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October 4, 2010 1:43 PM Subscribe
How do I overcome a literal fortress mentality in the office?
(Anonymous because while none of my day-to-day coworkers are mefites, possibly some people in the building are.)
First, the dramatis personae: I work in an administrative office suite with six people total. (The office is located in a small office building with maybe ten businesses total. The building is in the heart of a major city.) Because of flexible hours, people out of the office on sales calls, etc. there are more often only three to four people in at any given time, and occasionally even fewer.
Next, the set: there are two entrances to the suite of offices: a main door and a back door. The main door comes off an external hallway and gives onto a small common area with waiting area, etc. Four of the six offices surround this common area inside the main door. Two other offices are off a smaller internal corridor which joins the main area to the back door. Also off this smaller corridor is a kitchenette. This back door leads onto a smaller corridor with washrooms and a secondary exit from the building.
Two or three of my coworkers can see the main door from their desks; no one has a direct line of sight on the back door, but I work in one of the offices near the back door, which is literally five steps from my office door. As well, both the main and back doors have a sensor on them which emits a tone when the doors are opened. Even if we could not hear the doors open and close (which we all can, as I have head the sound from every office), this tweet sounds to alert us.
To be clear: this is not a big area, and no one is more than about ten steps away from either door. Note that it is not an office where cash is kept, or any vaulables beyond the office computers. It is six people with desks and phones.
The drama: a month ago, on a day when I was out of the office myself, someone walked in the back door and made off with a couple of empty 18-liter water bottles from the water cooler in the kitchen. In response, the new policy is to keep both doors locked all the time during business hours. A dozen or twenty people a day pass through the main door; people rarely come in the back door, but as it leads to the washrooms, it sees the same amount of traffic from us.
Now we are supposed to let visitors ring the doorbell at which point we will jump up and let them in.
When I bring this up with the office manager, who put the policy in place, I am told "We must be vigilant!" What we are doing is the exact reverse of vigilance: if my coworkers had been paying attention to the sound of someone wandering in the back door, we would not have an absurd new policy of cowering inside our offices all day. From my view, it seems absurd that anyone could lack enough situational awareness not to be aware that someone else had walked into the office.
Because some thief made off with a couple of empty bottles worth a deposit of ten dollars each, we now have to have couriers and customers making inquiries and mail delivery people wonder if we are open or not. This seems to me the sort of overreaction that marks airport security policies these days, and my objections seems to be met with about the same openmindedness that characterizes the TSA.
So what do I do? Accept a jughead new policy that is destined to have people walking into the door (this has happened several times already)? Argue against it when apparently nothing trumps 'security'*? Passively resist it by not bothering to lock the door behind me? I am half-tempted to actively mock it by offering a hundred dollars to any staff member who can sneak in the unlocked back door without me noticing...
*Indeed, even the boss of the entire office thinks this is inconvenient, but he has been shouted down by the cries of "Security! Security!"
(Anonymous because while none of my day-to-day coworkers are mefites, possibly some people in the building are.)
First, the dramatis personae: I work in an administrative office suite with six people total. (The office is located in a small office building with maybe ten businesses total. The building is in the heart of a major city.) Because of flexible hours, people out of the office on sales calls, etc. there are more often only three to four people in at any given time, and occasionally even fewer.
Next, the set: there are two entrances to the suite of offices: a main door and a back door. The main door comes off an external hallway and gives onto a small common area with waiting area, etc. Four of the six offices surround this common area inside the main door. Two other offices are off a smaller internal corridor which joins the main area to the back door. Also off this smaller corridor is a kitchenette. This back door leads onto a smaller corridor with washrooms and a secondary exit from the building.
Two or three of my coworkers can see the main door from their desks; no one has a direct line of sight on the back door, but I work in one of the offices near the back door, which is literally five steps from my office door. As well, both the main and back doors have a sensor on them which emits a tone when the doors are opened. Even if we could not hear the doors open and close (which we all can, as I have head the sound from every office), this tweet sounds to alert us.
To be clear: this is not a big area, and no one is more than about ten steps away from either door. Note that it is not an office where cash is kept, or any vaulables beyond the office computers. It is six people with desks and phones.
The drama: a month ago, on a day when I was out of the office myself, someone walked in the back door and made off with a couple of empty 18-liter water bottles from the water cooler in the kitchen. In response, the new policy is to keep both doors locked all the time during business hours. A dozen or twenty people a day pass through the main door; people rarely come in the back door, but as it leads to the washrooms, it sees the same amount of traffic from us.
Now we are supposed to let visitors ring the doorbell at which point we will jump up and let them in.
When I bring this up with the office manager, who put the policy in place, I am told "We must be vigilant!" What we are doing is the exact reverse of vigilance: if my coworkers had been paying attention to the sound of someone wandering in the back door, we would not have an absurd new policy of cowering inside our offices all day. From my view, it seems absurd that anyone could lack enough situational awareness not to be aware that someone else had walked into the office.
Because some thief made off with a couple of empty bottles worth a deposit of ten dollars each, we now have to have couriers and customers making inquiries and mail delivery people wonder if we are open or not. This seems to me the sort of overreaction that marks airport security policies these days, and my objections seems to be met with about the same openmindedness that characterizes the TSA.
So what do I do? Accept a jughead new policy that is destined to have people walking into the door (this has happened several times already)? Argue against it when apparently nothing trumps 'security'*? Passively resist it by not bothering to lock the door behind me? I am half-tempted to actively mock it by offering a hundred dollars to any staff member who can sneak in the unlocked back door without me noticing...
*Indeed, even the boss of the entire office thinks this is inconvenient, but he has been shouted down by the cries of "Security! Security!"
I'd start keeping a tally of how many times I, personally, had to get up every day to let people in. Then I'd run some numbers and make a case for the hour+ a week I spend schlepping to the door and back being much more expensive to the company than the loss of a couple of ten dollar items.
posted by restless_nomad at 1:47 PM on October 4, 2010 [9 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad at 1:47 PM on October 4, 2010 [9 favorites]
Off-topic: Kudos to the OP for the correct use of "literal"!!!
On-topic: Seconding restless_nomad's point of beancounting how much this policy is directly costing the company.
posted by IAmBroom at 1:56 PM on October 4, 2010
On-topic: Seconding restless_nomad's point of beancounting how much this policy is directly costing the company.
posted by IAmBroom at 1:56 PM on October 4, 2010
Is there any chance of a compromise? Leave the front door unlocked, so vendors and customers can get in, but keep the back door locked? That's how it is where I work. The back door is for staff only, and we all have keys. Clients, vendors, etc... come in the front door which is unlocked during business hours.
Restless_nomad's suggestion of making it about the money is a good one.
posted by grapesaresour at 2:03 PM on October 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Restless_nomad's suggestion of making it about the money is a good one.
posted by grapesaresour at 2:03 PM on October 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Can the people coming in & out be given keys to open the doors themselves? I admit, I am one of the hyper-vigilant about keeping the workplace locked up people. This comes from walking in on a theft of office laptops at 03.30 one day (I work in IT/Ops... often the only person there at odd hours). It just seems like there should be a more intelligent way to keep the place pretty locked up. Bathroom key hanging by the back door & leave the front door open, maybe?
posted by kellyblah at 2:06 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by kellyblah at 2:06 PM on October 4, 2010
hmmm understand your stress but it seems like if this is such an inconvenience, ppl will naturally stop bothering so much in a couple of weeks. and you don't want to be the one making too much of a fuss out loud because then when somebody goes to the bathroom and leaves their purse behind, and it gets stolen, everyone is going to glare at you and it won't be pleasant, regardless of it being their fault for leaving the purse there
posted by saraindc at 2:11 PM on October 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by saraindc at 2:11 PM on October 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
I work in an office that has at least four doors (not counting the front door). Couriers and visitors go in the front door. Staff have key cards for the other doors, which are always locked. Is this not possible for your office for some reason?
posted by rtha at 2:13 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by rtha at 2:13 PM on October 4, 2010
Can you get a buzzer or call system installed on the front door? I think having the back door unlocked is asking for trouble.
posted by Ideefixe at 3:01 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by Ideefixe at 3:01 PM on October 4, 2010
Going beyond restless nomad's thought about how much of your time this wastes and what that costs the company, how many petty thievs does it take to equal the cost of one missed deliever or one customer thinking you're not open or have gone out of business?
Plug the phrase "opportunity cost" into Bruce Schneier's blog.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 3:14 PM on October 4, 2010
Plug the phrase "opportunity cost" into Bruce Schneier's blog.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 3:14 PM on October 4, 2010
Recognize the feelings of the other people in the office. It's creepy that someone came in and took something, and people feel violated and uneasy. You want there to be better access for legitimate visitors, and you want reduced annoyance. The fortress folks want security. A swipe or proximity card for the back door would reduce annoyance. If there are enough visitors, I'd assign staff to front door reception responsibility. It's really unlikely that someone will come in and take hostages, not at all unlikely that someone will come in and heist a laptop or 3.
posted by theora55 at 4:25 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by theora55 at 4:25 PM on October 4, 2010
Kudos to the OP for the correct use of "literal"!!!
Seconding that, naturally.
I had a similar situation at my work. Thieves had used the elevator to access our floor (outside business hours) so a security key activated lock was installed. I kept a log of every missed delivery (courier and postal) and the amount of times I had to take a telephone call and then go down in the lift and collect a client or supplier. It took just two weeks to make a compelling case for 'this is no way to run a business'. We now have a security lock on the elevator that only kicks in after-hours.
posted by unliteral at 4:45 PM on October 4, 2010
Seconding that, naturally.
I had a similar situation at my work. Thieves had used the elevator to access our floor (outside business hours) so a security key activated lock was installed. I kept a log of every missed delivery (courier and postal) and the amount of times I had to take a telephone call and then go down in the lift and collect a client or supplier. It took just two weeks to make a compelling case for 'this is no way to run a business'. We now have a security lock on the elevator that only kicks in after-hours.
posted by unliteral at 4:45 PM on October 4, 2010
Surely having the doors locked during business hours is a violation of fire code?
posted by xedrik at 5:08 PM on October 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by xedrik at 5:08 PM on October 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Most offices of your size and type tend to work this way unless they have a dedicated receptionist who can monitor the door, and even then many have buzzers to open the door. People come in and take things from offices all the time because they know that they won't be challenged. Offices get so many vendors coming in and out that everyone will just assume "oh that's the copier guy" if they see someone they don't recognize. The only real solution is to lock the door and for the person who lets someone in to verify the legitimacy of visitors, or at least keep an eye on them.
It doesn't work just for everyone to be vigilant, because you could easily be on the phone, Jim could have stepped out for a Danish, Bev could be in the restroom, and the rest of your colleagues in a meeting, and it's the same as leaving the place completely unattended.
Don't believe me? When I was in high school, the school had continuing incidents of outsiders coming into the school in the middle of the day and stealing faculty laptops (including cutting cable locks), money left in students' backpacks, and other valuables. These folks would figure out when assemblies and the like were held or when certain offices and hallways would be clear, walk right in, take thousands of dollars worth of equipment, and leave. Sometimes, people even saw them on the way in or out, but they just assumed they were maintenance workers or other contractors. This kind of thing is sadly fairly common, and locking the door is a pretty commonsense and frequent practice to help prevent it.
You guys do need an electronic lock and perhaps a buzzer to make the situation easier for you, and certainly better signage on the door to invite your customers and vendors to ring the bell, but this really isn't such an odd or unreasonable policy.
posted by zachlipton at 5:34 PM on October 4, 2010 [3 favorites]
It doesn't work just for everyone to be vigilant, because you could easily be on the phone, Jim could have stepped out for a Danish, Bev could be in the restroom, and the rest of your colleagues in a meeting, and it's the same as leaving the place completely unattended.
Don't believe me? When I was in high school, the school had continuing incidents of outsiders coming into the school in the middle of the day and stealing faculty laptops (including cutting cable locks), money left in students' backpacks, and other valuables. These folks would figure out when assemblies and the like were held or when certain offices and hallways would be clear, walk right in, take thousands of dollars worth of equipment, and leave. Sometimes, people even saw them on the way in or out, but they just assumed they were maintenance workers or other contractors. This kind of thing is sadly fairly common, and locking the door is a pretty commonsense and frequent practice to help prevent it.
You guys do need an electronic lock and perhaps a buzzer to make the situation easier for you, and certainly better signage on the door to invite your customers and vendors to ring the bell, but this really isn't such an odd or unreasonable policy.
posted by zachlipton at 5:34 PM on October 4, 2010 [3 favorites]
xedric: doors would only be locked from the outside, I'm assuming. To get out, just turn the knob or push the lever or whatever.
posted by rtha at 6:23 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by rtha at 6:23 PM on October 4, 2010
Surely having the doors locked during business hours is a violation of fire code?
I would assume locked from the outside only. Anyone in could get out in case of fire. Codes and regulations about keeping doors unlocked during business hours depend on the type of business (and obviously the locale).
posted by shinynewnick at 7:07 PM on October 4, 2010
I would assume locked from the outside only. Anyone in could get out in case of fire. Codes and regulations about keeping doors unlocked during business hours depend on the type of business (and obviously the locale).
posted by shinynewnick at 7:07 PM on October 4, 2010
From a MeFite who would prefer to remain anonymous:
You've already seen that somebody with ill intent can get in and get out of your workplace without being seen or stopped. This time it was a theft. Next time, if the perp enters when there's only one person there, it could be physical assault or rape.posted by jessamyn at 8:45 PM on October 4, 2010
At my workplace, everybody thought it was enough to just be alert and keep an eye out for strangers. I mean, we've even got the security desk downstairs, what can happen? What did happen was that a female co-worker got physically assaulted in one of the restrooms and had her purse stolen from her in the process. She was out of work for a couple of weeks due to her injuries and the emotional trauma, and our employer had to pay the workers' comp for the case.
Figure out a way to make the process work better, but don't leave your doors unlocked. Really.
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:47 PM on October 4, 2010