Workers in most offices deal with workplace noise in two different ways. Either they sit in a noisy, open plan office and, over time, get used to that background noise as they go about their activities, or they put a set of headphones on and detach from their distracting environment. Neither of these scenarios is ideal. Background noise has a distracting influence even for those who seem to be getting used to it, and use of headphones reduces collaboration between workers. A study by Cornell University’s Lorraine E Maxwell titled “Noise in the office workspace” demonstrates that excess noise in the workplace can lead to lower job satisfaction, reduction in employee productivity, dips in morale, and worker fatigue. Other research has shown that noise levels within the popular open office design of bigger workplaces can get as high as 65 decibels, which is about the same level of noise as being in a room where […]