The old axiom, “time is money,” has been a guiding principle of business ever since Benjamin Franklin first coined the phrase in the early 18th century. Time may be wasted, or it may be cultivated. It may be squandered in inefficient and unfruitful efforts, or it may be amplified and nourished through strategy and skill, and that includes the provision of the proper tools for enhancing your organization’s productivity.
Whether you’re designing for a commercial, hospitality, academic, or healthcare setting, your goal is to ensure both the functionality of the space and the comfort of the occupants. An ideal space is one that doesn’t just enable productivity but actively enhances it. This includes the creation of spaces that are acoustically optimal for their intended use.
How, exactly, does FSorb do this? What value do FSorb’s acoustic solutions bring to designers, engineers, architects, and occupants alike? This article explores the strong link between FSorb’s state-of-the-art acoustic innovations and productivity optimization. FSorb’s greatest value lies, perhaps, in the capacity of their time-tested, research-supported solutions to spur your organization’s use value, to make the space more efficient and functional than you may ever have imagined, and to amplify Benjamin Franklin’s famous adage by demonstrating that productivity is money, too.
Minimizing Distractions
One of the biggest barriers to productivity is ambient noise. Whether it’s an open space office setting, a crowded restaurant, a bustling art museum, or a frenetic hospital, the sounds of humans and machines are constant – and they can be a constant source of distraction.
Such unremitting background noise can also significantly undermine workers’ capacity to focus, to process and retain information, and to work efficiently and accurately. Indeed, the link between productivity, accuracy, and noise minimization appears to be quite strong. There’s evidence, for example, that an office space that features an ambient noise level of just 75 decibels results in a ⅓ reduction in workers’ productivity.
However, if the acoustics of the space are well-controlled, then worker productivity increases. With the use of FSorb products noise levels can be efficiently and effectively decreased to 60 dBA and below, resulting in an optimal soundscape for productivity and, thus, for maximum value.
Peace and Quiet (and Privacy)
FSorb’s wide range of customizable acoustic solutions can help reduce the sounds of background conversations in an office space, and they can quiet distracting noises in a classroom where students are testing or listening to a lecture.
The decorative Shikiri screens, for instance, are ideal in office spaces, retail locations, and educational settings to break up large spaces. These screens can be used to create zones of sound that mitigate undesirable noises.
FSorb products also help maintain privacy in office, academic, and medical settings because their sound absorption capacities prevent acoustic spillover. Those inside the “zone of sound” can hear and conversely easily at a normal conversational volume, with little fear of being overheard by others.
This means that not only is the space more comfortable and more functional but, from an operational perspective, it’s also more secure. Important conversations regarding health, academics, or business are easy, intelligible, and private – protecting stakeholders and organizations alike.
Hushing the Hum(an)
The issue of privacy is only half the story. Anyone who’s ever worked in a crowded and open environment knows how challenging it can be to “tune out” the sound of background conversation. After all, we humans are designed to home in on speech. We’re made to attend to the sound of the human voice not just for socialization but also for security.
The human auditory system is engaged in a perpetual process of surveillance and filtering. It’s designed to screen out irrelevant noises while detecting at the earliest possible moment any sound of potential danger, and that process is never-ending. It’s happening whether you’re waking or sleeping. Consider, for instance, the new parent who can awaken at the first sound of their infant stirring while remaining blissfully asleep despite the blaring traffic sounds outside or the whirring of the HVAC, refrigerator, and other household machines inside.
The human auditory system is a complex and fascinating mechanism designed to protect and preserve us, but it can be a detriment in environments where multiple conversations occur simultaneously.
For example, in an open office setting, the presence of loud background conversations can be annoying, distracting, and disruptive. In a recent project to mitigate the negative impact of loud talkers on productivity in a call center, acoustic designers used strategically configured FSorb ceiling clouds to, in essence, acoustically insulate each employee’s work cubicle.
This enabled the sound engineers to compartmentalize the loud talkers’ vocal projects and, in the process, to transform the workers’ experience of the space. Almost immediately, employees’ productivity was doubled, while the turnover rate was cut in half.
This is the core of FSorb’s tremendous productivity value – when a sound environment is controlled and aligned with the space’s intended use, both functionality and comfort increase. These, in turn, spur productivity because it’s easier, more efficient, and more motivating to work in a space cultivated to meet occupants’ needs and to promote their effectiveness.
From an acoustic design perspective, perhaps FSorb’s chief value proposition is the creation of soundscapes that workers and customers alike not only want to be in but are also able to thrive in. When you increase productivity and reduce turnover, as in the case of the call center project, you’re not just maximizing the tangible value of each employee’s work product, but you’re also maximizing intangible values, such as employee job satisfaction, motivation, and retention intention.
Maximizing Value in Your Project
If you’re considering implementing FSorb’s vast inventory of customizable acoustic panels, baffles, tiles, and clouds into your next design project, here are some ideas to take full advantage of the value FSorb brings:
Combine wall-mounted, vertical panel, and ceiling-mounted solutions: FSorb offers an immense array of products for every need. These include fixed and mobile panels and screens, such as the highly decorative Shikiri screens, the Isolare desktop panels, and the SilentLine ceiling baffle arrays.
Design for all the senses: FSorb brings value not only through its best-in-class sound mitigation but also for the rich aesthetics of its products. You can choose from 24 custom colors, as well as popular wood grain prints. You can also select solutions in a variety of shapes, styles, and configurations, including etched patterns in geometric and other decorative shapes. The result is a space that appeals to nearly all the senses, a space that people want to live, work, play, and do business in.
Experiment with installation options: FSorb’s story of innovation isn’t limited to the creation of state-of-the-art sound mitigation solutions. It also extends to pioneering work in installation processes. FSorb products may be installed in a wide variety of ways, according to your needs, including traditional fixed mounts, snap-in systems, and cable-mounted solutions. These installation systems are made to save you time and money while ensuring that you always have the proper sound treatment in the space–whenever, wherever, and however you need it.
If you’re ready to bring the tremendous value of FSorb’s innovations to your next project, contact your local FSorb representative today. We look forward to putting our expertise to work for you!
At FSorb, we are motivated by improving human health and do so by creating eco-friendly acoustic products. Our mission is to help designers build beautiful spaces that reduce excess ambient noise while calming the human nervous system. With over 25 years in the acoustic business we stand behind FSorb as a durable, environmentally friendly, and low-cost product. If you want an acoustic solution that is safe to human health at an affordable price, then we are your resource.
(844) 313-7672
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