Team Building

Do a search on "music + worker productivity" and you'll find a wealth of pro and con opinions on whether music should be pumped into work environments and, if so, what effect it has on workplace team building and employee performance.

This article from March of this year, for instance, highlights the "pro" stance.  Jennifer Weiksner, a team member at the Georgia-based Alison Group, a marketing, advertising and public relations firm, told the Augusta Chronicle that the music she and her coworkers listen to before their morning staff meetings gets them "pumped up and ready for the work week."

But, as part of the "con" argument, aren't music genres like pizza toppings?  Isn't it difficult, if not impossible, for everyone to agree on a style that works best to have a real impact on team building and doing quality work?

What's more, with so many ways for employees to listen to music on their own these days via iPods and the like, why even bother with music over the loudspeaker – for which employees might need noise-cancelling headphones to tune out?

It can be a tough balancing act, but some small businesses are taking the gamble and experimenting with the "one-size-fits-all" approach.  One of these is our 2008 Top Small Workplace Jump Associates, a 10-year-old consulting firm based in California.

Check out this page on their website that is part of their Culture section, which presents their mission and values, and also showcases their creative workspace.  Here they show how music in their workplace complements the visual and spatial elements, which vary from community areas that are full of color and reflect a modern style, to more traditional offices, with doors, that are used for both meditation and focused project work.

Shown above is one of their "zen rooms."

There are two cool things I picked up on related to how Jump uses music in its work environment, and presents this facet of their workplace to the world for marketing and recruiting purposes:

• Their "JumpSound" page serves as a real-time, communal snapshot of the musical tastes of their 48 associates.  It can be updated as frequently as necessary to show the world what makes their "deck" most often, and why.
• The page breaks down the wall between Jump and their current/potential clients, or anyone else who lands here.  Visitors can listen to samples of the same music that moves Jump's employees, and can download the tunes if they choose (providing Jump some affiliate sales income).  While certainly not a significant revenue model compared with their primary consulting work, this page does serve a purpose in that respect, in addition to sharing what's unique about Jump's workplace culture.

When visiting or revisiting your employee engagement best practices, I believe you would be well served to do either or both of the following:

• Continue to MBWA (manage by walking around) with the intent of seeing how your employees listen to music in your organization.
• Do a formal or informal survey of your staff to gauge their interest in having music play generally in the workplace.  You may be surprised by what develops.

For more on Jump's unique work environment that has contributed to its 142% revenue growth and its industry-low 5-10% employee turnover over the last two years, check out our 2008 Top Small Workplaces Benchmarking and Best Practices Report.