I think this has a lot less to do with the tools you have (most organizations have a variety to choose from) and much more to do with leadership, trust, transparency, and culture.  So many communications professionals are well-versed in controlling and crafting carefully shared information but in a situation like this, where things are moving so quickly that is a fool's errand. It can cause information to seize up completely, while decision-makers wait until they have something 'clean' to share. The absence of information breeds a lot of frustration, confusion, anxiety, and often counter-productive emergent efforts because there is an information vacuum. I wrote this piece about the role communities play in managing a crisis, which also includes this video from a WHO infectious disease expert.  It's critical during crises - more so than other times - to include the community in shaping the response so that they are included as things change. Otherwise, they will not understand or accept the decisions that need to be adopted quickly. I often say that perfection is the enemy of engagement - in this particular case, perfection kills.  ... View more

@kellyjstocker great question - and challenging because communities serve so many purposes. At the most basic level, communities are what determine how well individuals thrive - because to thrive, people need both support AND challenge. If they just get support, they don't grow/learn/change and if they just get challenged, they get defensive and anxious.  But the support and challenge people need vary by context and no one person can provide it all. Communities though are great matching engines for emotional need and capacity - giving people the connections they need (and with it the support or challenge), when they need it.  I also lean heavily on the research we do for these conversations. Below shows the benefits generated by communities to both the organization and to the members, for both external/customer communities and internal/employee communities. Together, the overlap is where the shared purpose and shared value is created. Communities are very effective at addressing some of the most complex goals that organizations have right now - and the chart below tends to speak to executives. I hope that helps!     ... View more