Employee Management

I read an article about how to have happy employees (http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/the-secret-to-having-happy-employees/).
It seems the secret is to fire the unhappy ones. While this seems kind of pithy, I can say that having let someone go who was very gifted when he worked, but was a fount of negativity and dissension, I feel a sense of relief. I am waiting to see how the rest of the crew respond to his termination.

Biometrics seem to be all the rage right now. Below is a video a lot of us have probably already heard about or seen. I've tried finding out exactly what lock set it is, but I have not had any luck. It looks like a Trilogy style keypad, but I'm not sure. I imagine that the manufacturer has pulled it after the video was aired.
http://www.yourdailymedia.com/media/1158187422/Finger_Print_Lock_Cracked_By_The_Myth_Busters

First Post

Over the ensuing weeks, I'll be posting the good, bad & ugly about trying to be a Project manager in the Access control industry. I tried searching to see if anyone else had one out there, and while I found a whole bunch of IT related project management blogs, I did not find any specific to this industry.
I've been doing access control full time for nine years, off and on before that for five more. I first got exposed to access control when I was doing building automation. The system we rep'd had a card reader interface and could hold a few hundred card holders in the database. From there, I went to a company that did mechanical access and was just getting into electronic access. The mechanical access (locks) experience was some of the best ancillary knowledge I could have picked up. It does not matter how well you install your equipment, if the door does not close properly, your system is not worth spit. I find there are too many people coming into, or are already into our industry that do not want to know anything about locks and doors. Yes, there are great door companies out there that we all work with and partner with, but how many times are they on site with you and your techs when your trying to explain to your customer why the access control system is working, but their door is not secure? Anyway, I worked with that company through a number of aquisitions and changes, going from tech to project manager to program manager. I worked for another company as an operations manager over a local branch, then moved on to another company with a larger local branch as their senior PM.
I'll talk about more specific things and topics as time goes by. I encourage everyone to post their thoughts, comments, and responses on here. If it starts to build up, I'll put up some kind of discussion board as well.

Lache pas la patate