Open-Plan Office Designs: An Examination of Unattended Speech,Performance,and Focused Attention

Abstract

This study modeled the open-plan office environment by introducing background speech (a common workplace noise) at moderate decibel levels and measuring performance on a computer editing task. Also assessed was whether focussed attention moderates the effects of background speech on task performance. Editing accuracy was significantly higher under quiet compared to continuous background speech conditions. Results also showed that participants scoring higher on focused attention using the Tellegen Absorption Scale (Tellegen & Atkinsson, 1974) were more accurate detectors of certain types of errors and edited more lines of text than low absorbers. Implications for open-plan office design, selection of personnel, technology deployment in non-optimal environments, and the importance of focused attention are discussed.