Building Security: How to Upgrade with Minimal Disruption

Real talk: No matter the size of your business, upgrading your building’s physical security will cause disruptions to your tenants or staff — there’s only so much you can do about that. With a little planning, however, you can minimize those disruptions and avoid making people angry and annoyed.

If you’re a property manager, business owner, or otherwise in charge of your facility’s security management, this guide will help you upgrade your physical security system as smoothly as possible to keep you safe and operational.

When It’s Time to Upgrade Your Building Security

Knowing when it’s time to upgrade building security is a judgment call involving many considerations; there is no cut-and-dried formula or checklist.

If you’re reading this, there’s a decent chance you are already experiencing some pressure from your tenants, employees, board, community, etc. to do something, in which case feel free to jump to the next section.

If, however, you’re still kicking the tires on a physical facility security upgrade, here are some things to think about:

Crime Statistics While national theft rates are dropping, some theft is increasing, such as retail theft.

Building Vulnerabilities Businesses with alarm systems are less likely to be targeted by would-be thieves. Moreover, you probably have become aware of other vulnerabilities that you would like to address.

Optics, or Curb Appeal, of Existing Facility Security Visibly old locks or the lack of security cameras or lighting may give your building more “curb appeal” to a would-be robber.

Marketability Residential renters increasingly want more secure building access, including smart locks, so an upgrade could make you more attractive to new renters. It also follows that commercial tenants may be more attracted to more sophisticated access control systems.

Cost of a break-in Break-ins and robberies incur not only material costs in repairing and replacing property but reputational costs. Current tenants or employees may feel less safe, and prospective tenants, employees, or customers may unconsciously avoid your business or building.

Perceived safety It can be difficult to spend money on an upgrade if you believe the building is safe, but if the people in the building do not perceive it as safe, then it may be money well spent. Keeping tenants and employees happy tends to be more cost effective than replacing them when they leave.

The Cost of Disruptive Upgrades

A poorly managed facility security upgrade has lots of direct and indirect costs.

First, you can get angry employees and tenants. A modest inconvenience may not be a real problem, but serious inconveniences and disruptions can harm your relationship with your people.

That can mean less loyalty, which means less word of mouth promotion of your brand, or worse, actual damage to your reputation.

Next, there can be productivity costs. If employees or customers cannot easily get into and out of the building, or if normal daily operations get derailed, it can create a domino effect of lost productivity and opportunities.

That lost focus and productivity can also lead to lost enthusiasm for one’s work and less enjoyment of the work, which can create a vicious cycle.

Then there are increased upgrade costs. When upgrades go poorly, it usually means more time and money spent replacing parts bought in error or paying contractors for their time.

In brief, it’s worth taking the time to do things right!

How to Upgrade Your Building Security with Minimal Disruption

To properly upgrade your building security without upsetting the relevant stakeholders, focus on three things:

Planning
Communication
Execution

Planning

Draft a comprehensive plan so that all decision makers know how things should proceed and so you can anticipate likely obstacles and how you would like to address them.

Principles

Planning begins with big-picture questions about your physical security goals.

It may seem obvious, but it’s worth stating somewhere, in writing, the purpose of your facility’s physical security measures. For instance: “The purpose of our security system is, first, to keep our employees and visitors safe and, second, to protect inventory and property.”

This is important because once you get into the weeds of designing the system, purchasing materials, and installation, it can be easy to get distracted by matters of time and money. Those things are important, but their costs should always be weighed against the cost of a poorly designed and implemented security system.

So, you might include additional principles like:

Security measures should be appropriate to the security need. For instance, most interior doors will not need electronic access control. Installing such controls where there is no real need will only irritate the people who have to use the system every day.
Security measures should not be onerous to users. You want to design a system that people will use properly. Overly difficult systems can lead to users trying to find workarounds like propping open doors or disarming alarms and sensors. You can also overdo security if it makes your people feel they are being watched or micromanaged.

Security measures should be unobtrusive or aesthetically pleasant. You may want to make sure cameras in certain areas are small or have modern designs. Large or clunky security measures can raise negative associations for people.

Goals

In most cases, your goals will be straightforward:

Prevent unauthorized people from gaining access to certain areas of your building
Prevent the theft of data or property

But you may also include additional goals such as:

Encourage user participation in keeping everyone safe
Raise the alarm in specific security cases
Notify authorities in specific security cases

We would also suggest including “Inform and train all users in facility security measures” as one of your goals.

Materials

Now it’s time to figure out what hardware and software you will need to purchase.

Begin with a complete security risk assessment of your building or facility. Identify weaknesses and vulnerabilities like security camera blind spots or frequently used entryways. Carefully document what kinds of hardware you will need and for which doors or locations.

By the way, this is a good time to bring in an access control system expert who can validate the work you’ve done and help you find the best door, lock, and hardware solutions for your needs — as well as properly documenting and tracking it all, which can be its own headache.

Low-Disruption Hardware Options

Your choice of door and lock hardware can affect how smoothly installation or upgrading goes. Some equipment is designed to be easier to install than others.

Pre-fabricated lock cores Work in collaboration with your contractor and vendor to prepare lock cores off site so they can be more easily swapped in.

Drop-in hardware kits Some locks can be replaced with retrofitted kits that require little or no modification to the existing door.

Wireless access control retrofits If you select wireless or battery-powered access control systems, you eliminate the need for hardwiring, which can also require structural changes to your building.

Cloud-based access control These systems eliminate the need for sophisticated and sometimes obtrusive on-site servers. Plus, they allow you to manage your facility’s security remotely.

Installation Strategy

Work with your contractor to design an installation strategy that works for your specific facility and your employees’ or tenants’ needs.

After-hours installation If possible, schedule the most disruptive installations outside of business hours. For multi-unit residential buildings, it’s the opposite: Schedule installation during working hours when residents are most likely to be out of the building.

Zone-by-zone installation If convenient for your facility, divide the installation up by floor or area so that only one region of the building is affected rather than everyone at the same time.

Temporary entry paths When installation affects major entrances, set up an alternate route. Plan for signage and how you may need to staff it.

Advanced credential enrollment Distribute keycards or mobile access credentials prior to the changeover. For hardware that must be installed before you can credential users, make a plan for how you will enroll users without making them late for work or temporarily locking them out of their homes.

Common Installation Delays

Plan for common problems that delay installation by building in some margin. That means extra time and, ideally, room in the budget.

Material delays There are many points in the supply chain that may delay all the materials being ready at the right time. If major materials are missing, you may need to push back installation. If only some materials are lacking, you may be able to focus on what you do have by switching from a zone-to-zone installation to a staged install. If you’re in a time crunch, talk with your contractor about other sources of materials.

Stakeholder delays If you have to run project decisions through a committee or board, it can really slow things down. Build in extra time for these bottlenecks, place deadlines on requests, and limit asking about anything beyond what needs their approval.

Communication breakdown There could be many parties involved in any given stage of the project. Keep on top of communications so you are not the bottleneck. Tell people about actions you’ve taken that involve waiting for someone else’s response.

Equipment malfunction, installation errors, scope creep, and surprise discoveries All sorts of problems can emerge during installation that are out of your control. Building in margin both in the timeline and budget can help absorb these. Work with your contractor to devise alternate strategies.

Point of Contact

Determine who will be the point of contact for anyone with questions or concerns about the upgrade project.

In larger organizations, there may be several points of contact to cover different departments or buildings. Coordinate with these people so they have the information they need.

For smaller facilities, you may have to wear the point-of-contact hat along with all the other ones you’ll need for the project.

Communication

The funny thing about a security upgrade is that you actually want a little disruption.

Why?

Because you want your employees, tenants, and sometimes even your customers to know that you’re taking steps to improve their security.

The problem isn’t disruption as such: It’s confusion and lack of knowledge.

This is where communication comes in, and sadly, it’s the part that so many facility security managers neglect. They may craft an email or two, but they are so focused on the complexities of the project that they don’t stop to think about what people need to hear.

You may feel like it’s extra work to spend more time crafting messages. In fact, when your communications to the group leave people feeling uninformed or confused, they are more likely to reach out to you individually.

How much of your time do you want to spend reassuring people that everything is going to be okay? Better to get ahead of the confusion so you can focus on the facilities upgrade project.

Think of Your Audience

The core principle of communication is to consider your audience. While some concerns will be common to most people, different audiences will still have specific concerns.
Coordinate with your point(s) of contact to make sure they have adequate and accurate information.

Employees

Your employees will want to know how the upgrade will affect their ability to get into the building and get their work done. Explain what alternative entrances to use or when they should expect more information.

If there will be interruptions to their work, they will want to know either what alternatives are available or that management is aware and has adjusted their expectations accordingly.

Commercial tenants

Your commercial tenants will want to know whether the project will be disruptive to their daily operations, how much, and for how long. They will want to know what information they need to give their employees about alternate entrances, potential interruptions or barriers to access, or changes they may see after an overnight install.

If you anticipate major disruptions, the best thing to do is to contact your tenants early to hear their concerns, then try to address those in your installation strategy. If that is not practical for some reason, then explain what steps you have taken to minimize disruptions, then tell them who the point of contact is if they have other concerns.

Residential tenants

Residential tenants want to be assured that no one will have access to their home without their knowledge or consent. Explain when the install will happen, what changes they will see, who will be doing the install, etc.

If you are replacing apartment doors, describe when the installs will happen and what protocol you will use so they know what to expect. Remind them to put their pets in a crate or closed into a bedroom so there is no concern about escapees. Tell them where to look for any access credentials they will need.

Frequency

How often or how many messages should you send?

There are no hard-and-fast rules, here, but remember that too few messages can lead to confusion, while too many can lead to missed information.

The principle here is to only communicate when you have useful information — and then keep it simple.

Generally speaking, the larger the business, the more time they will need to plan for productivity disruptions. If you have a very large company with many employees and departments, you might give them a heads up anywhere from one to three months in advance.

Tell them when the install is planned, what they need to do to prepare, and when they need to take each action.

For small businesses or multi-unit buildings, one or two weeks may be enough notice.

Minimally, you will want to communicate:

In advance of the project – With enough notice that people can make any necessary preparations
The day prior to the project – Remind people what to expect when the project begins
Once the project is complete – Confirm that the project has been completed and tell people any other information they may need to effectively use the new system

If there are any delays in the project, that’s a good reason to send another message. Tell people there has been a holdup, assure them you’re addressing the issue, and tell them whether you have any estimate of when the project will resume or be completed.

Over-Communicating?

There is such a thing as over-communicating, which can lead to people not reading your messages carefully, which means key information gets lost and people are still confused and irritated.

In our experience, however, this is less likely than under-communicating. You’ll be so busy with the project that communication can feel like an afterthought.

Remember the key principles: Think of what people need to know, and communicate with them when you have useful information to give them.

Honesty and Transparency

Two other important principles of communication are to be as honest and transparent as possible. People do not like to feel like they’re being lied to or having information kept from them. It makes it look like you either don’t trust them or are not actually in control.

Honesty and transparency do not mean that you tell everyone everything. Rather, it means you tell people what they need to know. When possible, tell them the rationale for your decisions. People can be very gracious when they understand why something is happening the way it is happening.

Then give them the means to learn more either through a dedicated FAQ webpage or a point of contact.

Honesty and transparency also mean you acknowledge the effect your choices have on them — especially when things don’t go as planned. This shows you respect them as employees or tenants and are thinking about their needs as well.

Execution

You’ve established your goals and principles, planned out the whole project, and communicated to all stakeholders what to expect and what to do. Now, it’s time to make it all a reality.

Installation

Finally, installation day is here! And guess what? Things will not go to plan! You can count on something unexpected or undesirable happening no matter how prepared you tried to be.

Hopefully, you spent some time anticipating the likeliest problems and devising responses. For surprise situations, consider whether your other responses can be adapted. Review your goals and make sure any response is in alignment with them.

Then communicate what is happening to the relevant people.

Other than dealing with snarls in the project, hopefully all your preparation will mean you have little to do other than occasionally check on the progress of the install or, if circumstances allow, begin enrolling biometric credentials or oversee software installation.

Training

The last step is to train users in the relevant information they need to know. Most people will only need to know how to use specific doorways. You and possibly a select few others will need to know how to use the electronic access control interface for managing users.

Most people have some awareness of how to use smart locks, so you should be able to do most of the training with a simple email or short video. If there are additional steps people need to take to get credentialed, make sure they are given that information in time to take those steps so they can use your upgraded doors.

Anyone with access to the software application will need specific instruction on what actions they can and cannot take. Ideally, you will limit these actions through user roles, but you may choose to put other restrictions in place beyond what roles will allow.

Make sure everyone knows whom to go to or what to do should they have any problems using their access credentials.

Wrapping Up Your Building Security Upgrade

Once the install is complete and all systems are operational, you’re not quite done yet!

Don’t forget to communicate to everyone that everything is done and they can start using the new system. Thank them for their patience and understanding, and tell them again whom to contact in case of trouble.

Thank your point(s) of contact for their help in keeping people happy and giving you some space to focus on the project.

Then, draft a brief report to your higher ups to summarize what you accomplished. A security upgrade is a big task, and you deserve a little recognition for a job well done.

Finally, schedule annual security checkups and a five-year comprehensive security review. Regular reviews ensure your equipment is working properly, which in turn ensures people will use it properly.

You can probably figure out how to manage a facility security upgrade on your own, but if you’re not already a security expert, chances are it’s not the only task on your to-do list.

We at Anderson Lock have been Chicagoland’s security experts for over 60 years. Together, we can design the right multi-layered security system for your building and plan an install that will be as seamless as possible.