The influence of acoustics on productivity

The office garden is kind of in a damned corner. For example, it would drastically lower your productivity and be bad for mental health. However, there is also good news. According to a University of Arizona study employees who work in an office garden exercise 32% more than colleagues who work in their own office and 20% more than colleagues who sit in a cubicle. The study also found that the more active colleagues in the office garden experienced 14% less stress.

Less productive due to poor acoustics

Research commissioned by The World Health Organization came up with very different results. According to their report, 'Burden of Disease from Environmental Noise“Noise pollution at work costs European business around 30.8 million euros per year. A study by Steelcase and Ipsos from 2014 found that employees are less productive around 86 minutes a day due to poor acoustics. Bad sound causes stress, higher blood pressure and heart rate and headache symptoms, so says Cees van Gelder from Interface.

Four ways sound affects us

Also according to Julian Treasure, a sound and communication expert, sound has a major influence on us, in four ways.

1- Physical. Sound has an effect on your hormone balance, but also on your breathing, heart rate and brain waves. This applies to soothing sounds such as the waves of the sea, but also to nasty, loud noises.

2- Psychological. Music is a very strong example of how sound can influence our emotional state. But birdsong, for example, can also make people feel good.

3- Cognitive. We humans only have a narrow bandwidth to process auditory input. The more noise, the more productivity decreases. In an open-plan office with poor acoustics, your productivity can decrease by up to 66%.

4- Behavioral. Certain music, for example, makes you run faster. But sounds can also get on our nerves, such as a jackhammer. If for some reason you can't escape that, it's extremely bad for your health.

Tailored solution

It is reassuring that most situations with moderate acoustics are easy to solve. Want to know how? Ask Akoesta to stop by! Also curious about what good acoustics can do for your employees? Feel free to take contact with us. We'd love to tell you more about it!