Pry the headphones from my dead, cold ears
In a post at Harvard Business Review writer Anne Kreamer implores, “Workers, Take Off Your Headphones. It’s a thought-provoking read even if your gut reaction to the headline is a very strident, “no!”
“most younger people in our increasingly post-telephonic office world wear headphones about half of the time they’re working. And all but one of those I interviewed said that they had at least one G-chat or Skype window open throughout the day, every day — some of them checking in with as many as five non-work friends or family members every hour.”
Kreamer’s argument is that headphone-wearers are missing out on being vital, engaged members of their company. Also, she says headphones isolate people, can make them anxious, and erodes employee loyalty. Most of her conclusions are drawn from informal interviews with a dozen people she knows, so you have to take it with a grain of salt, but it’s still an interesting perspective.
Besides, have you ever been in an office where your co-workers complained that it’s just too darn quiet? Yeah, me neither.
