to think that people should not wear headphones and listen to music in the office

[Jewels234]

I work in a very large open plan office, where we sit in individual teams.

More and more people are putting in headphones and listening to music all day...and it's driving me insane! You can hear the 'tsk tsk tsk' noise of their music (I really don't want to be the grumpy one who asks them to turn it down). And if you need to ask a question you look like a complete idiot repeating their name until they realise they are being spoken to.

I know I can't change it...and probably am BU, but it feels unprofessional and unsociable. Also, hearing faint music constantly is so irritating. I can't beat them...so do I join them?

[brdgrl]

YANBU - if you can hear it.

[forago]

I challenge anyone to do AML compliance training without putting headphones on. Not. physically. possible.

[EBearhug]

Some of my colleagues wear headphones. I wear them when listening to replays of meetings I couldn't go to, but I tend not to wear them just to listen to music. I can actually block out other things when I really need to concentrate, without using headphones, and there's been more than one occasion when my manager has been stood at my desk waiting to talk to me, and I simply haven't noticed, as I've been engrossed in whatever techy issue I was looking at. Other people need help to cut out distractions. We're all different.

The people I want to kill are those who take part in phone calls at top volume. Or take part in conf calls on speaker phone. Or have meeting in the meeting room near my desk without closing the door (I have been known to get up and close the door when they're too loud.) Or those who leave their mobile phones on their desk, so they ring and don't get answered. They are mobile phones, so you can take them with you, or just put them on silent. But I've not heard anyone else's headphone noise. I would comment if I did. I complained to colleague who taps his pen up and down on the desk when he's thinking. It just takes a Look now.

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

Like Phaedra, I am genuinely amazed that anyone can do an even slightly mentally demanding job while listening to music. Music is so....distracting; (in a good way) no way can I relegate it to background noise if I'm trying to think about something, the most I could manage is having it on while cooking.

I suspect it is a generational thing though; my DCs are happily plugged in while doing homework and even studying. I think it is about needing some level of noise in the background, personally I prefer quiet.

[susiey]

We have both music on in our open plan office and if I need to concentrate use headphones for my own music.not loud enough for other people to hear though.
It's kind of a do not disturb signal In our office.
I work in creative industry I don't know if that makes a difference

[GnomeDePlume]

I guess the question is Tinkly, if you were their office manager, would you tell your DCs that they couldnt listen to music because you couldnt concentrate?

[nooka]

Tinkly my dh is almost exactly the same age as I am and listens to music to program (so high concentration work) as do most of his colleagues (who in my last job were all around the same sort of age - mid to late 40s). He also listens to music for pleasure, although mostly quite different music.

It may be a generational thing, but it's not a new thing.

[PenelopeLane]

I always listen to music at work, and have a job that requires a lot of writing. I never listen to music with words though, and tend to listen to music passively rather than actively. It helps me concentrate, and also provides a bit of a "lock down" for myself - ie I'll tell myself I will work on a report for a full 60 min playlist before I have a break.

I worked in one place though where it was frowned upon, my boss felt the same as Pheadra. It was a terrible work environment as well, maybe he thought that his stance on headphones made sense, but for me, I was much less productive when forced to listen to a workmate talk for ages about how many calories were in each thing she ate rather than escaping into my own work bubble.

[OneLittleToddleTerror]

tinky I'm in software development. It is a mentally demanding job I would think. Like slightlystainedglutter said there would be riots if no music is allowed. It is the norm as far as I know. We don't have office radio but almost everyone is plugged in.

Communications is done mostly via IM. Like I said before it's not considered the done thing to just appear at someone's desk. Unless you are actually friends, going for for a cuppa or lunch.

I guess we are much less conservative than law or accounting?

[OddFodd]

I worked in a massive global professional services firm for years at a fairly senior level. I always wire headphones when I needed to concentrate. I would have been really annoyed if one of the partners had implied I was shirking!

[Bluegrass]

I don't but a lot of lawyers I work with listen to music while they are drafting, even more so when they want to concentrate. So that's lawyers and surgeons doing it. Am wondering what on earth Phaedra does for a living now!

Perhaps she's a piano tuner.

[GnomeDePlume]

I was thinking about the 'looking professional' thing. The thing which sticks out for me is looking professional. I think that the people who worry about that tend to have a very narrow view of what looks professional. How often are these the people who prefer staff to be in formal office clothes no matter what?

[Bushbb]

I use music in the office - i use headphones and always make sure others can not hear the music.
we have IM for communication - I think YANBU if you can hear the music - but YABU for requesting people shouldn't do it at all - everyone works in different ways

i work in IT - and its pretty unusual to see people without headphones

[Noneedtoworryatall]

Personally I think it's ridiculous that headphones are allowed in offices as we are being paid to work. End of.

However, I can appreciate that it drowns out noise but I can't see how it would help you concentrate.

In my job I would never get away with it. It would look unprofessional.

[backbystealth]

I'm Managing Director of a creative agency of about 50 people.

No-one has headphones on!

It's not about people not being able to concentrate on their work while listening to music that I'd mind, it's that it's hardly conducive to conversation, ideas, social interaction, errr hearing and listening. We have radios on softly in the background. And a telly actually. It's an informal office.

But I think headphones would be detrimental to our work. Luckily the issue has never arisen so it's not had to be banned or anything.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

That's kind of how I feel about headphones too, when I worked in a busy bustling office I never wore them as you would have felt strangely isolated and not known what was going on, constant interaction was definitely part and parcel of the job. I only use them now because I am on my own most of the time and would die of boredom otherwise (I'm in earshot but not sightline of others and can't always tell if anyone is around the corner, so can't use speakers).

[foreverforaging]

I think the people standing next to the photocopier yapping for the umpteenth time are more of a liability than the person sitting at their desk with headphones in (to drown them out) doing work.

It is very old fashioned to think this is unacceptable. How old are you?

Agree that you shouldn't be able to hear the tsk tsk tsk noise though.

[Verystickypaws]

I put head phones on and listen to music and pod casts when I'm doing tasks like preparing and uploading data to a system. It helps me concentrate and focus on what I'm doing. Listening to people on the phone, or over hearing chatter puts me off.

[PenelopeLane]

Given how so many studies and the like have clearly demonstrated how people have different learning styles, I don't see why some people are so closed minded when it comes to the idea that others may be able to use different tools to concentrate and work. Surely it boils down to outputs - and if I am able to meet my outputs better with the use of music, that is all that matters? For me, music helps me escape into a sort of bubble inhabited only by me and my work, so I'm not distracted.

Although to be fair to other posters, the only type of conversations I am likely to hear around me are conversations that having nothing to do with our work, so I'm not missing out at all by not being part of the conversations.

[backbystealth]

It's not just about people not being able to concentrate on work with headphones on!

It's about interaction, conversations, listening, hearing the phone - my team's work is born out of conversing/ideas.

Not the same in all offices or industries, but certainly in mine.

[wonkylegs]

Sorry Greebo - you never know on here. I've posted about my DHs job before and had non sarcastic responses along similar lines, hence my defensiveness.

[PenelopeLane]

I guess it depends on the industry then - last time I put on headphones on it was because I had a deadline to meet and wanted to drown out a long and lengthy conversation between two workmates on how to survive the zombie apocalypse

[StatisticallyChallenged]

I can understand that there will be some industries where that constant collaboration is important but I don't think it's the case for everyone who has said headphones are awful, unacceptable, disgraceful, rude, whatever. There are people for whom the constant varied noises on an open plan floor are actually really detrimental. Just because you are not one of them doesn't make it untrue.

However this has been useful as I'm about to go through an occupational health assessment at work and I'm now thinking that this should actually be going on my reasonable adjustments.

[PetulaGordino]

It's the idea that tins unprofessional too. In some jobs/offices/industries maybe, but not all. Those who are using headphones are not doing less important work than those who don't, and vice versa