Post # 1
Member
4205 posts
Honey bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - Canada
I recently started a new Human Resources job at a small office, we have about 20-25 employees. A handful of the employees work a rotating schedule (12 hr days for 6 days, off for 4 days) and the rest of the staff work regular office hours but most of them are in & out throughout the day for various duties. There has never been a good system to track who is in the office at any given time; this is really difficult for anyone else answering phone calls. I think it makes us look really unprofessional & unorganized when we have no idea where someone is or when they’ll be back.
We have a shared calendar for vacation time that only I can edit, however not everyone has access to Outlook all the time due to the different systems the different departments use.
For those of you who work in an office setting where people come & go; how do you keep track of who is in the office at any given time? My last office had a phone system that would track whether someone was logged in or not, it was really handy. This office is quite rural and small, so I dont think they would be OK with spending a bunch of money on a computer or phone system for this purpose, so I’m looking for something somewhat low cost, if possible. I know there will be push-back about this, but something has got to change and I’m in the position to do something about it.
tl;dr – How do you keep track of who is in the office at any given time when staff come & go throughout the day?
Thanks in advance!
Post # 2
Member
837 posts
Busy bee
Field staff are assumed to be in the field. Everyone else checks in with the receptionist when they leave or come back. If someone is sick they notify their supervisor who notifies reception.
The receptionist tracks it on a low tech, legal pad.
Post # 3
Member
13947 posts
Honey Beekeeper
We have a big whiteboard calendar for leave and off-site meetings. Other than that, if you aren’t there, you’re assumed to be (a) working elsewhere or (b) on leave.
Post # 4
Member
775 posts
Busy bee
At my company this is the leadership team’s responsibility (I also work in HR). I would work with management on this one, but I think a simple fix is giving access to Outlook and have them use the out of office function when they’re out.
Post # 5
Member
2361 posts
Buzzing bee
Do the people that come and go know ahead of time what their schedule is going to be? Or is it, like “oh we’re out of printer paper better run to the store” type situations?
We mainly use outlook, I can see everyone’s calendars so if they’ll be out on vacation or tied up in meetings I’ll know about it. For more last minute scenarios, we have an “all office” email address so if someone decides to run out for whatever reason they quickly shoot an email letting us know so we can route calls to someone else, or take down messages.
The other departments in my company use a lot of different systems but all have consistent access to outlook, are they not working on computers/laptops/tablets and that’s why they don’t have access to outlook?
Post # 6
Member
1301 posts
Bumble bee
We use Business Skype and update our status messages when we’re going to be away from our desk for a long period of time. We also use Outlook and are expected to make sure our individual calendars reflect our work schedules accurately (meetings, appointments, time out, lunches, etc.). The secretaries have access to everyone’s calendars and most of us can view each other’s, as well.
Post # 7
Member
1580 posts
Bumble bee
I’ve used a couple of methods.
We had a whiteboard with everyones names in it – if someone was leaving the office for whatever reason, they needed to write down where they were going.
I’ve used “out of office” on outlook
We also had an IM type system at one company, which was like a little chat screen. Not sure what that was called but it was really handy as you could “send all” a message saying you were out, thenm change your status. It was also good because you could ask someone a question without having to get up and physically find them haha
I do think this is a HR or at least an OHS issue. If there is a fire or something, you need to have a decent idea of who is and isn’t in the office.
Post # 8
Member
4967 posts
Honey bee
Business Skype. If you are green, you are presumed at your desk.
My specific department also has a magnetic board in a central area where we mark in/out with a magnet next to our name.
Post # 9
Member
3866 posts
Honey bee
- Wedding: April 2017 - City, State
We use Google Calendar and Hangout at my company. Can be used on the computer or on people’s phones. People fill in their schedule for the week because I also work at a company where people are in and out all day and no one has a set schedule. If you have a question about where someone is, you check the group calendar. If you’re still unsure, you message them on Hangout and ask if they are available or when they will be back in the office. It has worked great for us since we started using it and it’s very easy to keep track of who is where and when.
Post # 10
Member
4205 posts
Honey bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - Canada
veganeh : Unfortunately, this isnt a feesable option. We have 2 distinct departments and beacuse one of the departments is partially owned by another company, we essentially have 2 different companies under the same roof. We have 2 different email addresses depending on which department you work for. The one department doesnt use outlook, it uses the other companies software which the other department is unable to use. This isnt something that we can change.
futuremrs2020 : A bit of both. Lots of times they don’t know ahead of time, but sometimes they do. The rotating guys share a computer and use software (& email addresses) from the company that co-owns one of our departments. Our other department isnt able to use that software, therefor thee 2 departments have different email addresses.
JiminyCricket : This may work. I thought of an in/out board, it would be up to me to police it but hopefully people will get on board.
Post # 11
Member
1650 posts
Bumble bee
At my old company, no phone was allowed to go to voicemail. If anyone left their desk, even to go to the bathroom, you had to foreward your phone to someone, obviously telling them how long you’d be gone.
Post # 12
Member
4205 posts
Honey bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - Canada
youngbrokebride : This is an excellent point about it being a OHS issue. I think I will use that point to plead my case and to police whatever new system I put in place. I loved the workplace IM! I miss it haha.
annabananabee : So far, i’m thinnking the whiteboard may be my best bet since not everyone has their own computers or work phones.
MiniMeow : I will look into hangout, thank you! It may not work since not everyone has their own computer or work phone, but I’ll see what it’s about!
Post # 13
Member
2361 posts
Buzzing bee
Charliejeorge : That’s too bad you can’t all operate on one emailing system, outlook or gmail works well for communicating/updating calendar info.
The white board idea could work but I think you’d have to get each dept manager on board, you just nagging at people to sign out when they leave may not be enough. Honestly if I had someone telling me to “sign out” when I left and it wasn’t a company policy I wouldn’t do it, but that’s just me. Not trying to knock your idea but some people might not care to go along with it unless it’s a company policy.
Post # 14
Member
4205 posts
Honey bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - Canada
futuremrs2020 : Yeah I get what you’re saying. Thankfully my first job here is to update the company policies, so I can very easily make this policy 🙂
Post # 15
Member
1250 posts
Bumble bee
Is there a reason people always need to be at their desks? It doesn’t need to be unprofessional for the person answering the phone to simply say “so and so is not in the office right now. Can I take a message?”
I’ve never worked anywhere in my career where I need to be tethered to a desk and people need to know my whereabouts. Maybe that’s my field (I’m a lawyer) but I’ve always had autonomy over my workday. I personally would find it really insulting if I had to sign in and out every time I went to the bathroom or out for a walk or something. We do use Google calendars so we all know who’s in court and where, but that’s really it.