‍We received this question a few weeks ago:

“The other day, some co-workers were having an impromptu meeting around a cubicle and joking around while problem solving and laughing. Keep in mind, the cubes are the entire office space but also the only readily accessible group space. One of the bosses came out of their office and shushed everyone.

The ones with offices have doors that they can close, no one else has that luxury. Now the office is so uncomfortably quiet you can hear everyone typing. I had someone comment on how they could hear their neighbor’s stomach grumble. People are having to work from home to train or attend webinars and talking on the phone is done in hushed whispers. Any suggestions on what to do?”

Does this situation feel familiar? Our physical workspace environment affects our workplace experience. It also affects our productivity—both in our ability to focus and in our ability to collaborate. As we all try to find the right fit for our work styles and needs, we often face situations like this.

A simple Google search can give you loads of ideas to try. (We'll give you one of our favorites, too, at the bottom of the page.) But each situation and space is different, so we've found the best place to start isn't with others' solutions but with something simpler: a conversation.

Start a conversation

Only your team can know what they really need, so you can't solve the problem for everyone by yourself. You can start the conversation, though, so the solutions can become clear.

For example, in the situation above, it starts by reaching out to the boss who shushed everyone. S/he doesn’t know the impact of their shushing; their intention was to support the team in being able to focus and get work done. So you could simply say something like, “Hey, I know your intention the other day when X, Y and Z were having an impromptu meeting was to make sure it was quiet enough for everyone to work—however as silly as it may seem, the impact has been the creation of this weird, ominous, quiet cloud of nervousness about making any noise, and it's keeping people from connecting and collaborating and has actually made it harder to focus. Some people are even going offsite to do trainings or make calls. Can we have a team discussion on how to best create a space where people can both focus and dialogue? My sense is this would be really healthy for our culture and our productivity.”

It may seem harder to start the conversation than just to buy a better pair of headphones, but trust us. It is THIS culture context—one in which anyone in the organization can talk to anyone else in the organization in the interest of improving the workplace—that will make THE difference, not only for your sound level but for your success as a team.

And one of our favorite methods

We'll share one of our favorite solutions with you. This one comes from a CEO whose programming team often needs to ask questions of each other but also needs to be able to focus for long periods of time. Their own solution?  Each team member has their own playful avatar that sits at the corner of their desk. When the avatar is facing outward, they’re open to being interrupted—but if it's facing inward, they're concentrating on deep work and need to stay in the flow.