eddie007

OK... without giving away my own personal position on this, and wanting the honest opinions of reasonable, sane persons

Head phones at work... YES or NO

Should they be allowed?

(when I say head phones, I actually mean those little earplug bud things which mean the person wearing them can hear wonderful music, not hear anything else and the persons sitting opposite them just gets that annoying white noisy static stuff)

GarryP

Depends on the situation.

If you have lots of individual efforts - different people working on different things at different times - and crass management has dumped them in one big room because it's cheaper, then yes, blocking out the noise of the office is obviously acceptable, even wise. Getting a clue about providing the right environment by management is also a priority.

If however they are supposed to be working as a team, and they are instead playing music to drown out the others - well then you have bigger problems than the music.

Bikergirl

Same as any other time you wear earphones, consideration to others.

A number of people, me included, wear them at my work and there are no issues. Occasionally we throw things at each other to catch attention but it is acceptable. It is known that if your music is heard by others then you will get told to turn it down so it doesn't disturb others. We are a team in an open plan environment and have a very good team feeling, but the nature of the work is difficult if we want to concentrate and others are chatting.

I position my desk/chair facing the door so i can see people if they approach me, and my phone in eye-line flashing when it rings so i am still professional in my work environment - though i have been known to have the CEO talking to me not realising my earphones are in because my hair covers them . Luckily he was fine about it, and appreciates that sometimes we need to shut the noise out and music is the way to do it.
That said we aren't a front facing company, and whilst our reception staff will wear earphones at times, it is one earphone only on the front desk rule.

northernbird

In an open plan office where you are part of a big team then I think no but if you are autonomous and work in your own office then I don't see a problem.

old.sparkles

If we're listening to music, we put 1 earplug in so you can still here the phone and other people. Plus we have online courses to do that not everyone wants to hear.

When I worked in the factory, out hearing protection had radios built in and blue tooth to our phones that interrupted the radio. You didn't play the music loudly as you still have to hear what's going on around, just a background while you're working.

On a night shift when there's no one else around - no need for headphones as long as everyone else as gone home

DeadVim

They were bloody essential for me in my last open plan location, the environment was and is still shocking for trying to get anything done that requires a train of thought (i.e. software development).

I actually got the entire team moved somewhere more sane (yesterday in fact) because it was so bad.

Bikergirl

I think the issue being in an open plan office and using headphones is it can make the team very isolated if everyone wears them 100% of the time. We have found that having the option to wear headphones helps individuals when they are coming up on a deadline without being pressured to have a conversation - works very much like a do not disturb sign when general gossip is happening.

commonwealth

We have the RADIO on in our side of the office!

Yeah, we love the radio because it can get really boring and silent in the Finance team when we mind our individual work stuff.

So far we've been a very productive team, exceeding our targets and meeting our deadlines. So I can't say it's a bad thing.

Pollyana

Same here, one earphone bud in, the other ready to hear the phone or hear colleagues talking. Usually only on night shift and when the phone isn't running hot, and when we are all working on stuff and not needing to discuss things. We have a team of three sat in close proximity to ech other and all with differing tastes so a shared radio just wouldn't work, we'd come to blows!!!

Kapri

I'm in an open plan office but earphones would be out of the question as we all need to communicate with each other regularly.

eddie007

Hallelujah!!!!

The voice of reason

old.sparkles

So is there any circumstance at work you would agree with someone wearing headphones?

Bikergirl

I guess it would be affected by your job, your company and the team around you. For me with contracts I cant afford distractions from noise around me but in a school staff have to be aware of child safety.

DeadVim

I think that 'reason' depends on the kind of work you do. To blanket everyone's situation with your perception of how 'work' should be done is very short-sighted.

I got to the stage where I HAD to work from home because I was so unproductive in the office. Seriously, the noise was ridiculous for the kind of work I needed to do.

If someone had told me to work in the office AND banned earphones then I would not be employed there right now. As it is the higher management saw 'reason' and made some changes, and thankful are we.

eddie007

I don't... Blanket everyone with my own perception... Our PhD students use headphones... No worries... They are concentrating in a crowded environment... Kevin HAS to have background noise when she is concentrating... I LOVE music myself.... When I worked on a malleable Iron belt at a engineering company headphones with music kept me sane (NO DONT BLOODY GO THERE)

Just having an off day... I'm pissed coz I am trying to train some one. She is new, in an office of 3 where communication is paramount.... There are lots of other "issues" but the straw today was the headphones.... Loud enough for both of us to hear.... She is in an environment where she could learn much by listening to the work related clinical conversations around her. And her English isn't SO good that she doesn't need to hear spoken English to help improve her own..... Frankly I found it bloody rude... Not to even ask what the Go is.... Just to stick them on full blast and only take them off when SHE wanted something.... And it's not like she is that young ..or what she is being asked to do is THAT onerous that she needs to block everyone else out....

Frankly I am bemused by lots of things about the whole thing and this is just one of them