In baseball, games can be rained out.  At my family’s fishing lodge in Oregon, we sometimes have fishing trips that are rained out as well. 

In the early summer, it is a bit unexpected to find businesses in North Texas rained out.  The unusual amounts of rain this year - sometimes more than eight inches over the normal amount - have left many businesses rained out and disrupted a lot of transportation.  Case in point, Lake Lewisville in Texas was high enough that it closed the southbound service road to I35 and could have easily closed I35 itself with just one more day of rain.  For more on the flooding, this search on Yahoo will provide a lot of information.

We have little ability to control weather like this.  Instead, it is important to identify weather risks, develop contingency plans, and execute the contingency plans if they are necessary.  One tool for monitoring weather related risks is the National Weather Service. 

One tool for executing the contingency plan is the telephone.  Make sure the other party to the relationship knows that the plan is being executed.  This allows them to prepare for risks.  Sometimes, products may arrive early and require storage space.  In other cases the situation escalates and performance becomes impossible.  If people know about the situation, they can deal with it.  If they don’t know, how can they prepare?

[t_targets:  flooding, business, communication, water risks, negotiation, contingency plans]

Filed by Coleen Davis at 7:45 am under Business Acumen, Customers, Negotiations, Resources, Solving Problems, Sourcing