When you remodel your existing location or build a new one, noise management often gets overlooked. Researchers have documented ways that noise and distractions create stress for workers in open offices. One analysis of survey results found nearly 80 percent of workers in open offices cited noise or lack of speech privacy as a reason for being dissatisfied with their work space.
Source: Human Resource Executive, July 18, 2017.
Mara Baum, a San Francisco architect considers noise, along with air quality and temperature, a factor that can determine if an office is healthy. For companies moving from traditional office design, with workers accustomed to private offices, adjusting to an open office “can be a real shock . . . when an organization plunks people down without any change management or communication” about what to expect, Baum says.