Have you ever been fully focused on a work project, fully invested, and tuned everything out to complete it? Whether you had a rush of adrenaline to complete an important task or felt super-focused and inspired, working uninterrupted for a period of time can be empowering, especially if you’re writing or doing another task that takes full concentration. However, if you’ve been on the flip side, you know how distractions can hinder productivity.

Luckily, there are several ways to reduce noise in open workspaces, fostering a quieter environment and improved productivity. Continue reading to learn about office acoustics and how they can help your office be quieter.

What are Office Acoustics?

Do you know how the noise in your office travels throughout the building, how many conversations can be overheard, or how much sound is absorbed by walls and other materials? Office acoustics refers to how sound behaves within a building, including the following: how noise travels throughout a workspace and how walls or furniture absorb sound. 

Office acoustics should be balanced to limit distractions and noise throughout the building. From conversations to phone calls and echoes throughout the space, noise in open workspaces can distract employees and reduce productivity. To further break down office acoustics, let’s discuss both sides of it: sound absorption and sound isolation.

Sound absorption focuses on reducing sounds echoed or reflected within a particular room, whereas sound isolation focuses on preventing sound from traveling between different areas or rooms in an office. For example, improving echoes from other workspaces coming from inside an open office space falls under sound absorption, while overhearing phone calls or conversations across the way in a different office falls under sound isolation.

How to Reduce Noise in Open Workspaces with Office Acoustics

Luckily, SPACESINC can reduce noise in open workspaces with office acoustics! From applied acoustics to sound masking and accessories, our specialty solutions improve acoustic balance and support your productivity efforts. Below are some examples of how SPACESINC can help you reduce noise in open workspaces:

Applied Acoustics

Applied acoustics are an important part of creating a comfortable and productive workplace. In an open office, sound can travel easily between workstations, meeting areas, and collaborative spaces, creating distractions throughout the day. Acoustic panels, ceiling treatments, and other solutions can help absorb and manage unwanted noise without sacrificing the openness of your workplace.

At SPACESINC, we take a thoughtful approach to office acoustics by considering how your space is used and where sound travels. We can integrate acoustic elements into your walls, ceilings, furniture, and other areas of your workplace to create a better balance between collaboration and concentration.

Sound Masking

Sometimes, reducing noise isn’t about making an office completely silent. Sound masking works by introducing a consistent background sound that helps make conversations and other distractions less noticeable. This can make open workspaces feel quieter while also supporting speech privacy.

SPACESINC provides sound masking solutions designed around your workplace and its unique acoustic needs. We can assess your environment, identify sound and privacy challenges, and integrate a sound masking system into your existing office layout. The result is a more consistent acoustic environment where employees can focus with fewer interruptions.

Ergonomic Tools

Creating a productive workplace goes beyond desks and chairs; the right ergonomic tools can also create a more comfortable and functional environment. Thoughtfully selected accessories and workstation solutions can help employees create a workspace that supports the way they naturally work.

At SPACESINC, we consider ergonomics as part of the bigger workplace experience. By pairing ergonomic solutions with effective office acoustics, you can create an environment that supports comfort, focus, and productivity throughout the workday.

Flooring

Your flooring can have a bigger impact on office acoustics than you may realize. Hard surfaces can allow sound to reflect throughout an open workspace, while the right flooring materials can help soften the overall acoustic environment.

SPACESINC can help facilitate the selection of flooring based on more than appearance. We consider durability, comfort, maintenance, traffic patterns, and acoustics to find a solution that works for the entire space. From carpet and tile to other flooring options, the right selection can complement your broader noise-reduction strategy while maintaining a cohesive workplace design.

Accessories

Sometimes, it’s the smaller details that make the biggest difference. Office accessories can help complete an acoustic strategy while adding functionality and personality to your workplace. From desk accessories and privacy elements to other specialty solutions, these additions can help create more comfortable spaces without requiring a major renovation.

SPACESINC can help you select accessories and specialty solutions that complement your office acoustics strategy while supporting your workplace’s look, feel, and function.

Tips for Reducing Noise in Open Workspaces in Addition to Office Acoustics

While office acoustics solutions can make a significant difference, there are other simple ways to help reduce distractions throughout your workplace. A thoughtful combination of space planning, workplace policies, and acoustic solutions can create an environment where employees can collaborate when they need to and focus when they don’t.

Create Designated Collaboration Areas

Open workspaces are designed to encourage collaboration, but conversations can become distracting when they’re happening directly next to employees who need to concentrate. Creating designated collaboration areas gives teams a place to meet, talk, and brainstorm without disrupting employees working nearby.

Create Quiet Areas

Not every task requires collaboration. Providing quiet areas throughout your workplace gives employees a place to step away from the activity of an open office when they need uninterrupted focus. These spaces can be enhanced with acoustic panels, sound masking, privacy screens, or other office acoustics solutions.

Be Mindful of Where High-Traffic Areas Are Located

Printers, break rooms, kitchens, entrances, and other high-traffic areas naturally generate more noise. When possible, keep these areas away from employees who regularly perform focused work. Thoughtful space planning can help prevent everyday activity from becoming a constant source of distraction.

Encourage Considerate Workplace Habits

Even the best office acoustics solutions can’t eliminate every source of noise. Encourage employees to be mindful of their surroundings by taking phone calls in designated areas, using collaboration spaces for group conversations, and keeping unnecessary noise to a minimum.

Consider the Whole Workplace

There isn’t a single solution that works for every office. The best approach considers how people move, communicate, collaborate, and concentrate throughout the day. Combining applied acoustics, sound masking, flooring, furniture, and thoughtful space planning can help create a workplace that feels more comfortable without compromising the openness that makes collaborative offices successful.

How SPACESINC Can Help with Sound Masking in an Office

If you’re ready to reduce background noise in your office space, consider sound masking to improve productivity, concentration, increase privacy, and limit distractions. Rather than soundproofing or noise cancellation solutions, sound masking can effectively create an acoustic barrier that keeps distractions to a minimum.

SPACESINC has been assisting local organizations for decades, taking a consultative approach to understand our clients’ needs and goals. We help organizations refresh their interior spaces without major construction, offering workplace solutions that deliver a strong acoustic barrier. From furniture, pre-fab, specialty, and fulfillment solutions, our systems meet or exceed standard requirements to deliver a strong acoustic barrier. We can completely redesign your interior space without messy, loud, inconvenient construction, all while providing exceptional communication. Furthermore, we can implement the following workplace solutions:

• Functional workspaces
• Flexible conference rooms
• Individual workstations around the office
• Acoustic ceiling and panels
• Beverage stations
• Cozy workspaces
• Demountable (movable) walls
• Prefabricated furniture walls 
• Pre-manufactured construction materials
• Glass walls
• Ergonomic office furniture
• & so much more!
  

Take a look at our portfolio for some inspiration and learn about individual projects that transformed workspaces into creative, collaborative, and productive environments with sound masking.

Our office furniture solutions include workplace furniture, interior construction, functional workspaces, and private office settings, among many others. Whatever your office’s needs, SPACESINC is a commercial interiors KC company that will design and build an innovative solution that makes the perfect environment to foster creativity and align perfectly with your goals. We’re ready and excited to serve you – get in contact with our team to get started today!