Secure Your Office Space

In today's modern office environment, employee comfort, privacy, and personal security are simply not high priorities for employers. You employer probably makes efforts to ensure your comfort only so far as it will keep you from suffering from a repetitive use injury, and little more. Employees who choose to bring items and supplies from home for their convenience often find that these personal items disappear when the space is unoccupied. These simple steps will help you to protect your valuables, and let your coworkers know that your personal workspace is just that - personal.

1) Lock and key

In the modern office, and certainly in most cubicles, drawers, shelves, and cabinets come standard with locks. Most employers, though, choose not to provide keys to employees. In most cases, it's a problem of administration, and not that they don't wish employees to be able to secure their belongings. Tracking hundreds or even thousands of keys and matching them to individual workstations is a gargantuan task, and it's likely that employees are simply not offered a key. An easy solution is offered by the folks at Office Environments, at http://www.office-environments.com/. Using the unique code stamped on the front of your lock, Office Environments can cut a key for virtually any desk or cabinet and mail it out to you in about a week. They're pretty cheap, at seven bucks a pop, but there's a two key minimum. It's probably not a bad idea to have a spare around anyway, so the minimum order really isn't a problem. For $15, your favorite pens, mp3 player, and personal items are secure.

Can't cut a key for some reason? A slightly less elegant lock and key solution lies waiting for you at your local Wal-Mart or other big box store, and for about the same price. Pick up a lock-box of the type used by vendors at fairs and farmer's markets. They can be had for $10-$15, and most will slide right into a standard desk drawer. While not completely secure, this solution will act as a pretty strong deterrent to the folks who rifle through your stuff when they've run out of white-out.

2) Cube Door

I found out about cube-doors while researching an article on cubicle privacy, but its application as a simple security measure is pretty nifty, too. The cube door (http://www.cubedoor.com/) is a fabric "door" designed to provide those of us blessed with a personal square of heaven with a little bit of extra privacy. This fabric "door" blocks direct sight-lines into your cubicle. For security purposes, though, it can't be beat. When you leave for the day, or for vacation, remember to close the door behind you. Most office plundering is based on convenience and immediate need - it's easier to rifle through an absent co-workers desk than it is to walk all the way to the supply closet or mail room. The cube door makes a would-be thief a lot more conspicuous, as they need to stand outside of your cubicle, slide open the door, go through your stuff, and slide the door back closed properly. This is WAY more trouble than simply preying on someone with a wide-open door.

3) Caught Red-Handed

This may seem like overkill, but there's something really satisfying about catching the culprit in the act, and it's nice to know who keeps wiping out your paperclip stash. Most web-cams can be set to take photos at a set interval, every two minutes, for example. Others can be set up as motion-activated recorders. Either way, sticking one of these babies in the corner of your workspace can be a great solution, and a lot of fun. Imagine your co-workers' faces when confronted with photographic evidence of their transgressions. It only takes once to make them stop taking your stuff.

4) Make your Intentions Known

I see very few practical applications for this device, but it was so cool, I had to include it in this list. Cruise on over to http://www.thinkgeek.com/ and search for their "Lazer Trip Wire." This thing is cool - just like in the movies, using focused beams of light and mirrors, this system sets off an audible alarm whenever the beams are broken. Around my office, I'd get lynched by my co-workers the second time the alarm went off, but letting folks know that you have one of these babies - and why - will make your message clear: leave my stuff alone.

While it may not seem like a big deal to some people, we spend a lot of time in our workspaces, and maintaining the ability and the right to bring in stuff that we like without worrying about how long it will stay around can make the difference between a tolerable workday and a pretty awful daily grind. Work without that fear, and enjoy.