On a girl’s trip a few years ago, I experienced a potentially chaotic situation, but proactive preparation by the tour company prevented it. I was so impressed by the simplicity I often use this story as an example.

We were in Paris and planned an all-day group tour of three main attractions: the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and Notre Dame. The tour included guided tours at each attraction, lunch at the Eiffel Tower, and boat transportation. We took the subway and were going to walk a few blocks to the tour company. However, unbeknownst to us, the station was closed for construction where we needed to connect - bad news for three Americans who speak and read limited French. You know what this meant. Yes, we were late for the check-in time, and our tour group had already left.

This could have ruined our day and put a cloud over our trip. We were only in Paris for one day and were leaving the next day to join a Women’s Biking Tour. This was our only day to see these attractions.

But it didn’t ruin our day because the tour company was prepared for the situation and handled it seamlessly! When we arrived, we checked in acknowledging we were late, and they responded without hesitation:

• No problem, we have another tour leaving in 15 minutes and you can join them.

• Here are your wristbands.

• Do you want a bottled water while you wait?

Think about this, there were many possible responses by the tour company.

• They could have been frustrated.

• They could have said, we’re sorry you’re late but today’s tours are full. Can you come on a different day?

• They could have gone into chaos.

But they didn’t respond with any of these because they were prepared to respond differently. Their preparation kept themselves and us from chaos. How did they do this? They had an exception process for handling late tourists because it happens frequently. Instead of letting it disrupt daily operations every time it occurred, they had a straightforward process and realized these benefits:

• Resource alignment: no one was distracted.

• Customer satisfaction: no one was upset and left a negative review.

• Employee engagement: no one was yelled at by an upset customer.

• Mitigated the risk of each late group disrupting daily operations.

Consider how simple this was. Good preparation does not have to cost money and can have a significant impact – as in this case, preventing chaos. Visit RKCMANAGEMENTCONSULTING.COM for ideas and methods to guide your organization away from CHAOS and toward steady, reliable progress.