Flexible Office Security Management Guide

Learn how to secure flexible offices with our latest article.

Flexible office security

With a recent survey announcing that 69% of large companies identified flexible office space as the most in-demand amenity of the future, flexible offices are a trend that’s here to stay. This comes as no surprise with their well-designed, modern approach to work, and the array of benefits offered. Despite this, there are some disadvantages that come from security challenges faced, such as ensuring the building is secure for the 24/7 requirements. So, how do we go about securing a flexible office space?

How to secure flexible office space

Securing flexible office space can be done through carefully implemented, layered, physical security. Assessing each area of an office to establish the level of security necessary will ensure you have sufficient security in place. For example, the main space of an office with expensive equipment, including laptops, needs to be firmly protected from unauthorised access. To achieve this, you can layer with speed gates at the reception, then supply an additional layer with security doors to access to areas requiring a higher level of security. You’ll then only allow in authorised users to the office. Not only does this protect staff and resources, but you’re also preventing IT attacks from people outside of the business. And with flexible offices often leasing space to a variety of companies, it is essential that employees can only enter their authorised space.

Managing flexible office space

While securing a flexible office can be challenging, it is achievable. Security experts/consultants can advise you on how to create a secure environment where people feel safe and are protected against potential threats. Considering each benefit from a security perspective will help you to eliminate risks. Here we outline different benefits from a flexible office and the security measure required to combat potential issues.

• 24/7 access to your office: flexible offices often provide 24/7 access to enable further flexibility for those working later or earlier than the traditional 9-5.
• Security measures: 24/7 access poses a considerable security risk with people coming and going. To combat this, security solutions such as security portals can be implemented as they can prevent unauthorised users from getting through to restricted areas.
• Multi-tenant buildings: flexible offices with multiple tenants encourage users to move around the office with various amenities to use for different purposes.
• Security measures: a layered security approach can help with this as you can implement security in different areas depending on the level of risk they hold. For example, a communal canteen or gym that allows people from different organisations to sit together would require low-level security such as speed gates whereas their private offices would require an additional layer of security that only allows employees through.
• Accommodates to different needs of workers: sometimes flexible office space brings the opportunity to have quiet/silent rooms as well as communal areas that are much nosier so that the individual has a choice about there they work best.
• Security measures: Visitor management systems for each area ensure you know who has been where at what time and therefore trace and detect the misconduct, whether it happened in a communal or quiet dedicated space.
• Co-working and permanent tenants: usually a flexible office building allows for leasing to different types of workers. From freelancers to full-time staff, this type of workspace is suitable for a variety of customers.
• Security measures: Access control software can control movement of people throughout the building, ensuring that they can have both permanent and temporary working within the building safely. For example, a security lift that will simply take the person authorised to only their office ensures you can have an office for multiple tenants without them gaining entry to more secure places.

Sustaining security in flexible offices

Now, alongside enforcing security in flexible offices, the upkeep of it needs to be prominent. Having modern physical security products in place will require less maintenance and more reliability. Moreover, encouraging situational awareness in all employees will help with your security strategies as they can assist with preventing malpractice. Having in place a clear plan if they spot something unusual ensures employees are equipped to deal with security issues to coincide with your security strategy. Finally, keeping on top of visitor management systems will be vital to sustaining security as you may have employees who leave the business and then need to be removed from the access list immediately so they can no longer use the facilities.

The future of flexible offices

With CBRE’s research of Flexible Office Trends in Finacial Services reporting that 44% of their surveyed respondents are expecting to more than double their use of flexible space by 2024, there is no denying their popularity. It shows that flexible offices are a new contemporary way of working that is set to keep growing therefore deciding on excellent security strategies will be essential.