By: ALEC O’MEARA
On Nov. 26, 2015, heavy wet snow was falling, with a forecast warning of an impending storm for days. The phone rings, and before I answer it, I already know what the reporter is going to ask.
She’s anchoring the morning coverage of the storm and wants viewers to know when the power will be back on.
I wish we could give her a precise answer, but, at that time, our crews at Unitil are assessing the damage and trying to put together a holistic picture of the damage before restoration can begin.
An added complication is that the storm is far from over and more outages are likely, as the snow unloads from low-hanging tree branches.
And it is Thanksgiving. That detail wholly changes how I hear the reporter’s question.
You see, the reporter is not just asking for a restoration estimate. She is trying to tell residents whether they should carry on with their holiday plans.
People are traveling to be with their loved ones, businesses are wondering whether they can open, and hosts have spent days preparing the perfect meal. Somewhere, someone is looking at a thawing turkey and wondering whether the power will be back on in time to turn on the oven for their Thanksgiving dinner.
We often talk in numbers when it comes to operations, from the number of outages that occurred to the number of crews it’ll take to respond to the damage.
Every number represents a customer trying to make an important decision. For one customer, it could mean a missed shift at work, and for another it could mean a canceled family gathering or a cold night without heat.
Behind the question of “When will the power be back on?” is the real question of “Can I count on you?”
In situations like these, sharing what we know, even if it is not much at that moment, is critical. Sometimes the most honest answer is that we do not know yet. That may not be what people want, but it is far more useful than pretending we have certainty.
If we do not provide information, someone else will fill the vacuum. The more fragmented the information becomes, the harder it is for people to know what and who to trust.
This is why communications cannot simply be reactive. By the time the storm arrives, much of the communications preparation should already have happened. My team is thinking about what people are likely to ask and what information they will need. During weather events, we frequently do this by putting out a press release in advance of a storm with important information about the forecast and how customers can prepare.
At Unitil, our External Affairs team works across government affairs, media relations, community engagement and municipal services. Our municipal and community services executives are assigned to designated areas of our footprint, which includes towns and cities in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine. There, they work to build relationships with local officials, first responders and business leaders, one project at a time.
They attend town meetings, participate in trainings and community events, and serve on local boards and committees. If they hear a group of residents has a concern about a project, we connect local leaders with our operations team to provide the answers needed. These relationships matter enormously on both regular days and during emergencies.
The same is true with the media. For us, effective media relations involves knowing our communities well enough to anticipate questions, gather information from subject matter experts, explain complex issues in plain language, and recognize a story that is worth telling before anyone asks for it.
And communication has to go in the other direction, too. We have to listen. If customers keep asking the same question, that tells us we may not be explaining clearly. If a town official is hearing confusion from residents, we need to understand where that confusion is coming from.
If our field crews are hearing a concern repeatedly, that information should make its way back to my team, so we can work with operations to address the issue and incorporate customer feedback into the way we do business.
That is why I believe communications should have a seat at the table early, while there is still an opportunity to ask questions rather than simply prepare answers.
Our responsibility is to tell people what we know, to be honest about what we do not, and to keep communicating as more information becomes available.
Someone standing in their kitchen, listening to the wind press against the windows and looking at the turkey is wondering not only when the lights will come back on, but also whether they can count on us when they need us most.
That is the trust we work to earn before the storm arrives, through the relationships we build, questions we anticipate, and the care we show when the answer isn’t yet clear.
Alec O’Meara is the director of external affairs for Unitil.
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