the sound of a nearby colleague talking loudly to his client. Glass walls and windows often will not obscure conversations, which can echo for the entire office to hear.
Open offices are not the only workplaces with acoustical concerns. For example, lack of speech privacy is of paramount concern in hospitals and health care facilities where sensitive medical information is discussed. Educational institutions require quiet spaces such as libraries or computer rooms for students to study.
Most facility managers recognize that noise distractions are a problem but are not aware of the possible solutions or may think that mitigation requires a complex construction project. Fortunately, there is a solution to the workplace speech privacy crisis which is relatively inexpensive and non-invasive.
Sound masking 101
So what is the solution beyond giving every employee a private office or building higher partitions? The answer is sound masking.
Although this technology has been around since the 1950s, the public at large is generally unaware of it. In its simplest sense, sound masking is the process of adding a low-level, unobtrusive background sound to an environment to reduce noise distractions and the intelligibility of human speech.
It may sound counterintuitive that adding noise to the environment would make it seem quieter. However, the introduced noise, specifically tuned to the frequency and amplitude of human speech, covers up or masks excess speech noise and makes the acoustical environment more comfortable.
Sound masking doesnt cancel speech; it simply decreases the distance within which a talker can be overheard. In most office environments, workers can hear every word of an employees phone conversation from 40 feet away. With sound masking, that distance can be shortened to approximately 15 feet.
Overheard speech is also less intelligible than it would be normally with the addition of sound masking. The listener can often hear a conversation occurring, but cannot make out what is being said. Since unintelligible speech is much easier to ignore, noise distractions are reduced.
Contrary to some misconceptions, sound masking is not white noise. The frequency of white noise is actually something that, when amplified, would be extremely unpleasant to listen to (think of a radio static). Sound masking on the other hand, if created properly, will either be barely noticeable or pleasant sounding, similar to hearing air flow through a vent.
Once the ideal sound masking frequency is established, it needs to be amplified to the right level. Sound masking that is too quiet wont be effective, and sound masking that is too loud will be distracting. The proper level for sound masking is no louder than 48 decibels. In comparison, an office conversation between two people standing next to each other is about 60 decibels. This ensures that the sound masking will not affect the intelligibility of direct discussion, but will decrease the ability of someone 10 to 15 feet away to overhear the conversation. Improper sound masking installations are at best ineffective and at worst objectionable.
Another factor to consider is proper zoning. A sound masking system must be flexible enough to accommodate complex architectural spaces. With changes in size, volume, ceiling height, furnishings, etc., a masking system must adapt to provide a consistent sound field. This is done by incorporating zones so that the system is divided into smaller pieces, each of which can be tuned to its respective environment.
An easy way to implement this in open offices is by designating private office and corridor zones. Each of these environments differs from one another acoustically (different walls, potentially different ceiling heights, etc.), therefore it is imperative to be able to adjust the masking for each one. A good sound masking system will allow for multiple zones that can be controlled through a centralized location.
Not just for offices
Although commercial offices provide one of the most typical environments for sound masking, any facility manager can reap the benefits of providing more acoustically comfortable and private workspaces.
Computer centers and libraries at educational institutions are ideal candidates for sound masking. Educational institutions are legally bound to protect students private information, so those that do not take necessary precautions to keep information exchanged in areas such as financial aid offices or student health centers from being overhead are vulnerable to potential litigation. Similarly, financial institutions such as commercial banks find sound masking to be an effective way to keep sensitive data safe from prying ears and comply with regulations.
Call centers can benefit from sound masking due to the nature of the job and the fact that employees often work in very close proximity to one another. Sound masking makes it easier for these employees to hear their calls while keeping customer conversations private.
In addition, there are numerous cases of sound masking being useful in the health care field, not only by helping to ensure doctor-patient confidentiality, but allowing patients to recuperate with fewer noise distractions from surrounding areas. Sound masking helps health care institutions comply with regulations and has also been shown to increase consumer satisfaction by making the environment more acoustically comfortable for patients.
Sound masking and modern office design
Open offices do offer important benefits. As facility managers know, having a workplace with natural light is crucial for attaining LEED certification and for employee morale, and open floor plans and glass walls help both light and views filter through the entire office.
Additionally, a beautifully designed office can be a useful factor in recruiting and retaining talent. Employees often associate cool offices with cool companies, and businesses like Google and Facebook are pushing the envelope with their open-office designs. Theres a bottom-line benefit as well: open floor plans are often less expensive on an employee-per-square-foot basis than high-walled cubicles and individual, private offices.
Unlike partitions, sound masking has the benefit of being invisible. This allows companies to create bright, open, airy, collaborative spaces that reflect their vision without sacrificing workplace acoustics and speech privacy.
How to get sound masking
You may already be familiar with sound masking systems and installations, but if not, dont fret. Sound masking systems range in complexity from those consisting of simply a module, cables and loud speakers, to systems with dozens of components. Some are easier to install and are more effective than others.
The one thing all of these systems have in common is that they require professional installation. Sound masking professionals include service providers such as audiovisual integrators, office furniture dealers or telecommunications integrators. These service providers can help you determine which system is best for your needs.
Asking the questions
So does your facility have a noise problem? Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do employees ever complain about being distracted by their coworkers?
- Does anyone raise concerns about their conversations being overheard?
- Can people in private offices hear conversations from other private offices?
- Can people in cubicles hear people in private offices?
- Is sensitive information being discussed?
- Do people keep their office doors closed because its too noisy?
- Are human resources professionals located near an area where they could be overheard?
- Are you sure conversations occurring in conference rooms are not being overheard in the surrounding open office area?
- Is there a need to comply with regulations (such as HIPAA or GLBA in the U.S.)?
- Are clients/customers afraid of being overheard?
If the answer to any one of the questions above is yes, your facility has a noise issue and you may want to consider sound masking as a possible solution.
Christopher Calisi is the CEO of Cambridge Sound Management, a provider of sound-masking solutions that help reduce noise distractions and protect speech privacy. Calisi leads the strategic direction of the company, specifically its expansion into new vertical markets including corporate, health care and government. For more information, visit cambridgesound.com.