Operations · Weather
Rain changes the whole system.
A wet shift is not a normal shift with umbrellas. Guests cluster under cover, vehicle handoffs take longer, runners move more carefully, interiors need protection, and everyone requests at the first break in the weather. Treat rain as an operating mode of its own.
The playbook
Define the change before the first drop.
The goal is not to preserve dry-weather speed. It is to keep custody clear, people safe, the entrance usable, and guests informed while every movement takes longer. Decide in advance who can declare rain mode and what changes when they do.
Before the shift
Prepare the decisions, not just the supplies
Set the rain-mode layout
The covered curb becomes scarce space. Assign it deliberately before arrivals and departures compete for every dry foot.
Curb
Protect the transfer point
Keep the driest, safest section for guest entry and exit. Do not turn all covered space into vehicle storage.
Staging
Shorten the final handoff
Move likely departures closer when conditions allow, without blocking fire lanes, loading access, or traffic sightlines.
Interior
Control water at the door
Stage absorbent mats and a replacement routine so wet floors are corrected rather than merely noticed.
Equipment
Create one dry home
Keep tags, devices, chargers, keys, and writing supplies protected and in known locations.
→Rain punishes improvisation because every improvised move consumes the same small patch of cover.
Change the service promise
A team moving carefully in poor conditions should not be measured against a dry-night estimate.
Pretend nothing changed
Fragile- Quote the usual retrieval time
- Let guests collect under one awning
- React after the entrance backs up
Declare rain mode
Controlled- Tell guests conditions may add time
- Separate waiting from handoff space
- Update staging as the weather changes
→Expectation-setting is capacity management: informed guests are less likely to crowd the dispatch point for updates.
During the shift, appoint one person to watch the system rather than disappear into it. That lead monitors the curb, rotates saturated equipment, reassigns runners, and pauses new intake when custody or safe movement is becoming unclear. The trigger for a pause should be operational, not emotional: no secure key capacity, no legal overflow path, or no safe handoff space.
Afterward, note where water entered, where the queue formed, which supplies ran out, and which guest messages arrived too late. The next weather plan should be a little more specific than the last one.
