Communication key for pandemic response success

With many states beginning to ease stay-at-home policies, cable operators who have been scrambling to keep networks running and customers happy can be forgiven if they look ahead to a time when things return to normal (whatever that may turn out to be). Smart operational teams will review the past few months when that time arrives and evaluate what worked, what didn’t, and what new steps they might take the next time a natural event or some other emergency situation turns things upside down. Even smarter teams will realize they can start this process now, to make their lives easier and their efforts more effective until normalcy returns. A key factor for successful responses in situations such as this one, both now and in the future, will be strategies that ensure clear and effective communications, say experts.

Such a communications strategy begins with the creation of an Incident Command Structure (ICS), said David Vanderbloemen, former director of emergency preparedness for Dominion Energy, during a recent webcast co-produced by SCTE·ISBE and Gisual. The latter operates a private network that enables communications service providers and utilities to share outage information and incident ETRs. Vanderbloemen stated that a proper ICS makes clear the responsibilities for both individuals and teams and lessens the opportunity for confusion that can make communication difficult. Guidelines for individual worksites (particularly those set up to distance teams in hopes of minimizing the risk of infection) must be communicated clearly as well. And those guidelines should include not only how to communicate with other teams but with any customers and local officials team members may encounter.

Communication with the supply chain is obviously required as well, Vanderbloemen added. Such communication is particularly important when a particular incident requires more of some resource – say, sanitization and cleaning products – than normal.

Vanderbloemen asserted that, particularly for instances within the organization and with customers, effective communications should be:

• honest
• timely
• brief and concise
• tailored towards the intended audience
• clear in terms of source; all parties involved should know where to turn for accurate information
• positive.

Fellow webinar speakers Derek DiGiacomo, senior director of energy management and business continuity at SCTE; Jim Ludington, former executive vice president of operations at Time Warner Cable (now Spectrum); and Tom Ayling, CEO at Gisual, also touched on the importance of communications in their presentations as well as covered such relevant topics as the development of business continuity plans and the importance of the right software support. Additional information on the webcast, “How to Operationally Respond to a Pandemic,” is available on the Gisual website.