Whether you are that manager who wonders why staff never do any work or one of the hundreds of employees sharing an open plan office every day, the bottom line is that a poorly designed workplace impacts productivity and drains morale. If you want the most out of an open-plan office, quality acoustics are crucial.
Distractions can be annoying, not to mention that persistent interruptions can lead to frustrations and strained relationships among the workers. Whether it’s the constant sound of phones ringing or the humming sound of the air conditioning unit, they can make a promising company less productive than more efficient.
Open-plan offices are meant to be comfortable, collaborative spaces, but keeping staff closer to each other can cause more frustrations than it solves if you don’t consider the acoustic effect. Acoustic office screens are vertical dividers that provide acoustic privacy for the users of the office.
The importance of acoustics office screens
To understand the importance of acoustic office screens in an open-plan office, we’ll look at how sound waves travel in such a facility. Just like water ripples, sound waves bounce from one solid surface to another until they ultimately dissipate. So if your open-plan office has hard surfaces such as the concrete floor, hardwood floor, glass windows, and no partitions in between, any slight noise travels throughout the office, causing reverberations or echoing.
If you are one of the staff sharing an open plan office, there is a good chance everyone else can hear you when tapping your pen on the desk when you are bored or speaking on your phone if there is no acoustic treatment in the facility. Thankfully acoustic office screens improve the acoustic effect in the office without having to lock people up in soundproof rooms.
Acoustic screens provide the double benefit of noise or sound absorption and partitioning or blocking. They stop unwanted sounds from traveling across the open office and soak them up to prevent them from reflecting into the space. Furthermore, acoustic office screens can be carefully adjusted to create the most effective and versatile blocking solution in an open-plan office. Some manufacturers also have desk mounting office screens for mounting on office desks for sound absorption.
More benefits of acoustic office screens
- Acoustic office screens provide privacy in an open-plan office as they muffle sounds allowing everyone to make private conversations without being overheard.
- They improve productivity by making it easier for staff to concentrate without distraction from other colleagues.
- Acoustic office screens also improve communication by absorbing unwanted reverberations and echoes in the open office, making the sounds clearer. That makes them also suitable for use in lecture halls and classrooms.
- They minimize stress in the workplace. Noisy environments and background noise make it hard for people to hear and concentrate, increasing stress. A quiet workspace is also welcoming for staff and clients alike.
THE WRAP-UP
Acoustic office screens provide the double benefit of sound absorption and a partitioning solution in an open plan office, leading to more productivity of the employees.
