Infodemic: what physician leaders learned during the COVID-19 outbreak: a qualitative study

Background Effective crisis leadership is dependent on the key tasks of sense-making, decision-making, meaning-making, learning and crisis termination. While instant messaging and social media provided abundant and powerful sources of information during the COVID-19 pandemic, the infodemic—an overabundance of information, some of which is inaccurate—has also complicated the tasks of crisis leadership. Methods A qualitative study was undertaken, using semistructured interviews with physician leaders in the hospital dealing with majority of Singapore’s COVID-19 cases. Participants were asked about how they used digital communication tools in their leadership roles before and during the outbreak, and their reflections on the use of these tools. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, coded and subjected to inductive thematic analysis. Results Twenty-four physician leaders described the adaptations to crisis leadership tasks using digital communication tools. While these tools were useful for rapid collective sense-making, meaning-making was the most challenging because information was posted by others who were faster, competed with their ability to create nuanced versions of a coherent narrative for stakeholders. Leaders also shared the need to balance their relationship with their smartphone and use digital tools to communicate purpose and meaning to and with their staff when face-to-face meetings are not possible. Conclusions The COVID-19 infodemic has disrupted the key tasks of crisis leadership. For each task leaders on the front line can adopt measures to harness the power of and minimise the risk of damage by instant messaging. Infodemic management must be explicitly included in crisis management training for leaders.