Listening to music whilst you work to some people is the norm, but should it really be common place in all workplaces?
During World War 2 an initiative was started by the government in collaboration with the BBC, called ‘Music While You Work’. Upbeat music was played into factories twice a day in the hope that it would help up the pace of work and get the munitions out to the military quicker.
The response was overwhelming, and the BBC received numerous letters from managers nationwide describing the impact as ‘incalculable’ and that for approximately an hour after each session of music the factories recorded an increase in production by 12.5 – 15%.
Music is now an extremely common occurrence in most workplaces. In a survey from 2009, over half of the group stated that they would listen to music whilst they work, with 2 out of 5 firmly believing that it helped them get more done.
Although this can entirely depend on how experienced at your work you are, and how versed you are in the topic. When you are trying to absorb new material or information, having music on in the background can sometimes make this a more difficult task and be distracting. When you know what you’re doing it can increase your productivity significantly, however a novice will have a loss of productivity, however, their mood will improve.
One of the reasons for it making someone more productive is that when listening to music that you enjoy, it will prompt a ‘mild, positive moods’, which in turn helps you be in a better frame of mind for concentrating on work and produces higher quality of work. The Disney song ‘Whistle While You Work’ has a ring of truth to it – one of the lyrics being ‘it won’t take long when there’s a song to help you set the pace’. It has also been noted that it can make some people more creative within their work.
Sometimes, music offers a buffer for people who feel uncomfortable working in silence. This enables them to concentrate on the work they are doing, rather ‘hear’ the silence of the room. Music also helps people create a small ‘personal space’ whilst surrounded by work. Work can be intense and sometimes overwhelming, listening to music helps bring people out of the work bubble and be more grounded when dealing with their workload.
In our office we always have someone playing DJ for the day! We’ve noticed that the majority of our team really struggle when there is no background music. It can calm us when the team is particularly stressed or busy and it can bring the mood up when needed. Having music in the workplace is something we all strongly believe in and we definitely can confirm that it makes us all more productive.
With Thanks to –
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200317-does-music-help-us-work-it-depends
