The open-plan office promised collaboration, accessibility, and a more connected workplace. Yet there is one problem that can quickly undermine those advantages: noise.
Phone conversations, video meetings, impromptu discussions, keyboard sounds, and general movement can create a constant stream of distractions.
The issue is not necessarily that an office is too loud in a measurable sense. Often, it is the intelligibility of nearby conversations that makes concentration difficult.
Modern workplace design increasingly recognizes that employees need a choice of environments rather than one shared space expected to accommodate every type of work.
The answer does not have to be a return to rows of enclosed offices. Instead, businesses can introduce smaller, purpose-built spaces within an open layout.
Meeting booths provide a practical middle ground, giving employees somewhere to hold conversations, attend virtual meetings, or concentrate without completely disconnecting from the wider workplace.
When incorporated thoughtfully, they can help organizations preserve the collaborative character of an open office while addressing one of its most persistent weaknesses.
Why Open-Plan Offices Become So Distracting?
Noise in an open office comes from many sources, but conversations tend to be particularly disruptive. A nearby colleague discussing a project may be more difficult to ignore than a steady background hum because the brain naturally attempts to process understandable speech.
This can become especially problematic when several conversations are happening simultaneously. Even employees who are not participating in those discussions may find their attention repeatedly pulled away from the task in front of them.
The problem becomes more noticeable as workplaces rely more heavily on virtual communication. A single employee might spend part of the day answering calls, participating in video conferences, speaking with clients, or conducting interviews.
Taking these conversations at a desk can create a difficult situation for everyone involved. The person on the call may struggle to hear clearly, while nearby colleagues are exposed to both sides of the conversation.
Traditional acoustic improvements still have an important role to play. Carpeting, acoustic ceiling treatments, wall panels, furniture screens, and appropriate sound masking can reduce reflections and help control general office noise. However, these measures do not necessarily create the privacy required for an important conversation.
An employee discussing confidential information with a client or manager may need more than a quieter desk. They need separation.
How Meeting Booths Create Practical Acoustic Separation?
A well-designed meeting booth creates a defined space for activities that would otherwise take place in the middle of the office. Rather than attempting to make the entire floor completely quiet, it gives employees an alternative location when they need greater privacy or concentration.
This approach is increasingly aligned with workplace design principles that emphasize different zones for different activities.
The concept is relatively straightforward. Acoustic materials help manage sound within the booth, while the enclosure creates physical separation from surrounding workstations.
Depending on its design and acoustic performance, a booth can make conversations inside less disruptive to people outside while reducing the amount of ambient office noise reaching the occupants.
The result is not necessarily absolute silence, but a more controlled environment for communication and focused work.
A meeting booth can also be more appropriate than reserving a large conference room for every small interaction. Two employees discussing a project do not necessarily need a ten-person boardroom.
Likewise, someone joining a thirty-minute video call should not have to occupy a large meeting room that another team needs for a larger session.
Small enclosed spaces provide additional capacity without requiring every private interaction to consume a substantial amount of floor space.
Supporting Concentration Without Eliminating Collaboration
The purpose of an open office is not to make employees work in isolation. Collaboration remains valuable, particularly for creative work, problem-solving, mentoring, and team communication.
The difficulty arises when collaboration becomes unavoidable background noise for employees performing tasks that require concentration.
Meeting booths help create a better balance by introducing choice. Employees can remain in the shared workspace when they want accessibility and interaction, then move into a booth when they need to make a call or focus without interruptions.
This gives people greater control over their working environment without forcing the entire office to operate according to the needs of the quietest activity.
This flexibility is especially useful for hybrid workplaces. Employees who come into the office for only part of the week may have a combination of individual work, virtual meetings, and face-to-face collaboration scheduled throughout the same day.
A booth can accommodate these changing requirements without requiring a permanent private office for every employee.
What to Consider When Choosing a Meeting Booth?
Adding booths to an office should involve more than selecting an attractive piece of furniture. Acoustic performance is important, but so are ventilation, lighting, seating, power access, technology, accessibility, and overall comfort.
An enclosed space that becomes warm or uncomfortable after a short meeting is unlikely to become a popular workplace resource.
The size of the booth should reflect how employees actually work. Single-person booths can be useful for private phone calls and individual focus, while two-person versions can support one-to-one meetings, interviews, and collaborative tasks.
Larger booths can accommodate small teams without competing directly with conventional conference rooms. Choosing a mixture of sizes may be more effective than installing identical units throughout the office.
Placement also deserves careful attention. Booths should be easy to access without interrupting major circulation routes. They should not create bottlenecks or make employees feel that entering a private space means leaving the workplace entirely.
Positioning them near relevant work areas can encourage appropriate use while still providing enough separation from high-traffic or particularly noisy zones.
Why Booths Work Best as Part of a Larger Acoustic Strategy?
A meeting booth should not be viewed as a complete solution to every office noise problem. If an open-plan environment has excessive reverberation, poor layout, or inadequate sound absorption, adding booths alone will not correct those underlying issues.
A more effective approach combines several acoustic strategies according to the needs of the workplace.
Soft and sound-absorbing surfaces can help reduce reflections throughout the open area. Screens and furniture can create additional separation between workstations. Sound masking may help make distant conversations less intelligible.
Meanwhile, enclosed booths can handle activities that require a significantly higher level of privacy. Each measure addresses a different part of the problem.
This layered approach also gives businesses greater flexibility when planning improvements. Instead of undertaking an expensive redesign of the entire office, an organization may be able to identify the areas where employees experience the greatest difficulties and introduce targeted changes.
In some workplaces, that could mean additional acoustic treatment. In others, it may mean more private meeting spaces or a better distribution of quiet and collaborative zones.
Meeting Booths Can Improve More Than Acoustics
Although reducing noise is an obvious advantage, the usefulness of meeting booths extends beyond sound control.
Privacy is becoming increasingly important as employees handle sensitive information, communicate with customers, conduct interviews, and discuss personnel matters. An open workstation is rarely the ideal environment for these conversations.
Booths can also support better meeting-room availability. When small meetings and individual calls have dedicated spaces, larger conference rooms can be reserved for activities that genuinely require them.
This can reduce pressure on shared meeting facilities and make the workplace easier to navigate during busy periods.
There is also a practical benefit to employee choice. Different people have different responses to environmental distractions, and different tasks require different conditions.
Some employees may thrive amid background activity, while others need greater control over their surroundings to complete detailed work.
Providing multiple workspace options acknowledges these differences without requiring an organization to build a private office for every individual.
Creating a Better Balance in the Modern Workplace
The best open-plan offices are not necessarily the quietest ones. They are the ones where noise is managed according to the activity taking place.
Collaboration areas can remain energetic, shared desks can encourage communication, and private spaces can give employees somewhere to retreat when a conversation or task demands greater concentration.
Meeting booths fit naturally into this model because they create separation without sacrificing the overall openness of the workplace.
They can be incorporated into existing layouts, used for different purposes, and scaled according to the needs of individual teams. Their value comes from giving employees another option rather than attempting to replace the open office entirely.
Organizations should therefore approach booth installation as part of a broader workplace strategy. Listening to employees can reveal where the biggest problems occur. Observing meeting-room usage can identify whether small conversations are consuming valuable rooms.
Reviewing the office layout can highlight areas where noise travels most easily. These insights can guide decisions about booth size, quantity, location, and supporting acoustic treatments.
Conclusion
Open-plan offices are unlikely to disappear, nor should they necessarily do so. They offer valuable opportunities for communication, teamwork, and flexibility.
The real challenge is making sure those benefits do not come at the expense of concentration and privacy.
Noise becomes a problem when employees have no practical way to escape it, particularly when they need to participate in a sensitive conversation or complete work that demands sustained attention.
Meeting booths offer a straightforward way to introduce that missing flexibility. By providing dedicated spaces for calls, meetings, interviews, and focused work, they allow employees to move between collaboration and concentration as their tasks require.
Combined with thoughtful acoustic treatment, sensible workplace zoning, and good office etiquette, they can make an open environment considerably more functional.
