Recently I visited an office that spoke volumes to me. It wasn't the conversations with the individuals I had the opportunity to talk to, nor was it the result of some of my traditional  observations of the physical surroundings like the aesthetics of the lobby, artifacts used to represent identity, or how the space was arranged to name a few. It was the silence.

This silence left an impact on me and a perception in my mind.  In that moment, it was all I could think about. In fact, it was deafening and actually made me feel uncomfortable, even unwelcome. The silence had unfortunately distracted me from the beauty of the entryway and suddenly it felt cold and dehumanized. Thankfully that changed when I was met by the company representative with a smiling face and welcoming expression warmly inviting me into the atmosphere.

As we toured the facility, the silence permeated. I couldn't help but wonder how visiting clients and prospective clients felt about the lack of auditory signals. Not to mention how it cascaded throughout the facility and potentially affected the daily work lives of the employees. Was this an absolute intention of leadership to create a perception that part of the culture was that people are head down, getting work done and rarely look up to interact? There was no music playing with the exception of those listening on headphones. People having conversations were having them quietly - almost secretively. Of course, I was not expecting a lot of disruptive noise, but I guess I was expecting to hear some form of uplifting music, the sound of collaboration in action where ideas are shared and flow organically through verbal exchanges. I didn't get a sense that any of that was taking place. What I did learn after asking about the quiet surroundings is that, in this particular environment, physical noise had the potential to distract individuals and competed with thought processes. Concentration is critical and therefore physical noise is minimized. That made sense and explained why those that needed noise to be motivated, wore headphones that pumped their daily dose of musical inspiration.