Music & workplace productivity by James Yeow

Music & Workplace Productivity James Yeow, B.A. (Music Therapy), M.S. (Counselling) HELP University

MUSIC HELPS PRODUCTIVITY IF • Mundane Tasks • Mood it creates is + • Major rather than Minor key • Masking office chatter • Mellow sounds • Music without lyrics • Musical breaks are scheduled in • Moderate volume • Managers allow

MUSIC HELPS PRODUCTIVITY IF â&#x20AC;¢ Mundane Tasks

Music makes repetitive tasks easier, makes work more fun Music you are familiar with (less surprises/guesses)

MUSIC HELPS PRODUCTIVITY IF • Mundane Tasks • Mood it creates is +

Music affects the emotional centers in your BRAIN Mood + : More productive Maybe listen before getting down to work rather than during

MUSIC HELPS PRODUCTIVITY IF • Mundane Tasks • Mood it creates is + • Major rather than Minor key

MUSIC HELPS PRODUCTIVITY IF • Mundane Tasks • Mood it creates is + • Major rather than Minor key • Masking office chatter

MUSIC HELPS PRODUCTIVITY IF • Mundane Tasks • Mood it creates is + • Major rather than Minor key • Masking office chatter • Mellow sounds

Ambient house, chillout, downtempo, soundscapes Baroque – Bach (except Toccata & Fugue in D Minor) Game music – SimCity White noise – Rainstick sounds

MUSIC HELPS PRODUCTIVITY IF • Mundane Tasks • Mood it creates is + • Major rather than Minor key • Masking office chatter • Mellow sounds • Music without lyrics

Music activate language centers Not so bad if language you don’t understand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWlw1Kga_lA&feature=youtu.be

MOTIVATES â&#x20AC;˘ Help co-workers celebrate, cheer, collaborate, & cultivate bonds

Q&A james.yeow@help.edu.my

APPENDIX ABSTRACTS

CLASSIC STUDIES Music â&#x20AC;&#x201D; an aid to productivity J.G. Fox, E.D. Embrey Ergonomics Information Analysis Centre, Department of Engineering Production, University of Birmingham, England

A series of experiments has investigated the relationship between the playing of background music during the performance of repetitive work and efficiency in performing such a task. The results give strong support to the contention that economic benefits can accrue from the use of music in industry. The studies show that music is effective in raising efficiency in this type of work even when in competition with the unfavourable conditions produced by machine noise.

CLASSIC STUDIES The effect of music listening on work performance Teresa Lesiuk â&#x20AC;˘ University of Windsor, Canada, tlesiuk@uwindsor.ca

This study measured the effect of music listening on state positive affect, work quality and time-on-task of computer information systems developers. Effects of music on work performance, in this case, software design, may be explained by increases in state positive affect. Data from 56 (male = 41, female = 15) developers were obtained from four different Canadian software companies. Data were collected in the participantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; actual work environments over five weeks. Results indicated that state positive affect and quality-of-work were lowest with no music, while time-ontask was longest when music was removed. Narrative responses revealed the value of music listening for positive mood change and enhanced perception on design while working. Evidence is provided of the presence of a learning curve in the use of music for positive mood alteration. Overall, the study contributes to the development of a model that aspires to elucidate music and workplace interactions; as well, it has implications for organizational practice.

doi: 10.1177/0305735605050650 Psychology of Music April 2005 vol. 33 no. 2 173-191

Effects of Music on Cardiovascular Reactivity Among Surgeons Karen Allen, PhD; Jim Blascovich, PhD JAMA. 1994;272(11):882-884. doi:10.1001/jama.1994.03520110062030. Objective. —To determine the effects of surgeon-selected and experimenter-selected music on performance and autonomic responses of surgeons during a standard laboratory psychological stressor. Design. —Within-subjects laboratory experiment. Setting. —Hospital psychophysiology laboratory. Participants. —A total of 50 male surgeons aged 31 to 61 years, who reported that they typically listen to music during surgery, volunteered for the study. Main Outcome Measurements. —Cardiac responses, hemodynamic measures, electrodermal autonomic responses, task speed, and accuracy. Results. —Autonomic reactivity for all physiological measures was significantly less in the surgeon-selected music condition than in the experimenter-selected music condition, which in turn was significantly less than in the no-music control condition. Likewise, speed and accuracy of task performance were significantly better in the surgeon-selected music condition than in the experimenter-selected music condition, which was also significantly better than the no-music control condition. Conclusion. —Surgeon-selected music was associated with reduced autonomic reactivity and improved performance of a stressful nonsurgical laboratory task in study participants.( JAMA. 1994;272:882-884)

Can preference for background music mediate the irrelevant sound effect? 1.Nick Perham* and 2.Joanne Vizard

Version of Record online: 20 JUL 2010 DOI: 10.1002/acp.1731 Copyright © 2010 JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd. Issue Summary Research suggests that listening to background music prior to task performance increases cognitive processes, such as attention and memory, through the mechanism of increasing arousal and positive mood. However, music preference has not been explored with regard to a more common and realistic scenario of concurrent music and cognition, namely the ‘irrelevant sound effect’ (ISE). To examine this, serial recall was tested under quiet, liked and disliked music sound conditions as well as steady-state (repetition of ‘3’) and changing-state speech (random digits 1–9). Results revealed performance to be poorer for both music conditions and the changing-state speech compared to quiet and steady-state speech conditions. The lack of difference between both music conditions suggests that preference does not affect serial recall performance. These findings are discussed within the music and cognition and auditory distraction literatures. Copyright © 2010 JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd.

The influence of distracting familiar vocal music on cognitive performance of introverts and extraverts 1.Christina Avila 2.Adrian Furnham 3.Alastair McClelland 4.University College London, UK 5.Adrian Furnham, Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, UCL, 26 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AP, UK. [email: a.furnham@ucl.ac.uk] This study investigates the effect of familiar musical distractors on the cognitive performance of introverts and extraverts. Participants completed a verbal, numerical and logic test in three music conditions: vocal music, instrumental music and silence. It was predicted that introverts would perform worse with vocal music, better with instrumental music and even better in silence across all tests while for extraverts it would be the reverse. Results showed that during the verbal test, overall performance for all participants was significantly better in silence, supporting the idea that lyrics interfere with the processing of verbal information in the task. However, no significant music-personality interactions were found. Possible explanations for, and implications of, these results are discussed. Published online before print November 9, 2011, doi: 10.1177/0305735611422672 Psychology of Music January 2012 vol. 40 no. 1 84-93

Selected studies Studies

Conclusions

Fox & Embrey (1972)

Music improved efficiency in performance of repetitive tasks

Newman & Hunt (1966)

Employees enjoyed background music but no effect on productivity

Background music did not make a difference in productivity, but there was difference if music in major rather than minor key

Blood & Ferris (1993)

"Can Preference for Background Music Mediate the Irrelevant Sound Effect?" Nick Perham, et. al.; Applied Cognitive Psychology; Published Online: July 20, 2010 (DOI: 10.1002/acp.1731).