The Best Acoustics for Productive Workplace Environments

The Millennial Generation currently makes up the largest share of workers in the US. Many companies are switching to a modern office design as a long-term strategy to attract and retain new talent. More often than not, modern offices include collaboration areas and open seating to promote flexibility and mobility. You’ll need an acoustic solution for that. 

Acoustic Standards for Workplaces

Ask yourself some ways to ensure privacy and appropriate noise level in your future space. Not sure where to start? Formcraft can help identify acoustic needs in our three phases: Discover, Design, and Deliver. During the Discovery Phase, our management team asks questions about acoustics in your current office, various meeting spaces you have or desire to have, and your team’s current productivity level. We’ll move into the Design Phase, where our interior designers will implement the answers to the Discovery Phase questions. This helps determine the furniture for best fit and consider the types of wall panels that have dual purposes in high design and functionality. Finally, in the Construction Phase, Formcraft’s pre-construction and construction teams will ensure proper installation and test out. 

Sure, our team can handle the entire acoustic outfit—but let’s talk about why acoustic wall panels and acoustic office walls are growing in popularity. And why they are so crucial to your bottom line.

Acoustic Treatment Breeds Productivity

How many times has outside chatter interrupted a meeting? Or how many times has meeting chatter interrupted your personal, quiet workspace? When your workplace includes meeting-based, collaborative, and quiet work settings, you need to work extra hard to ensure the proper acoustic treatment for everyone. Getting your acoustic standards under control will prevent distractions from various teams and meeting spaces. Cultivating personal space plus sound control in a shared office environment is essential to productivity. 

This doesn’t mean utilizing acoustic wall panels or creating an acoustic foam office to reduce all noise. There’s a balance between deafening quiet and car alarms sounding off during meetings. The wrong sound environment makes workers 66% less productive, but with the proper acoustic standards, this shouldn’t be a problem. Create different areas in your workplace with various acoustic treatments. For example, individual, quiet work settings should have ample acoustic wall panels so workers can dial in without outside noise. Collaborative work settings may be more lenient, as background noise (but not too much) can often breed productivity. Some workplace chatter can motivate some, while others can’t focus without pure silence. Offering various acoustic treatments so your team can produce their best work directly improves your bottom line. 

As more and more employees enter the workplace, boost confidence and productivity by offering acoustic office furniture in your open-floor plan space. 

Acoustic Design in the Workplace

What does the acoustic treatment look like? While acoustic foam wall panels are one option to reduce overall noise, acoustic furniture takes it to the next step. Acoustic furniture, such as office phone booths, pod chairs, private booths, and sound-absorbing furniture, helps to mitigate chatter and help employees zone into their work. Pod chairs and private booths mainly help with social distancing because they are built for the individual. This intimate space is great for focusing and avoiding distractions. 

Acoustic furniture is also high-tech and modern in design. This futuristic element can improve your talent acquisition and reduce employee turnover. Employees tend to stay at jobs where they feel safe and comfortable, like at home. And with more and more workers returning to the workplace after a year at home, updating your acoustic standards and design to reflect a welcoming environment is essential.

Acoustic furniture and acoustic wall panels encourage open communication by enhancing collaborative and meeting-based settings when your employees can feel more comfortable moving around the workplace without worrying about who’s listening in or if there are any outside distractions, and the productivity level skyrockets.

Acoustic standards for offices will continue as we head into 2022 and beyond. Diving into this trend now will improve the quality of work for your current employees and will attract new talent down the road. If you need help getting started, Formcraft can determine your acoustic needs in our Discover, Design, and Deliver process. Reach out today to get your workplace up-to-date!