Listening to music at work?
Discussion
A few weeks back, about 3/4pm on a Friday afternoon we had the iPod on in my office as background music, turning it off when the phone rang or other people walked in - and had been doing so for a few weeks.
Caused no problems, in fact maybe increased work rate at the end of the week, clients were none the wiser.
One of the senior managers walked in, said nothing, looked mad. Turns out he went upstairs and tried to get myself and the other person fired. IMO appalling people skills, if it was me I would have just said it wasn't on, please don't do it again etc.
If I was fired, I presume a fairly large payout would follow? I'm actually one of the harder working members of the staff, i'm not a clock watcher, but I do tend to challenge things instead of being laissez-faire like those that have been there for many years & have got comfortable.
At the moment, I have realised challenging things doesn't improve them, so I may as well keep my head down.
Caused no problems, in fact maybe increased work rate at the end of the week, clients were none the wiser.
One of the senior managers walked in, said nothing, looked mad. Turns out he went upstairs and tried to get myself and the other person fired. IMO appalling people skills, if it was me I would have just said it wasn't on, please don't do it again etc.
If I was fired, I presume a fairly large payout would follow? I'm actually one of the harder working members of the staff, i'm not a clock watcher, but I do tend to challenge things instead of being laissez-faire like those that have been there for many years & have got comfortable.
At the moment, I have realised challenging things doesn't improve them, so I may as well keep my head down.
Mattt said:
Also, my line manager was present and didn't have an issue with it. He got a bollocking though!
That was possibly the right way forward. Although you may have come up with the idea, technically it was his as he was the authority in the situation and could veto it. That would have been my course of action if I were the boss there if I didnt think that the ipod was a great idea.
If you want to improve things i would suggest that the ipod is there as a treat if the team meet a target Monday to Thursday. Friday iPod all day as long as work doesnt suffer.
Employees will want to meet the target Monday to Thursday and also want to work hard on Friday above the norm to make sure that work doesnt suffer.
The trouble with music is that one person may love what is being played whilst someone else might think its awful - especially if there is a wide spread of ages between the workers.
I used to work in an office whre they played Capital Radio all day. It used to drive me nuts. I left after a year and that was one of the reasons (although not a major one).
Th3e safest thiong is to not play anything - unless there is general consensus that everyone wants it and it is agreed with the management or proprietors. After all, they should have the final say - it's their business.
I used to work in an office whre they played Capital Radio all day. It used to drive me nuts. I left after a year and that was one of the reasons (although not a major one).
Th3e safest thiong is to not play anything - unless there is general consensus that everyone wants it and it is agreed with the management or proprietors. After all, they should have the final say - it's their business.
I find listening to my ipod (with headphones) blocks out the noise from the rest of the moronic tittering that goes on in my office (I don't care what your dog did last night or what colour shoes you are wearing out tonight), it certainly helps me too concentrate and does not disturb me or anyone near me.
I have no problems with people listening to music on headphones - so long as it's not those tinny walkman ones where sound leaks out.
However, it sounds like you had the iPod on speakers which I for one would find really irritating and off-putting.
Having said that, going upstairs to try to get you sacked seems a bit extreme. Surely a quiet word to switch it off would have been more appropriate.
However, it sounds like you had the iPod on speakers which I for one would find really irritating and off-putting.
Having said that, going upstairs to try to get you sacked seems a bit extreme. Surely a quiet word to switch it off would have been more appropriate.
Edited by JonRB on Friday 9th February 11:24
Listening to music whilst working may or may not be appropriate in an office.
If it annoys absolutely anyone else it isn't on. Similarly if you cannot hear the phone etc its not on. If a customer might hear it - this may be OK in a garage - but wouldn't be OK in a call centre.
In a software development company it might be OK to use an MP3 player - provided it doesn't piss anyone else off.
Personally I don't and nor do any of my colleagues. But some of the youngsters who have worked for us have - and in the right situation I didn't mind.
If it annoys absolutely anyone else it isn't on. Similarly if you cannot hear the phone etc its not on. If a customer might hear it - this may be OK in a garage - but wouldn't be OK in a call centre.
In a software development company it might be OK to use an MP3 player - provided it doesn't piss anyone else off.
Personally I don't and nor do any of my colleagues. But some of the youngsters who have worked for us have - and in the right situation I didn't mind.
Except if you constantly have to use sign language to attract someone's attention because they're locked away in their own world.
In an office environment the need for individuals to be able to communicate with each other is important. I suppose you could always e-mail a message to them e.g. "Take your bloody headphones off, I want to talk to you".
In an office environment the need for individuals to be able to communicate with each other is important. I suppose you could always e-mail a message to them e.g. "Take your bloody headphones off, I want to talk to you".
Eric Mc said:
Except if you constantly have to use sign language to attract someone's attention because they're locked away in their own world.
In an office environment the need for individuals to be able to communicate with each other is important. I suppose you could always e-mail a message to them e.g. "Take your bloody headphones off, I want to talk to you".
In an office environment the need for individuals to be able to communicate with each other is important. I suppose you could always e-mail a message to them e.g. "Take your bloody headphones off, I want to talk to you".
I find it quite annoying if I have to tap someone on the shoulder or attract their attention if it's someone I work with and want to discuss a work issue. You generally have to repeat what you said or wait for them to take their phones off, etc. It also makes people less bothered to discuss things as well if they have to 'disturb' someone. Seems pretty ignorant to me and not particularly well manned, but I guess it depends on the environment of your particur firm.
James.
jamesb300 said:
I find it quite annoying if I have to tap someone on the shoulder or attract their attention if it's someone I work with and want to discuss a work issue. You generally have to repeat what you said or wait for them to take their phones off, etc. It also makes people less bothered to discuss things as well if they have to 'disturb' someone. Seems pretty ignorant to me and not particularly well manned, but I guess it depends on the environment of your particur firm.
Perhaps, but as a developer I find that it says to people "BLOODY LEAVE ME ALONE AND LET ME GET ON WITH SOME WORK!".
It depends totally on the ethos of the organisation and the way in which people in that orgnisation want to (or don't want to) interact.
On the whole I am against it in a team situation - and it also smacks of lack of professionalism.
All right for manual orientated tasks I suppoose but I doubt very much if it helps when use of brain is required. I would like to think that my employees (if I had any) were concentrating on their work.
On the whole I am against it in a team situation - and it also smacks of lack of professionalism.
All right for manual orientated tasks I suppoose but I doubt very much if it helps when use of brain is required. I would like to think that my employees (if I had any) were concentrating on their work.
steviebee said:
What's the business?
We have a studio and have the radio on all day, everyday (one of the iTunes stations pubped through speakers). It always sounds odd when it's switched off.
But we're wacky, creative types. Might not be the done thing in an accountancy office!
We have a studio and have the radio on all day, everyday (one of the iTunes stations pubped through speakers). It always sounds odd when it's switched off.
But we're wacky, creative types. Might not be the done thing in an accountancy office!
My business is Medical devices, lots of people use music through earphones to enable concentration. All workspaces are open plan and you need the music to drown out the background noise. It's easier to tune out one noise rather than hundreds of individual noises.
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