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18:10
8
Q: Headphones at max volume, but coworkers' casual conversation for 4-5 hours a day is still audible

user107420Situation I started a new job 3 months ago. My team (of 6; I'm not a manager) sits on the leftmost side of the office in a block of cubicles. I'm the rightmost in my block and the only one on my team with the cube's open side exposed to a narrow "hallway" between cube blocks. The next block ove...

So in a team of 6 you are the only one bothered by 4-5 hours per day of full-volume shouting and laughing? Instead of asking to work in the cafeteria, you should ask to change cubicles.
@JoeStrazzere They are all bothered by it. My boss, who has an office, is bothered by them even through the closed door. But the others in my team are all farther away from the noise makers. I'm closest to them. I'm the rightmost in my block and the only one on my team with the cube's open side exposed to a narrow "hallway" between cube blocks. I can't trade cubicles with anyone else because they won't agree to that for obvious reasons.
Where are you located?
Noise cancelling headphones aren't equal - good quality ones (like the Bose ones) do more than cheap ones to reduce voices. It's still not what they're best at and they still need some music (or white noise or whatever), but you could always try to find some on eBay or borrow some to try. Also, you could try earplugs. They're cheap.
"My boss had the same issue of people won't be able to find me." - Is the same true for Team Noise? Any chance of, perhaps, getting them assigned to a conference room?
Pam
Pam
18:10
Does your team use some sort of messaging system, like Slack or Skype? If they do, the a quick "where are you" message would easily locate you.
These people are heroes! Thanks to them, I wasn't tricked into buying some random item I don't need
Make it measurable. Some kindergardens have an electronic ear that shows when the noise is becoming too much - perhaps you can do something similar? alpha-akustik.dk/soundear
@AlexHayward Even the best are horrible at filtering out voices. It's not what they were designed for. For example, on an airplane, to understand somebody, it's better to keep them on than take them off, because the engine noise will be filtered out, but the voice of the person will go right through. I made the mistake of taking them off when the stewardess was talking to me and the voice is actually harder to hear when you have the background noise active. So maybe that's a way to filter out team Noise: get a turbine installed down the hallway :)
If the Marketing guy is getting upset by the noise I can only guess it is the Sales Team next door. I am a software guy and often these two teams seem louder. For the Sales team, it is often the continuous phone calls that add to noise in their imediate environement combined with being more outgoinbg and loud people by nature. Does Team Noise spend more time in calls or converence calls than a Typical team? Such teams might benifit from an office where they don't suggger from background noise so much.
It might look silly, but have you tried hearing protection Ear Muff/Headphone (the kind you would use when working with loud power tools or a lawn mower)? It's not the best solution, but in my experience they're better at blocking out sound than most normal headphone, with the trade-off being that they're bulkier and the ones with speakers generally don't have the greatest sound quality
18:10
As a last resort, maybe shoving cottons balls in your ear might be helpful. At least until someone does something about this or you find a new job.
Have you tried asking them to keep the noise down?
I'm surprised it took 10+ hours for someone to suggest/ask whether OP had asked these people to tune down...
@TafT "My team, Team Noise, our managers, and the rest of our immediate office area are all marketing people." There are no sales people on our floor, or even in our building.
@LaconicDroid Yes, and not just me, my whole team has asked them already before I even got here. Their response has been to say "sure" and then go back to normal.
The "duplicate" refers to bodily noises made by a coworker. Those noises are often involuntary. This question is about coworkers shouting and laughing, which are both voluntary noises, not involuntary.

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