The absurdity of noise in offices

Some offices in the country are too noisy to be worth the name. People talk at the top of their voices as if they are in the market, unmindful of how it affects persons next to them. They also seem not to care sharing what they talk with the ears of everyone around, as if to suggest what they say is of interest or benefit to everyone. On the contrary, an office is a respectable place, which to a certain extent, is supposed to reflect the serenity and semblance of an examination room or library. This is because it is a place where official correspondence of an entity is conducted; where an entity’s important documents are kept; where discussions, official telephone conversations and meetings are held; where official visitors are received; where clients are attended to; where policies are formulated and amended; where the entity’s accounts are prepared; where office related problems are solved; where emergencies are attended to; where careful and rigorous thinking of the entity’s future is done; so is strategic, tactical and operational planning. It is therefore unethical for noise to be found in such a place. It is surprising that even people in some shared offices talk at the top of their voices unmindful of how doing so reduces concentration of their officemates and even distracts them. Unknown to managements of such offices, tolerating the noise suggests that they are comfortable with it, implying they are also like that, noisy, ignorant and unmindful of office etiquette. It is also suggestive of ignorance of office management. On the opposite, headquarters of Government Ministerial offices in Kigali are impeccably clean and quiet. So are the headquarters of a good number of multinational companies, international non governmental organisations and well managed indigenous entities. The problem is with badly managed ones which by so doing tarnish the good image Rwanda has managed to create in the recent past, as a country with clean towns and a highly disciplined and corrupt free leadership. This reminds me of one of the principles of teaching which states that a noisy teacher makes a noisy class and a dull teacher makes a dull class. Likewise, noisy offices suggest their leaders or bosses are also like that, lacking in discipline and ignorant of office management ethics. One of the principles of office management being that a Secretary looks like his/her boss who tolerates her or is comfortable with her, so do the employees who make noise in offices look like their bosses who are comfortable with their behaviour. By so doing, they unfortunately risk projecting their entities negatively. It is high time the anomaly is corrected through staff meetings, seminars and workshops. Noisy customers in restaurants Noise is also found in a number of coffee shops, restaurants and hotels. An individual at a nearby table can talk at a top of his voice as if he is talking to someone a hundred metres away, unmindful of how doing so disturbs others who are not in the crazy mood like he is. It is important to note that when people go to such places want to relax and have a peace of mind. Sometimes they go to such places to discuss issues quietly with friends or to discuss business with counter parts. Therefore making noise to them is making it difficult for them to do so. We should take heed of an English proverb that reminds us of empty tins being the ones that always make noise and those with water do not. The proverb aims at pointing out how making noise indicates lack of substance or knowledge in the head, zeroing to lack of decency and education. It points out how empty a person depicts himself when he makes noise where he should not. It is, for instance, surprising to find voices of only two people, sitting by a nearby table in a restaurant or hotel of nine other fully sat tables, being heard alone for one hour or so, as if other customers are not present. Noisy passengers too A similar thing is found in public service vehicles such as buses and taxis. Two individuals may decide to talk on phone or between themselves, at the top of their voices, discussing private matters loudly, as if they are alone in the vehicle. Their lack of consideration and understanding makes them not to realise that they are making noise to others, even when they see some passengers talking to each other slowly. Unfortunately, they do not even have the brain to know that some of the passengers could be ill, on their way to hospital, thus deserving a peace of mind. I wish they learn now and change. dalemuta@yahoo.co.uk