Since so much of our work is done on devices that offer full media capabilities, it’s not surprising that music has become an integral part of the work habitat for a lot of people. While there are those that prefer complete silence when a high level of concentration is needed, listening to music while performing certain tasks has become very popular.
ChatMarshal is a 24-hour outsourced live chat agency, we have live chat sales agents working around the clock and they are always super busy with chatting to clients and helping them in any way possible. This means long hours in front of the computer and a huge amount of focus and multitasking. We allow our agents to listen to music because it seems to have a positive effect on their work and increases productivity. This also allows them to drown out any distracting sounds and help them focus, this means better service to the client. I dug into some deeper reasons why music increases productivity and should be allowed among employees
Because music is such an abstract art form, the way we listen to music is very subjective and what puts one person in a focused state can be completely distracting for someone else.
Many people feel that listening to music at work improves their mood. Others claim it even makes them more productive. At some offices, seeing co-workers pounding their keyboards with headphones on is status quo. At other companies, this might be considered suspicious, as in: Are they really working?
A variety of studies have proven that music helps make repetitive tasks easier. And while the beat might help you get into what you’re doing there’s more to it. Music can also improve your mood, and being happy increases efficiency and productivity.
When you listen to music on headphones it blocks out distracting noises—an increasing necessity as teams move to open environments with side-line conversations, sales calls, and meetings taking place all around you. How does a person concentrate in such a racket? Headphones can also block out interruptions. Co-workers aren’t as likely to approach you if they see you with your headset or earphones in and leaning into your screen with intention.
More modern day workers have their attention stretched to the max. A wandering mind isn’t known to be the most productive one—and music can bring you back into the present. This is good news to the task in front of you that is waiting patiently to be attended to.
Music is personal, and people are programmed differently—so what works for one person might not work well for another. For example, I absolutely cannot listen to music, especially if there are lyrics, when I write or edit but I can do it while I am doing my other work. But I know other people in marketing who never take their earphones out and write perfect articles. It all depends on your focus and how your brain works.
I took to the music listeners in my office to find out why they listen to music while they work and here is the feedback that I got:
Lyne Makosa, our call centre manager, who is one of the hardest working and focused employees said this: “In regards to the music, for me, it has a calming effect on me. When I am having a bad day or simply in my own time my escape is music. It just gives me peace and I feel like I can take on the world. I can concentrate when I have my favourite music on as long I have it softly playing I will get on and through my work”
Jarod Carr, one of our account managers also one of our active music listeners gave me the following feedback: “Music, Takes you to a different place, makes you forget all the worries in the world it activates endorphins in your brain almost the same as gym can make you cope with depression and anxiety” .Jarod chats to hundreds of clients a day from different companies and can have many chats going at the same time. To be able to listen to music and do his work to the expected level is multitasking at his finest. This is one of the reasons that we are
I also listen to music at work, not all the time as I said above but for me, I find music puts me in a better and happier mood, this makes me more productive. I also put my earphones in so that I am not disturbed when I am working, I like to work in silence and talking is very distracting for me, much more so than music.
With all the new mobile devices, music services, and streams, music in the workplace is here to stay. Just know how to use it effectively, appropriately and inspirationally—and be ready to share your playlists!
ABOUT CHATMARSHAL
– Chatmarshal.com is a fully managed and outsourced website live chat service that includes all the software and human agents needed to run a 24 hour live chat contact centre on any website for any business in any country.
– When starting the ChatMarshal service our agents take the time to study all aspects of your website as well as the most important aspects of your business and products. ChatMarshal then creates a detailed knowledge base that is used to train our agents. Working with client’s we then grow this knowledge base into a comprehensive document.
– ChatMarshal is for businesses that want to offer superior website live chat to their visitors, but do not want to staff it themselves.
