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Office Noise: Tips To Solve This Menace

by Frank Barnett

When you work in an office it is supposed to be an environment where co-workers help each other with brainstorming and overcoming difficult problems. However, in most offices this simply isn't the case, as 80% of workers in offices report that they are unable to concentrate on their own work because of distraction of noise created by co-workers. Under these circumstances it would be natural to think that perhaps co-workers are not that valuable after all!

Unless you own or manage the business, you probably can not fire someone for creating a disruption in the office. Therefore, problems with noisy coworkers may not be resolved to your satisfaction until the noise itself is contained, diminished, or eliminated. Focus on removing the distraction rather than the employees causing it.

In order to begin correcting the problem, the manager should be made aware of the workplace disruption caused by your coworkers. If your manager isn't aware of these disruptions, he or she is more likely to blame you for any project delays.

After telling your manager about it, it is time for you to confront your noisy coworker. Be gentle, but direct. Nobody likes to be embarrassed or feel attacked. But most of your coworkers are probably reasonable people who deal with the same workplace annoyances you do.

If your colleague creating noise in the workplace is unaware of the disturbance, you should probably talk with his or her manager who can find some sort of answer to your problem and enlighten the worker about proper behavior. It is the manager's duty to educate staff members about such things. The majority of times, boisterous colleagues do alter their actions once they have been spoken to by their bosses.

Lastly, you may also want to get yourself a speech privacy, or 'white noise', system. These systems can help cover up much of the distracting noise that comes from a busy office with noisy co-workers, which will decrease their ability to bother you and help you maintain your focus on your work.

Working in an office is supposed to mean that you can count on your colleagues to assist you in brainstorming and solving difficult problems. However, reality is not so sweet in all offices. 80% of dedicated workers report an inability to concentrate on their jobs because of the noise created by their co-workers. Since, unless you own the business yourself, you probably can't oust someone from a company for causing Office Noise, you should strive to identify an appropriate solution to get rid of the noise instead of your noisy coworkers. One solution is a Speech Privacy, or 'white noise' system.

Published August 25th, 2008

Filed in Business