Music @ Work?

Music @ Work?

Music can play an important role in improving focus and productivity in the workplace, according to academics at the forefront of psychology and music.- a 2014 study by BBC

Do you agree?

I love music, so do a good many people. And then there is the crowd that feels that music is life. Good for them…….

Yet the concept of music at work is a relatively new concept. This came off the idea that those who whistle at work perform better.  In fact they conducted studies after study and surveys after survey on this,  that they ended up no idea on what to do with non-whistlers. There were even suggestions that they should be left unemployed or employed at the employer’s risk. Not much of a whistler myself – the only times you can catch me whistling is when a cute babe in the neighborhood passes me in the park, and when the dark scares me- I really don’t think I am in the right corner to yell bravo, to this most novel and innovative of ideas.

But then letting bygones be bygones, the world moved on instead to the ‘music at work place” concept.  Now the whistler and non-whistler were both in the corner, albeit the same one. The whistler, hummer, the singer and the normal human were now in the same room, breathing the same air, doing the same work and listening to the same sounds – the pounding of your fingers on the keypad, the humming of the air conditioning and most importantly, the productivity improving music.

Science says music improves productivity at workplace. Bosses had a new cause to yell. With music pouring in day in and day out, productivity is rightly expected to double. This means, for you, who used to type 200 word an hour, with productivity enhancing music, the new target is 400 word, give or take.

I would have chosen whistling any day now.

One thing I noticed though was that the whistler, hummer and singer too had the same target, if that is a solace. The morbid looks on the whistler’s face as he walked off the boss’s cabin, prompts me to believe that MAW (Music at Work) had not gone too well for his productivity either

I think I know now who loves MAW, though. It is the boss. He gets it all. He arrives late at work to warm welcoming music, sleeps his time off at his desk, listening to the lullaby and adds to the sound of music, as he screams at me.

Music sure works miracles……