The riff: Dangers of music at work

Hospitals are a fascinating test-bed for management thinking, particularly when it comes to teamwork. Just look at the surgeon Atul Gawande and his powerful advocacy of checklists as a way of eliminating errors.

But new research published in the UK shows how medicine can be a source of cautionary tales as well as enlightenment.

Researchers at Imperial College and University College London examined the common practice of playing music in the operating theatre, something that apparently dates back to 1914. Not just serene classical music either: the study found that playlists — mostly controlled by the surgeon — included heavy metal and thumping dance music.

Anaesthetised patients won’t know if it is Mozart or Megadeth of course. But when they come to, they might be alarmed by the not-so-surprising finding from the study, which is that music can prevent surgical team members from hearing instructions (trifling requests such as “could you order me some more blood please because we are about to run out”).

The impact is worse when a favourite song starts playing and the volume is cranked up. Or when the MP3 sound levels are uneven and a new track blares out unexpectedly, prompting bloodied hands to flail at the player in a bid to locate its volume control.

What does this say about the best way to work in environments where the stakes are not so high?

To me, it suggests office staff should be discouraged from listening to music on headphones. It might help an individual concentrate — this is the argument surgeons deploy for putting on music — but it damages communication in a team.

Bosses should also be wary of how working arrangements that aid their productivity might actually damage that of others — such as the nurses forced to bend to the whims of the all-powerful surgeon.