Etiquette is an important element of society that guides interactions at social functions, at the dinner table and in public spaces. It’s also important in the office. There is meeting etiquette, telephone etiquette and even breakroom etiquette.
Add headphone etiquette to the list of social codes impacting workplace dynamics and interpersonal relationships. In recent years, sound has emerged in offices as a point of discontent. The use of headphones – or lack of their use – can cause tension in the office.
Since the pandemic, employees are relying more on audio from their computers. Today, a walk down the hallway of any business can reveal one employee on a video call, another individual completing an online tutorial and another person listening to a work-related podcast. Others prefer listening to music while they work.
Sound is everywhere… and that can be a problem. John Joyce, co-owner of CRS Technology Consultants, recently shared his thoughts about headphone etiquette during a Tech Bytes segment on Gulf Coast ABC.
“The workplace has changed, especially in the years after COVID,” John says. “We’re doing more and more in front of our computers talking to people all around the world.”
Headphone Etiquette in Public
We’ve all been in public places where someone is using a speaker on their cellphone to take a call or watch a video. It happens in airplanes, restaurants, retail stores, trains, movie theaters, sporting events and many other places.
“There’s just some social no-nos around that,” John says. “You’re just a bystander in the room and you feel like you’re intruding on someone’s private information or private conversation.”
It’s annoying, but people just move on.
“That’s just out in public,” John adds. “Once you throw the workplace into the situation, now there’s actual business concerns, legal concerns, security concerns.”
Headphone Etiquette in the Office
“Once upon a time, if you had a meeting, you’d get together in a room, you’d close the door to that room and have a meeting,” John says. “Now, there’s people joining from work-from-home scenarios. There are people joining from the middle of a crowded office or private offices.”
Modern design trends use open spaces to promote collaboration and teamwork. They cannot all have their computer speakers on at once. In fact, John says no one should have their speakers on. One person’s noise becomes everyone’s noise. In a business office, distractions cause a lack of focus, which impacts productivity, which impacts revenue. The solution seems simple – wear headphones at all times. It’s not that easy, though.
Some businesses are reluctant to provide headphones or require the use of headphones, potentially for these concerns:
- Employers don’t know if employees are on a work-related call or listening to work-related podcasts, or just jamming out to their favorite musician or using noise-canceling headphones to drown out their co-workers.
- It may be tough to get a colleague’s attention without tapping that person on the shoulder.
- Employees using headphones may seem disengaged, disassociated or distant with co-workers.
Individuals wearing headphones might unknowingly be displaying a “Do Not Disturb” sign.
“You’ve kind of closed the door to your digital office in that situation,” John says. “You’re sending a cue.”
A Headphone Policy for Businesses
For many businesses, audio has morphed into the modern-day equivalent to Hamlet’s well-known line – to headphone or not to headphone.
In today’s professional workplace, audio is a must. It’s a vital communication tool.
There is a standard list of tech tools that employers typically furnish: a computer, keyboard, mouse, monitor, printer, webcam, telephone and perhaps a company-issued cell phone. Headphones aren’t often included in that distribution. Instead, employees decide for themselves whether to bring wired headphones, wireless earbuds or just use a computer’s built-in speaker. Therein lies the problem; most companies lack direction or policies covering audio in the workplace.
“Not only should they be requiring them… they should be providing them,” John urges. “We work with a lot of businesses of every type, and there is one common thread – they’re all doing these remote, virtual meetings.”
John notes that employees should treat a Zoom or Teams call like a confidential document – keep it secure. You don’t know what might be said and who might hear it.
Experts recommend that businesses review their computer-use policy and technology framework annually because of evolving technology. The next update should clarify that headphones or headsets are required when taking video calls or listening to work-related videos and podcasts. It also should include headphones as part of the standard-issue equipment that is essential for office-based employees. Headphones are better for security, better for privacy and better for workplace dynamics.
“Technology is evolving, like everything else, but the why behind how we should be using it remains the same,” John says.
Rather than going out and purchasing 20 sets of headphones for 20 employees, John says employers should offer employees a range of options. Not every computer has a headphone jack.
“Different people work different ways based on their role of just their workflow,” John says.
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