Noise in open space: why it reduces productivity and how to counteract it?

This is not just a matter of acoustic discomfort, but a real business problem. Research shows that constant noise lowers work performance, raises stress levels, and worsens employee well-being, while lack of acoustic privacy demotivates and decreases job satisfaction. From an ROI perspective, improving office acoustics can quickly pay off – shortened distraction time, fewer mistakes and interruptions at work, and lower employee turnover mean measurable financial benefits. In this guide, we will look at why noise is the “silent killer” of productivity and what specific steps you can take to regain peace and focus in an open space office.

Why is noise a silent killer of productivity?

Office noise has a real, measurable impact on team work efficiency. According to Steelcase/Ipsos research, the average employee in an open space loses up to 86 minutes each day due to distractions caused by noise and conversations. It's as if more than 1.5 hours of work “disappears” effectively every day! No wonder that in a global survey, 85% of people were dissatisfied with acoustic conditions, and 31% admitted that they have to leave the office in order to complete their tasks in peace. Noise reduces the ability to concentrate – employees in a noisy environment have shorter attention spans and make more mistakes. Worse yet, returning to a disrupted task takes a lot of time: research from the University of California in Irvine showed that after a typical distraction it takes an average of 23 minutes to return to full focus. If there are many such distractions throughout the day, it's easy to calculate how many hours of productive work are lost each week.

It’s not just about subjective feelings – the effects of noise are confirmed by hard data and scientific experiments. In an experimental study of an Activity-Based Working (ABW) environment, it was found that moving work from a noisy open space zone to a designated quiet zone improved cognitive test scores by 16.9%, and in a private room even by 21.9% – which coincided with the difference in noise levels (~15 dB(A) quieter outside of open space). This is tangible evidence of how silence translates to better efficiency. Cognitive psychologists have even described a phenomenon called “irrelevant speech effect” – simply listening to someone talking in the background significantly reduces memory and the ability to absorb information, because our brain involuntarily processes the heard words.

Prolonged noise also affects the physiology and health of employees. Continuous sound stimuli cause a stress response in the body. Research indicates that working in a conversational environment (~50 dB) can raise heart rate and stress hormone levels, disrupting the nervous system's rhythm. Moreover, chronic moderate noise (e.g. typical 50–70 dB(A) in an office) triggers a hormonal reaction similar to other stressors – elevated cortisol levels (the stress hormone) are observed, especially in noise-sensitive individuals. Scientists quoted by Scientific American explain that excessive cortisol impairs functions of the prefrontal cortex of the brain (responsible for planning, problem-solving, and emotional control). In the long term, noise can thus lead to worsening health – elevated blood pressure, sleep problems, and greater susceptibility to burnout. No wonder noisy environments are often cited as one of the reasons for “quiet quitting”, the quiet withdrawal of employees from engagement in their duties.

It’s worth noting that the typical noise level in an office (50–60 dB(A)) is far from the harmful threshold defined in occupational health and safety regulations – e.g. the EU noise directive sets a limit of 87 dB(A) for 8-hour exposure and action thresholds from 80 dB(A). Offices rarely reach values above 70 dB, yet even at 50 dB, the aforementioned effects of decreased cognitive function occur. This shows that the problem is not hearing damage, but the decrease in productivity and comfort at noise levels formally considered “safe.” In other words – health and safety standards protect us from industrial noise, but in intellectual work, silence and the ability to concentrate also matter.

What bothers you most at the office? Sources of noise in open space

The main culprits of distractions in the office are… other people. Research consistently shows that the speech of coworkers in the background is the most distracting factor in open space. Our brain cannot “turn off” to language – when we hear understandable words, they automatically capture our attention and interrupt the internal “voice in our head” that we use for thinking. The more clear and understandable the speech in the environment, the greater the interference with our working memory (that is the essence of the irrelevant speech effect). Therefore, constant phone conversations or discussions behind our backs can effectively ruin a day’s work. Worse still, in open space, even without participating in a conversation, we become involuntary listeners – there are no walls, doors, or sound-absorbing ceilings, so every word “carries” far.

The second category of distractors is sudden, atypical sounds, so-called deviant sounds. This can be a ringing phone, a loud notification sound, a printer alarm completing a task, or someone loudly moving a chair. Such sudden stimuli instantly capture our attention, as the brain interprets them as potentially important (this is an atavistic reaction to sudden signals in the environment). Even if the noise lasts only a second, concentration has been interrupted – and again, it takes time to return to it.

You cannot forget about the “background noise” generated by office equipment and infrastructure. The noise from HVAC systems (ventilation, air conditioning), the steady sound of computers, office equipment, footsteps on hard floors – all contribute to the acoustic background, which may seem insignificant, but raises the overall noise level. In particular, low-frequency humming from devices is often cited as a tiring and stressful factor (people sensitive to noise feel it more acutely). In open space, these sounds add up – several sources at once create continuous chatter.

The layout and decor of open space also exacerbate the noise problem. Open space amplifies reverberation and facilitates sound dispersion – lack of walls and absorbing ceilings means that voices and sounds bounce multiple times. Smooth, hard surfaces (glass, concrete, bare walls) act as acoustic mirrors: they reflect sound waves instead of dampening them. As a result, a conversation between two people can be clearly heard many meters away, and numerous reflections add to the overall noise. Reverberation is the phenomenon of overlapping many reflected waves – a space with a long reverberation “sounds” louder and less clear, as sounds overlap causing a difficult-to-understand noise.

Unfortunately, the fashionable minimalist office design – concrete ceilings, glass walls, open ceilings, hard floors – promotes reverberation, due to the lack of sound-absorbing materials. For example, bare glass or concrete have very low sound absorption coefficients, while soft materials (carpet, panels made of mineral wool) can absorb most of the acoustic energy. The less absorption, the longer the reverberation time (RT60) and the greater the range of noise. That is why often modern offices look beautiful, but acoustically “ring” – all sounds reflect and carry throughout the hall.

In conclusion, noise in open space is a mix of conversations, device sounds, and poor room acoustics. Employees subjected to such conditions feel fatigue, frustration, and a drop in motivation. Fortunately, there are effective ways to solve this problem – from simple organizational actions to advanced architectural solutions. Below we present comprehensive strategies for combating noise that will allow you to regain peace and concentration in the office.

How to fight noise – strategies for improving office acoustics

Effective noise reduction in open space requires a dual approach: on one hand, introducing organizational and cultural solutions (so-called soft), and on the other – modernizing the space from an acoustic perspective (hard solutions). It’s important to treat the office acoustics as an element of employee well-being and business efficiency, not just an aesthetic issue. Below we discuss both categories of solutions.

Organizational solutions (soft)

• Noise etiquette in the office: Establish and enforce basic rules of acoustic work culture. For example, “conduct phone conversations in designated rooms or booths”, “mute notifications in open space”, “speak in a tone appropriate for the shared space”. Clear rules reminded to employees (e.g. in the form of an infographic on the wall) will help build awareness that silence is a shared value. Educate your team that loud behavior has real consequences for colleagues and the company’s results.
  
  

• Quiet zones and workspace for focused work: If possible, designate a quiet zone in the office – a designated area (or separate room) for work requiring concentration, where loud conversations and calls are prohibited. It can be a small “library” with a few desks or a separated section of open space. It’s important that it is clearly marked and respected. Employees will gain a space to retreat and work quietly on difficult tasks. Research shows that providing such an opportunity significantly increases efficiency (by about 16–22%).
  
  

• Meeting policy and “focus time”: Analyze the meeting culture in your company – does every quick discussion really need to happen ad hoc at desks? Introduce good practices: limit spontaneous meetings in open space, encourage booking meeting rooms or using text communicators. You can also designate no-meeting hours or days (e.g. Wednesday as a day of focus work for the whole team). Such uninterrupted time blocks allow everyone to work deeper. Meta-analyses show that companies implementing “no-meeting days” report increased productivity and reduced stress. Additionally, focus time scheduled in the calendar (e.g. every day 9–11 silence) sets expectations – during this time we avoid unnecessary conversations.
  
  

• ANC headphones as an ad-hoc aid: Encourage employees to use active noise-canceling (ANC) headphones when they need special concentration. Modern headphones effectively suppress surrounding noise. Of course, this is not a cure-all – we don’t want a culture of mandatory “working in headphones” all day – but as ad-hoc support it can be very valuable. Importantly, headphones should be treated as complementary to other actions (they alone will not improve acoustics throughout the office, but will help individuals).
  
  

• Thoughtful arrangement of teams and workstations: Try to position employees performing quiet, focused tasks away from noise sources. If part of the team primarily programs, analyzes data, or writes – it might be worth moving them to the end of the room or to the mentioned quiet zone. On the other hand, call center, sales, or customer service departments (where much talking occurs) should be near conversation rooms or exits for easier access to the corridor. The goal is to minimize conflict between those who need to talk and those who need silence. Research has shown that such spatial segregation of tasks can raise employees’ cognitive performance by several percentage points. The layout of open space also matters – avoid placing desks directly opposite each other in large spaces (as it creates long “sound corridors”). It’s better to break the line of sight – e.g. by setting desks in a slight zigzag or adding partitions between them.

Technical and architectural solutions (hard)

When it comes to the physical adaptation of the space, the priority is to improve the acoustic properties of the room – so that the environment itself amplifies noise less. Key elements are sound-absorbing materials (ceiling, walls, soft floor coverings) and solutions that block or isolate noise sources (partitions, booths). Below is an overview of the most important technical solutions:

• Acoustic ceiling – absorption “from above”: The ceiling is usually the largest flat surface in the office, from which sound reflects. Therefore, adapting the ceiling yields the greatest effect in reducing reverberation. If the office has a modular suspended ceiling, it’s worth replacing tiles with acoustic ones (class A absorption, with an NRC coefficient of 0.8–0.9+). Such panels will absorb most speech sounds reflecting upward, shortening reverberation time and improving speech intelligibility. In the case of an open ceiling (concrete), a good solution is suspended acoustic islands or baffles – sound-absorbing panels hung below the ceiling (horizontally as islands or vertically as baffles). They disperse and absorb sound coming from various directions, thus limiting both reverberation and the “dispersive range” of conversations (the range at which one can hear someone’s speech clearly).
  
  The best islands/baffles made of mineral wool or melamine foam achieve very high absorption parameters – NRC up to 0.9–1.0 in the speech range. This means that they absorb almost 100% of the sound that hits them, instead of reflecting it back. Installing such devices “from above” reduces the energy of the reverberation field in the room – noise doesn't bounce endlessly between the hard ceiling and floor, but is largely absorbed by the panels. This translates to a noticeably lower background noise level and a smaller dispersion range of conversations. Practically speaking, an acoustic ceiling is a must – if we have a limited budget for adaptation, investing in ceiling absorption will yield the broadest effects.
  
  

• Wall panels – absorption and diffusion on walls: Bare, large walls in the office are worth covering with acoustic panels to take some reflection of sound “to the side”. Various types of panels are available – flat fabric-covered panels or three-dimensional structural panels.
  
  Flat panels made of foam, wool or PET mainly focus on absorption of mid and high frequencies (i.e. speech range), thus reducing reverberation and reflection between parallel walls. They are especially effective at first reflections – which is why they should be placed where for instance, audio would bounce directly off a large empty wall towards workstations. 3D panels (often with irregular surfaces) not only absorb sound but also introduce an element of sound dispersion (diffusion). The irregular texture of such a panel causes that the reflected sound wave breaks into smaller fragments and spreads in different directions, instead of concentrating in one point. This helps mitigate the “gym hall effect” – sound doesn’t “focus” in one place, but is distributed more evenly and dissipates more quickly.
  
  3D panels are particularly useful in large glazed surfaces or long corridors, where they minimize noise focusing. Note: even visual partitions (e.g. boxes, partitions) can help somewhat – as a Steelcase study showed, even adding thin dividers (so-called cocoons) improved employees' ability to maintain attention, as the psychological privacy effect alone reduces distractions. Therefore, it’s worth using partitions not only for acoustics but also so that everyone doesn’t see the entire busyness of the office.
  
  

• Soft flooring – carpet tiles: Although ceilings and walls are more important for speech, the floor also plays an acoustic role. Hard flooring (tiles, concrete, laminate panels) reflects sound and easily transmits impact noise (steps, heel taps, moving chairs). In contrast, carpet tiles – especially those with thick, foam backing – act as a large sound absorber on the floor. They dampen footstep sounds and reduce reverberation by absorbing some sound waves already at the floor. Additionally, carpets improve sound insulation between levels, so if there’s another space above the office, sounds don’t “carry” as much through the ceiling. Research from manufacturers and acousticians show that flooring with sound-absorbing layers can significantly reduce noise levels in heavily trafficked corridors. Even if we cannot replace the entire floor, it’s worth considering acoustic mats or rugs in key areas (e.g. under chairs in conference rooms or in relaxation areas) to dampen reverberation at least partially.
  
  

• Partitions, dividers, and phone booths: A physical division of space is an effective way to limit noise dispersion. Even if we cannot build permanent walls, mobile acoustic partitions on wheels and desktop screens mounted to desks are available. Such solutions provide an immediate “block & absorb” effect – creating a barrier in the path of sound waves while simultaneously absorbing them, thus reducing direct speech intelligibility between workstations.
  
  Importantly, choose partitions made of acoustic materials (e.g. a core of high-density foam, covered with fabric) – decorative screens made of Plexiglas won’t help. A good practice is to set screens along the main aisles/corridors in open space so that sound doesn’t spread freely throughout the room. Another solution are enclosed acoustic booths – individual cabins for phone conversations or small meetings. Modern booths offer isolation levels of 30 dB (acoustic class A/A+ according to ISO 23351-1), meaning they practically eliminate speech leakage outside. An employee entering such a booth has complete privacy, and their conversation doesn’t disturb anyone in open space. This is a very effective way to “suck” noise of conversations from open space – instead of silencing people (which can be unrealistic), we give them a comfortable place for loud conversations or Zoom calls.
  
  Setting up 1–2 booths for every 50 people can significantly relieve the rest of the team. It’s worth starting with a pilot: install one booth and see how intensively it will be used (it usually quickly becomes evident that it's used almost non-stop).
  
  

• Sound masking: An interesting technological solution to the noise problem is sound masking, which is masking speech with controlled background noise. Paradoxically, adding additional, neutral sound to the office can make the space seem quieter. A masking system emits specially designed noise (similar to a gentle hum of air conditioning) through hidden speakers, which drowns out some speech sounds. When conversations of colleagues become less intelligible against this background noise, they cease to be as distracting – the brain ignores them since it does not pick out clear words. Masking shortens the “dispersive range” – that is, the distance at which someone’s conversation can draw attention.
  
  A well-designed masking system is almost inaudible (it blends into the background, doesn’t sound like a radio or air conditioning, rather like a gentle hum that becomes unnoticed after a while). Research by Herman Miller and Harvard Business Review found that implementing masking can increase productivity by as much as 38% and simultaneously reduce perceived stress by 27%. In many offices, sound masking has proven to be the missing piece of the acoustic puzzle – especially where it’s not possible to build out the space or add enough panels, masking provides acoustic privacy in open space. Importantly, this technology is relatively inexpensive and quick to implement (much cheaper than, for example, rebuilding walls). When combined with the above organizational and adaptive measures, it yields very good results.

ROI and business arguments – is it worth it?

Implementing the above solutions is an investment that has solid business justification. For executives, specifics are key: will a quieter office translate into better results? Available data and case studies say clearly – yes, and in many areas.

• First, reclaimed work time: If noise takes an average of 86 minutes a day per person, then by reducing this loss by even half we gain ~7 hours of work per week per employee! In the scale of a team or the entire company, that’s a huge difference. Just shortening the return time to concentration by a few minutes after each break gives hundreds of hours a year more for key tasks. And the aforementioned ABW studies showed a 16–22% increase in efficiency after providing quieter conditions – it’s like “recovering” one full-time equivalent work from each 5-member team thanks to better acoustics.
  
  

• Second, work quality and fewer mistakes: Quieting the office translates to fewer mistakes, a higher level of creative thinking, and faster completion of cognitive tasks. Employees are simply able to work in a “flow,” instead of constantly switching their attention. This means better project quality, customer satisfaction, and fewer costly revisions.
  
  

• Third, health and absences: Noise reduction = stress reduction. Fewer people will experience burnout, and the number of sick days due to headaches or spikes in blood pressure will drop (and such correlations with noise have been recorded). A satisfied, well-rested employee works more efficiently and gets sick less often. This impacts the reduction of hidden costs of absenteeism and presenteeism (i.e., being at work in poor condition).
  
  

• Fourth, talent retention and work culture: Working conditions greatly influence employees’ decisions to remain with a company. If the office is friendly, promotes concentration, and well-being, people are less likely to look for a quieter place. In the era of hybrid work, many people prefer to stay home precisely because of the noise in the office – JLL’s report showed that over 25% of employees indicate noise and lack of focus as the main reason for remote work. By improving acoustics, you can encourage them to come to the office more often (because at last it gives them what they lacked – the ability to focus). Better acoustics also mean less frustration leading to “quiet quitting” – people feeling that the company cares about their comfort have higher morale. Consequently, turnover decreases and recruitment costs of replacements drop.

And what about the costs of such improvements? ROI analyses for acoustic solutions look very favorable. For example, individual elements improving acoustics often pay off within a few months, if thanks to them we recover even 2–3% of the team's work time. And we are only talking about one solution – the overall effect of a package of changes (e.g., panels + booths + masking) can yield much more than a 3% improvement in productivity. When we add in soft benefits (better collaboration, absence of interrupting meetings, better experience for customers hearing less noise during phone conversations), it turns out that investments in acoustics are among the fastest-returning investments in employee well-being. Herman Miller estimates a 38% increase in productivity after implementing appropriate acoustic solutions, and Soft dB calculates that shortening each of the frequent 23-minute interruptions after distractions by a few minutes yields huge savings at average wage rates. In short, adaptation costs are one-time, while gains accumulate day by day in the form of better team performance.

Where to start? Action plan – quick wins and long-term solutions

Implementing acoustic changes should be planned in stages. Not everything can (or needs to) be done at once – many improvements can be implemented at low cost in the short term, testing their effect, while more significant investments can be planned as part of a larger project (e.g., office renovation or future CAPEX). Below is a proposed sequence of actions:

• Quick wins (low cost, immediate effect): Start with steps that cost nothing or very little, but can instantly improve the situation. These include, among others, introducing noise etiquette and quiet zones (as described above), enforcing the use of conversation areas (instead of conducting them in open space), setting up simple desktop screens between workstations as a test, purchasing a few mobile acoustic partitions and checking where they will be useful, piloting 1–2 phone booths on the floor, or even setting default “focus blocks” in the team’s calendars so everyone has scheduled time for quiet work. These actions can be taken immediately, without lengthy analyses – their effects will be felt quickly, and at the same time, you will gain data on which solutions are most needed.

• Medium horizon (a few months): The next stage involves moderate investments that can be implemented over a few months. Based on observations and noise measurements, decide where a sound masking system would be most beneficial – e.g. in zones with the most phone conversations (high speech intelligibility). Consider changing the layout of the space: can some desks be moved further away from traffic areas or a focus zone be separated with half-walls? If ceilings are suspended – replace some ceiling tiles with high-quality acoustic tiles where most people sit (sometimes it’s not necessary to replace them all at once, but e.g. every second tile). Additionally, add islands or baffles above the loudest areas (e.g. above the sales department open space or above the area of daily stand-up meetings of the IT team). These medium-scale actions require a certain budget and plan, but are not as engaging as a complete renovation – they can be completed, for example, over a few weekends and immediately enjoy improvement.

• Long-term (CAPEX strategy): Ultimately, it’s worth including acoustics as a permanent element of office space planning. With a larger office modernization or relocation, plan a comprehensive approach: acoustic modeling of rooms (analysis of expected reverberation time, speech intelligibility index STI, etc.) and based on that adaptation project. Such a project should include a full set of solutions: ceiling of the highest acoustic quality (this is fundamental), walls covered with panels or diffusive elements, a floor with sound-absorbing materials, proper division of space (permanent walls, glass offices, booths, niches), and in addition masking system as fine-tuning. The long-term goal should be to achieve reduction of speech intelligibility in open space to about 4–6 meters – so that a conversation held a few desks away becomes just noise, not a distracting dialogue – and to shorten reverberation time RT60 to recommended values for offices (typically 0.4–0.6 s in the speech range). Such acoustic parameters are accepted in modern design guidelines and guarantee that the office will be conducive to intellectual work. Achieving them requires investment, but translates into lasting work comfort for years.

At each of the above stages, it is crucial to measure the effects and listen to team feedback. Acoustics may seem like a technical topic, but its perception is subjective – that’s why it’s worth asking employees if they notice any improvements, which areas of the office are still problematic, etc. Sometimes a small change (e.g. moving a loud printer to another location) can solve a specific annoying noise. At other times it may turn out that another booth is needed because one is not enough. A culture of continuous improvement of working conditions will result in greater trust and engagement from people.

Acoustic solutions – cost vs. impact (for ROI decision)

Legend: Relative cost: Approximate cost of implementing various solutions relative to each other. Impact: ★☆☆ moderate · ★★☆ large · ★★★ very large.