The title for this one, is kind of tough. Strangers in this case could be coworkers, or people off the street…
I work in an office building in Downtown Chicago, there are 20+ floors and 4 businesses in the building. For my company you have to go to a specific floor to see the receptionist before you can get to any other floor, if you are not a coworker. Sometimes though there are people who either can’t read that sign and/or didn’t see the front desk on the first level when you walk in. Either way, people you don’t know will knock on the glass doors to get on your floor. The policy for this is to NOT open doors for someone you don’t know is a coworker or who don’t have a name tag that shows they signed in or a coworker badge.
The main issue is, that coworkers are leaving their badges on their desks when they leave the floor thinking if they knock someone would let them in. The team I am on recently moved to this floor, so it didn’t start until a couple of weeks after we got settled into our desks which happen to be directly in front of the glass door, and we are the only people near it (the floor is 70% empty desks at the moment). At first we would get up and let people in, or tell them the policy if they werent coworkers and direct them to the receptionist.
So back to the coworkers, they are leaving their badges that make the door unlock at their desk, and then coming back knocking, and waiting for someone to come by…
This happens about 10 times per day. It has gotten to the point where the team has started pretending they didnt hear (since there are half walls on our cubes they cant see us from the door) and letting them stand out there until someone else walks passed and does it instead. It is a waste of time for us to have to stop whatever we are doing and walk over to the door to let people in. We thought it would slow down if they were ignored but it has not. Coworkers are supposed to carry their badges on them at all times anyway, so its gotten to the point where some of the team members want to bring in HR.
I dont want to be rude to people, but I don’t want to keep getting up to let them in and then have to question who they are before I can even let them in. I also hate pretending I can’t hear them, and it is obviously not solving anything.
Has anyone ever had similar issues and able to get it resolved?
They are supposed to, but I don’t understand why they dont. I don’t wear mine, because I used to keep it one one of those things that clip but you can pull the string out to use the ID and it flings back.. not a very good description but I lost about 4 IDs that way so now its in my wallet. I just remember to take my wallet or take it out of my wallet and into my pocket.
That’s crazy. Not only is it a security issue (you could be letting in a smooth-talking thief who’ll try to lift wallets or laptops, or even a crazy ex), but that’s really disruptive to your work as well.
I don’t have any practical corporate advice at the moment, but you’re talking about these. Hmmm … maybe I do have a tiny suggestion: HR buys a big batch or something from hereand makes 'em available? Maybe during a short shame-on-you meeting to remind people of the policy?
the badge holders are available, people just don’t take them. They sent out a policy reminder not too long ago, but no change on this floor. The problem with when they sent out the reminder is the door broke like the next day, so they had a security guard standing at the door to open for everyone. The security guard was terrible though, he would just ask “are you a coworker?” as he was pulling the door handle…
Put up a sign visible to them. Signs have a mystical power of persuasion and authority. Something like:
We do not open the door
It is disruptive to work to to continually have to get up to open the door. Please remember your badge.
Even better, get your boss to direct you to not open the door. Then the sign can read:
We are not allowed to open the door
It is disruptive to work to to continually have to get up to open the door. Please remember your badge.
When people knock, you can shrug, look sorrowful, and point to the sign.
I can see if someone forgets their badge, but if they’re doing it knowingly that’s pretty inconsideraste of others. What’s the problem with their badges ? Is it attached to a big stick or something ?
I would bring it to the attention of security, HR and put up a sign. Don’t worry about it comming across as rude considering they also think another part of your responsibilites is door man.
Hopefully you can get HR to send out another warning and address this issue with something like, “Team Sits-near-the-door has been instructed not to let anyone one in. Do not knock on the doors.”
If the floor is 70% empty, can you ask to have the team moved away from the door? Cite the constant disruption to work. Maybe the co-workers will eventually get a clue.
Seriously, put a sign on the door, both sides. Facing outward, something as mentioned above. Facing inward, “Did you remember your badge? You can’t get back in without it.”
And be done with it.
I worked downtown for 10 years. The building I worked in for the last three, I never forgot my badge because I needed it to get into the building in the morning, and to get into the bathrooms during the day. It’s just not that hard to never forget to take your badge with you if you really need it throughout the day. If people stopped opening the door, with clear reminders about why, it would stop within a day.
At the last place I worked, it was pretty much the same setup. Many floors, but one reception desk on one floor, to which everyone without an employee ID card (which also worked as a key card on every floor) was supposed to go to be admitted. At the reception desk, they’d be given a temporary ID/key card, which would admit them to the floor on which they had business (and only that floor).
The firm sent out frequent bulletins letting us know that we were definitely not supposed to admit people who weren’t known to us to the non-reception floors.
This was a big firm. There’s no way anyone could know everyone at the company. So what would happen is that an employee would be leaving his or her floor (the doors opened into the elevator lobby) and there would be someone out there who would try to come in as the employee opened the door. The employee would refuse entry to that person, directing him or her to the floor with the reception desk.
About one time in ten, that person would turn out to be someone in senior management, who had forgotten (or just didn’t bother to carry) his or her ID card. That person would inevitably get all pissy, and go into a “do you know who I am” routine, and the person denying entrance would get a dressing down.
The inevitable result was that people would admit just about anyone in a suit, and then the firm would send out more testy messages about admitting strangers, and then some poor employee would take it seriously, and refuse entry to a senior vice president, and get in trouble, and then let just about anyone in.
Senior management. Always the most annoying people in the world.
We have a front desk with a security guard. You can’t get in anywhere but the front lobby without a card unless you talk to the guard. They’ll let you in if they recognize you, or walk to your desk to check your card if they don’t. No big deal. Of course, our building is small. With a larger building this probably wouldn’t work unless you had multiple guards on duty.
I wish you could call Homeland Security on these people. “Unbadged individual attempting entry!”
I work at a Federal safety agency, which takes these issues a little bit more seriously, although not entirely. My personal preferred method, when I’m feeling cranky enough, is to come to the door, greet the person, and instead of letting them in, I escort them down to the main desk (it’s on another floor) and have them sign out a temporary badge that they are now responsible for.
And I don’t provide them with a pen to sign it out, either. Nobody ever seems to carry pens around even though they always need them.
(I was out of the office yesterday, so this morning I discovered my pens were stolen again.)
That’s when you go into your “No, I don’t” routine.
Here’s one way to handle it that is totally evil, and therefore fun. When someone knocks on the door, smile at them and hold up your index finger, as if to say “I’ll be there in just a second, I just have to finish this one thing.” Then continue working. Repeat as necessary.
Cajoling people into buzzing you in happens quite frequently at my workplace, although it’s often a result of having a meeting on a different floor where you don’t have access. I have forgotten my pass at home before, though (it’s in my wallet and maybe twice I year I forget my wallet at home).
My suggested solution is to have a phone outside of the door with a list of employee phone numbers. Then if Joe is stuck outside, he can call his co-worker Bob and say “yo Bob, come to the door and buzz me in”. Some of our security doors have that, some don’t.
Where I work, not only can’t you get in without a badge, you can’t get out either. Great motivator for wearing your badge. Not to mention that not wearing your badge is a security violation. Get enough violations and they take the badge, and your clearance (your job follows soon behind because now you are useless). So, yeah, not much of a problem here.
I’ve worked in places where the elevator could be programmed not to allow access to certain floors without swiping an ID badge. Is this a possibility at your office?
but I lost about 4 IDs that way so now its in my wallet. I just remember to take my wallet or take it out of my wallet and into my pocket.