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.
Yikes. Everything about this is situation sounds messy and abusive, but this situation where he's bringing violent friends in after hours is a massive violation of trust. I would ask this person to leave + revoke their access immediately. Even if there is more to the story going on (I'm sure there is), this person is making choices that put your community at risk. I have zero tolerance for that. Asking members to leave is never fun (thankfully I've only had to do it 3x in 12 years!). *My best advice from experience is to avoid the temptation to explain yourself.* Less is more, here. Decide what you're going to say ahead of time, and use that line as your answer to anything they say. The last time I had to do this, I simply kept repeating: "What just happened was not ok, and I've made my decision that you can't come here anymore." The truth is, it's scary to own that decision, but also empowering in the face of someone who is being abusive. I would turn off 24/7 access immediately, then give them a clear and specific window of time to remove their belongings from the office. If you hold any deposits, refund them proactively. Basically make it easy for them to leave and avoid any opportunities for them to make excuses. In the past I've also asked a couple of trusted members to be present when they come to get their stuff to ensure that I'm not alone with them. Given that the police have already been involved, you may want to get a copy of any sort of report they filed from that incident as well. At the end of the day, this is about keeping your space a safe place where people can trust one another. A member whose actions undermine that - especially as a pattern and with such disregard - can't be allowed to stay. This sucks. I'm sorry you're going through it. You'll feel shitty for a brief period of time (I certainly did) and then you'll feel relieved. Good luck. We've got your back. -Alex --- --- --- --- --- --- *The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.* Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org ( http://indyhall.org/ ) * * Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com ( http://coworkingweekly.com/ ) My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten Sent via Superhuman ( https://sprh.mn/[email protected] ) 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 coworking+unsubscribe@ googlegroups. com ( > [email protected] ). > For more options, visit https:/ / groups. google. com/ d/ optout ( > 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.
