The thinking behind open office plans goes something like this: no longer confined to cubicles and tiny offices, employees will communicate more often and more effectively, while the entire workplace transforms into a realm of natural light, easy conversation, non-stop brainstorming and constant collaboration. But as numerous studies have shown, employees too often find themselves distracted by the co-workers with whom they were supposed to be attaining a whole new level of productivity.
In a recent survey conducted by Poly, 99% of workers in open offices said they get distracted at least some of the time. We all get distracted once in a while, no matter what our work space looks like. But there is definitely a problem here: 40% of these workers said they were always or very often distracted, and nearly half of them said they are unable to focus at work.
The open office revolution is backfiring if nearly half the people in those offices are frequently losing focus and almost constantly fighting off distractions.
So what is to be done? As we’ve written many times before, huddle rooms offer oases of calm and quiet for employees who need to take an important call or focus on a project. But there is only so much space available, and there might not always be a huddle room open for those who need one.
Barring a complete office renovation that sees all the walls and cubicles go back up, employees will have to make do with their open office spaces. Luckily, there is a quick and fairly affordable fix for noisy neighbors and other nuisances: headsets.
You can, of course, use these headsets as you would any pair of headphones: as a delivery system for incredibly loud music that will block the sound of your colleagues and allow you to get down to business. But these are more than glorified earplugs--they are also conferencing and collaboration solutions that can deliver on those productivity promises made by open office proselytizers in the first place.
Poly’s recently unveiled Voyager 4200 and 5200 headsets, for instance, are optimized for Microsoft Teams and connect to desk phones, smartphones and computers. With four adaptive microphones and WindSmart technology working to keep background noise to a minimum, the Voyager series ensures that employees can hear as well as they are heard.
That's just one of many answers to your open office concerns. Browse our many headset solutions and please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We will have one of our experts get back to you as soon as possible. Looking for something else? Use our Advanced Search tool to find it.
