Why do we need quiet spaces?

We all know the importance of having quiet spaces in an office. When we really need to concentrate on something or have a private conversation and there’s noise, people talking to us, or music playing, we need these small zones of peace and silence to really help us focus and spend some time working quietly.

Noise is something that really affects productivity, it can affect morale and just in general affect people’s whole experience at work. Offices need to provide quiet spaces for people to take phone calls, to go and do some quiet, heads down, work on their own, where they really, really need to focus and concentrate that is away from the general noise and busyness of the office.

If people don’t have spaces like this to go to, they could well suffer from environmental stress, which will then further decrease their productivity and their whole experience at work. Environmental stress is described as ‘a negative, subjective, psychological response to an environmental stimulus‘. In the office environment, this can mean if someone has too much disruption, if people can’t get away and really have some focus time alone, they will start suffering stress just from being around a noisy environment all day.

'...having quiet spaces where one or two people can go and work alone is a very important thing to have in an office.'

Also, people who are introverts and people who don’t like mixing with a lot of people really suffer in these circumstances. It’s really important for companies to provide quiet spaces for people who may not be so naturally outgoing so they can actually go somewhere where they can really focus, and get on with their work and work in peace and quiet.

Obviously, what is classed as stressful for one employee isn’t the same for other employees. Companies have to tend to all character types, but having quiet spaces where one or two people can go and work alone is a very important thing to have in an office. It's something that we believe should be an office, and if you haven’t got one in your office you really must consider it. It will help wellbeing, it will help productivity and it will help your employees have the best time to work.

If you need a hand with your workplace strategy to improve your employee experience, connect and message me on LinkedIn or use the following contact details: [email protected] | 07824 591 593