How In-Office Distractions Have Now Generated New Business Opportunities

Forbes

After years of remote work, post-pandemic employees are struggling with office distractions. The solutions run from in-office phone booths to libraries to, surprisingly, adding more sound.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenamcgregor/2024/06/28/a-noisy-office-is-a-nuisanceand-a-business-opportunity/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, a noisy office is a nuisance, and a business opportunity.

00:07Chad West doesn't go into his London office more than once a week.

00:11As a vice president of marketing at crypto smart wallet Argent, West shows up for strategy

00:16or creative meetings.

00:18But when he's just trying to get work done, he estimates that the distractions and noise

00:22at Argent's open plan office make him 40% less productive than at home.

00:28Music escaping from co-workers' headphones and co-workers' voices pull at his attention

00:33while the sound of software engineers banging away at their keyboards grates on his nerves.

00:37West, who is 33 years old, says, quote,

00:41I don't know if it's just because we've all become a bit more psychopathic, or maybe

00:45it's always been in us, but I pick up on everything now.

00:48If someone has the audacity to take a phone call in a smallish office where people are

00:52trying to work, it grinds my ears.

00:56More than four years after the pandemic prompted most office workers to log on from home, many

01:01have returned to the office, whether because of employer mandates, a desire to spend time

01:06with colleagues, or a need to escape from roommates or family.

01:10About 27% of paid workdays in the U.S. were done from home in May, down dramatically from

01:15some 60% at the pandemic's peak, but still higher than the less than 10% before COVID-19.

01:22As people have returned to the office, either full or part-time, complaints about a long-standing

01:27frustration, the noise and distractions of open-plan designs, have escalated.

01:32Workers are taking more Zoom meetings from the office, often speaking louder in those

01:36video calls.

01:38Bosses encourage office days to be spent collaborating and developing social bonds, but that boosts

01:43the chatter echoing in the space.

01:45And there's something compounding the problem.

01:48At companies that have downsized their real estate to take advantage of fewer people being

01:52on-site, conference rooms and private spaces fill up fast, with the first to claim them

01:57each day staying put.

01:59Melissa Strickland, a principal and managing director at design firm HLW, says, quote,

02:05it's human behavior.

02:07She adds that if meetings run back-to-back, quote, why would I switch rooms when I could

02:11just take all my calls with some convenience in this room by myself?

02:17In a September 2023 survey by workplace research firm Leisman, noise levels were rated among

02:22the 10 most important features of the office, ranking between functioning toilets and an

02:27IT help desk.

02:29Yet only about 32% of employees are satisfied with noise levels in an average office, according

02:34to another Leisman survey released this past April.

02:37And only two issues had lower satisfaction numbers in those offices, access to nearby

02:42leisure facilities and the rate of people walking past workstations.

02:48The response to all these complaints presents a business opportunity, with vendors successfully

02:53selling everything from phone booth-style pods to so-called soundscaping services that

02:58use a, quote, biophilic approach to help muffle voices with sounds found in nature.

03:03Furniture makers and interior designers are adding more acoustic-friendly materials and

03:08designing so-called libraries for quiet places to work.

03:12Some employers are doling out noise-canceling headphones and even building tools to help

03:16workers alert colleagues when they need to focus.

03:19Again, this has all created a business opportunity that some companies are taking advantage of.

03:25The desire for more control of office noise is one reason for the growth of companies

03:28like Finland-based Framery, one of the biggest makers of office pods, essentially fully enclosed,

03:35modern-looking glass-walled phone booths that start at about $8,700 for a compact single.

03:42Some booths seat up to six people, making them more like enclosed conference rooms.

03:47In 2022, Framery's global revenue hit $164 million, up from $86 million in 2020 and $101

03:55million in 2021.

03:58In March, the company added a new line of pods that not only insulate sound for users

04:02seated within the booths, but have a so-called sound-masking system that emits pink noise-like

04:07sound into surrounding areas.

04:10In doing so, the booths raise the ambient noise in nearby spaces, with an aim to make

04:14office chatter less intelligible.

04:18For full coverage, check out Jenna McGregor's piece on Forbes.com.

04:23This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:26Thanks for tuning in.

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