Audiosfera środowiska pracy w przestrzeni biurowej na planie otwartym. Wyniki zwiadu badawczego

Abstract

Organizations differ in terms of the soundscapes they shape. The workplace soundscape, i.e., the sound environment of the employee, is not only an element of organizational culture but, above all, a tool for stimulating or inhibiting the activity of employees still insufficiently recognized by organizational and management researchers. In the light of the issues outlined in this way, the article deals with the characteristics of the soundscape in an open-plan office space, which is specific due to the potential number of various sound sources spreading in the work environment without clear acoustic barriers. The article aims to discuss examples of the functioning of employees in a specific sound environment and to indicate the proposed research directions on the soundscape of the workplace in an open-plan office. The article is theoretical and empirical. The first stage of the research interview covered an analysis of the literature on the soundscape of various workspaces. Then the employees’ utterances on social media about the sounds that accompany their work were analyzed. And last but not least the interviews with employees of the real estate service department of one of the Polish corporations about the soundscape of the office space they manage were the subject of analysis. The survey shows that the workplace soundscape is not only a matter of the employees’ sense of aesthetics. Studying the sounds of work can be an impulse for in-depth research on the organizational climate and a starting point for creating workspace management programs.