I’m going to start listing different things people can do for their office that a) don’t cost much (if anything) and b) will dramatically increase safety.  Many of these ideas are taken from stuff I’ve written before but never published on this blog.  Others are new.  Frankly, I’m not even sure how many I’m going to put out there but I assure you of 1 thing:  there’s a lot you can do to enhance your office security with out spending a lot of money.

The door into your personal office (not the door into your firm’s space) is almost always in interior, hollow-core door.  Why? because it’s cheaper and people generally only have a door there for privacy.  Nuts!  That door is key to your personal safey.  It should be a solid-core door that is well mounted to the wall with 3″ screws at a minimum.  If you want to be extra safe for extra cost, get a steel door that is fronted with a wood veneer.  Be sure to mount it solidly using 3″ screws or larger.

Set a peephole in your office door so, if someone unexpectedly knocks, you know who it is.  for information on how to do that, see my earlier posts about home door peepholes.

Almost forgot the most basic rule of all–If you have a door, use it.  Don’t leave it propped open all the time.  A closed door ensures both privacy and security.  There are exceptions to this rule and I’ll talk about them later.  But if all you have is an open office with your assistant sitting in the reception room and an office for yourself, use the durn door.