Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are Top Distraction in Workplace, Study Says (npr.org)

Sounds, especially those made by other humans, have ranked as the top distraction in the workplace, according to design expert Alan Hedge of Cornell. A staggering 74 percent of workers say they face "many" instances of disturbances and distractions from noise. Hedge says the noise is generally coming from another person, though it's much more disturbing when it's a machine that is making it. NPR reports: The popularity of open offices has exacerbated the problem. The University of California's Center for the Built Environment has a study showing workers are happier when they are in enclosed offices and less likely to take sick days. This does not bode well for some workers facing cold and flu season, when hacking coughs make the rounds. [...] Rue Dooley, an adviser at the Society for Human Resource Management, says HR professionals often call in, asking how to manage co-worker complaints about various bodily noises.

Comments

Re:This is why you can't use a good keyboard any m

[Anonymous Coward]

To be fair the unicomp is about as loud as a keyboard gets - you could always get a cherry mx brown and have all the tactility with less noise.

Re:Individual enclosed offices are best for

[__aaclcg7560]

At one job I worked at, management installed software to remotely monitor the desktop of each workstation. One morning my supervisor came running over to inform that I can't be browsing Amazon on company time. That is until he saw that I had a breakfast burrito in hand, as company policy allowed employees to browse the Internet on their breaks. I told him to bugger off. The workaround for many employees was to buy a Wifi-enabled PDA and browse the Internet via the open access point next door. Since we were hunched over our desks while using our PDAs, management throught we were working hard as no one was browsing the Internet on their PC.

Re:Enclosed offices cost more

[WhatHump]

Correct. However, management loves hearing the accountant (who did the simple calculation of savings per employee * number of employees) who says "hey, we can save $xK/month". But no one listens to that same accountant when he says "hey, we might be losing some money because we have everyone packed in like pigs heading for slaughter."