Music in the workplace – is it a great idea or a terrible one? If you have ever tried to get a carful of people to agree on a playlist, you can imagine that opinions are divided. Research shows that a lot of people find listening to music at work helpful – at least if they can choose when to listen to it.
But what about you?
1. Relaxation: “It calms me down”, “eases my stress”
Music at work can contribute to relaxation by channeling your stress and negative emotions, and can remind you of not being at work. It can also provide a mini-break from being mentally active and allow you rest and recover.
2. Concentration: “It improves my ability to focus on what I am working on”
Music can aid your concentration by suppressing distractions around the office. Some people experience these effects when they do simpler tasks, but it could also help when doing more complex work. You can control your soundscape in the office and replace external interruptions with sounds of your choice (more on this in reason 4).
3. Emotional management: “It helps me to remain positive”
Music can be inspirational; it can encourage thoughts and motivate you. It can act as a stress reliever and be a‘fellow sufferer’ in a public space, where it might not be appropriate to act out all your frustrations.
4. It blocks out distractions: “It helps me concentrate, especially when someone else is in the office, or talking on the phone, or having a meeting nearby”
Being able to block out distractions can be a way to cope with stress, as it gives you more control over your environment. Headphones in particular help to improve concentration in two ways.
5. It creates variation and helps you think about something else: “If music was not my distraction, then something unproductive would be, such as fiddling with papers or gazing out of the window”
Music can provide you with a diversion so you don’t engage in other distracting behaviours.
Does it always work?
Academic research shows that listening to music at work can help improve your mood, relax you and make you feel happier. However, it can have its drawbacks, too. Loud music can irritate your co-workers and headphones can isolate you from your team, which is not always a good thing.
But when employees can have control over when, where and what they listen to, music can clearly bring about real benefits to individual employees, and ultimately to the company.