Planning for the Unexpected
Updated: Aug 30, 2022
Recently, we had a scheduled consumables pack out. It's a supplemental shipment, so it should only take a few hours. We were given an ETA of 1-4 PM. I decided to call around 2:00 PM to get an update, and my point of contact was a little bit surprised to hear from me but gracious nonetheless. I've done this enough times to know that if the crew isn't at your property close to the start of your ETA during peak season, there's a chance that they're not going to get to you within your original window.
Sometimes they're hung up in traffic, and sometimes they're just a little bit delayed, but it never hurts to give them a call. By making that call, I found out that the movers were not going to be able to make it within their window of arrival. In fact, the elevator in the apartment building where they were doing their first pack-out had broken. This means that my new ETA is now 6 to 7 p.m. on a Friday. Nobody wants to wait for packers at 6 PM on a Friday, am I right?
Unfortunately, this is what goes with the territory. It's busy season. It's busy season AND a pandemic has been going on. Moving companies have been decimated when it comes to staffing. Even pre-COVID, all of these things could have happened. How do you plan for these unexpected changes?
To be quite frank with you, sometimes you can't plan. Sometimes your best plan is no plan at all. Because if you keep your expectations fluid, when you need to be flexible in the moment you can. Talking with my contact we were able to come up with a plan. But when we realized that there was a chance the pack out couldn't happen, that's when we said let's talk. We paused in the moment to say what are the impacts, and what are the solutions. You cannot plan for every moment when you are PCSing. Life happens, and it isn't just your life that is happening. It's the lives of everyone that touches your PCS.
Honestly, sometimes you can’t plan. Your best plan can be no plan at all. If you keep your expectations fluid, you can be flexible when you need to. Keeping the lines of communication open with my contacts is key. When we realized that there was a chance the pack out may not happen, we agreed to talk it through.