I work in an open office with about 30 people, all in the same room. We have (much to my chagrin) the stalwarts of open-office philosophy, the worst of which in my opinion: one big room that is library quiet.<p>This has produced lots of bad effects regarding sound:<p>-The office is library quiet, all you hear is clicking and typing<p>-There aren't enough people to generate a din,<p>-Taking a call is so awkward, making a call is too. You hear every word every person says in the office. Everyone takes calls in "phone booths".<p>-Any noise is distraction, any conversation is a distraction, however:<p>-It is inherently anti-social, as everyone either has headphones in or too scared to have a casual conversation because it is too quiet.<p>-We have these zones that are supposed to be loud/active, quieter, then the "actual library" area, which is supposed to be quiet, but the whole office ends up quiet.<p>Solutions I have thought of:<p>-Piping in white noise like www.coffitivity.com into certain areas of the office<p>-Creating natural sound barriers like temporary screen walls to make people more comfortable conversing without people worrying about distracting others.<p>That said, I need help. I want to be able to bring in some ideas to management that will help this situation.<p>Or is it a bad idea, and a loud office is much worse than a library quiet one?
Start a culture of talking. If you don't want mere office banter, holding occasional whiteboard sessions is a good pretext (and useful in its own right).<p>Find the most receptive sub-group to engage in this regularly. Within a few months, talking at the office will not be a foreign concept.<p>Tasteful partitions help because they break up the visual space, while letting sounds leak through. Consider some temporary partitions that you'd envision in a high-end loft, instead of ones that look sterile. Introduce plants -- real or fake.<p>Though I don't have a good visual model of your workspace, In my mind many open-plan offices end up looking like cafeterias, while nicer ones remind me of a children's play area at a library. By introducing some partitions and pleasant surroundings, the aesthetics will help make people more comfortable, and potentially more interactive.
Ok, here's my take - there is no such thing as a too quiet office. For me a loud office totally kills my concentration and headphones only help so much. "Library quiet" sounds like the perfect noise level.<p>That being said, white noise wouldn't bother me at all - and I don't even mind quiet office music. I think the barriers idea wouldn't really work to block sound and it would just end up making the whole office loud with chatter, which would be a major bummer to someone like me.<p>I completely understand that more extroverted people might need it louder to concentrate, so it makes sense to find a way to compromise, just remember your introverted brethren.
Open office == increased transparency<p>sounds like your open office is working exactly as it is designed, be happy!<p>your "temporary screen walls" sound a whole like like cubicles (gasp!)<p>I think the open office concept offers some benefits (other than just being cheap). The #1 is that communication is effortless and transparent. No need to have a meeting to relay what Alice and Bob just decided, because everyone could actively hear. However, not everyone needs or wants to hear everything that happens in the whole company.<p>Perhaps as a compromise you could have a "music station" where based on some revolving mechanism, each of the employees get a chance to choose the music for the hour/day/whatever. Even if it is bad and some people hate it, as long as it isn't too loud to drown out with headphones, or have a meeting over, then it could be a good thing. Plus music is awesome!