Hey Aloma, I'm so sorry for your having to deal with Member X. It's an unfortunate side effect of this world that we sometimes have to deal with people who fall into the category of "that guy," and any coworking veteran you talk to will commiserate.
I can tell you that I am someone who is loath to kick out anyone, and that I am always trying to find a diplomatic way of making things work. So understand the context when I say I think this one's got to go. Everything you're saying here is throwing up big massive huge red flags. I'm pretty sure that, as a business, you have the right to refuse service to anyone. If you have a written membership agreement that Member X had to sign, then you can look to the terms of that for help, but even if you don't, you can simply make it known to X that their behavior is detrimental to the healthy operation of your community, and they must leave. It might be difficult to face, but you have an obligation to the members of your space to protect them from people who might be dangerous or disruptive. You can approach this in as empathic a way as possible, if you'd like—once you finally are able to speak to this person (they'll find time to meet with you when you tell them their membership is at risk of termination), you can invite them to share with you what's going on in their world. Sometimes people just need to explain themselves a little and to vent some steam with whatever's going on with them. With careful practice you might be able to excise them in a way that is amicable. But the person will be upset because they're obviously dealing with a lot of challenges right now. There's a good chance they might direct some of that upset-ness at you. Don't take any of it personally. People go through all kinds of things and it comes out in all kinds of ways. Stand firm with your responsibility to the community. Consider this an invitation to practice doing that in a way that is kind, professional, and firm. Know that on the other side of this is a wonderful feeling: the feeling of coming into your space knowing that kind of energy isn't going to be there. Walking into a space that doesn't have a Member X in it is a really great feeling you and your members will enjoy, and it's a feeling you'll earn through this trial by fire. After the dust settles we can discuss how to lay the groundwork to avoid a Member Y situation. 🙂 Please keep us posted on how it goes! Tony Bacigalupo *---* New Work Cities <http://nwc.co/consulting> • Coworking.org On Mon, Nov 26, 2018 at 1:25 PM Aloma Loren <[email protected]> wrote: > We have a member, we'll call this member X. > > X moved into a private office a couple months ago. > X gave 30 days notice that they will be out by the end of November, > however, they want to continue their membership as a Flex Desk member so > would still have 24/7 access to the space. > > It is clear from our security cameras X is here 24/7. Walks around the > space in their socks, is always in the same clothes, looks like they don't > shower... Hung a towel over the inside of the door to block any little > space between the blinds. > The other night the cameras showed the police here at 4:30am walking > through the space with flashlights. X says they had a friend in here that > got violent and they had to call the police. > > X refuses to let us show the office to new members. They claim they are on > the phone and busy all day. They literally slammed the door in my office > manager's face when she was trying to talk to her very kindly about this. > > Anyone dealt with this kind of situation before? > > I can handle not showing the office. I have a feeling it would not show > well anyway. > I do not feel comfortable with X still having access to the space after > they move out of their office. > Have you had to cancel a membership/refuse someone before? > How do you word it? > > Any advice or just sharing of stories welcome. > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
