Music, and more specifically, its effects on human psychology and physiology is something that has always captivated my interest.
As a psychology student, my honours year dissertation looked at the topic of “the effects of frenetic, motivational, oudeterous and favourite music on anaerobic athletic performance“. Or, in layman’s terms, the effects of differing types of music on sporting performance, specifically in the field of weight lifting. While the findings from my own study were not statistically significant enough to support the hypothesis that music improved performance, there have been a variety of studies which suggest that music can significantly improve performance on a variety of tasks.
So, while listening to my ipod on the train to the Objective Associates offices this morning, I began to wonder how listening to music while at work might effect the performance of certain tasks. Now obviously if your making phone calls for a large part of the day then the Steve Miller band’s “Joker” blaring in your ear isn’t exactly going to help (unless people really do call you “the Space Cowboy” and you feel the need to share this).
Steve Miller Band
However, if your performing tasks such as software development and coding, or designing the skin for a website (or even writing the content for a plumbing and heating website!) then would it have any beneficial effects on performance?
One study, conducted by management consultancy Case and Company on the effects of music on productivity at the Brooklyn factory of the American Machine Foundry Co. provides some interesting results. The study found a 4.1% increase in efficiency of the 40 workers whose performance was minutely measured.
Therefore, although AMF co. went bust (due to circumstances other than music in the workplace I hasten to add!), it would seem its not entirely impossible that music could credably emerge as a future tool for increasing productivity in the office space too. Most likely to be introduced by savvy, early adopting business managers….
…. or maybe not.
