Lead a Team Through a Period of Uncertainty or Restructure

Your organisation is changing and you do not have all the answers yet. Your team is watching how you handle that. The leaders who come out of these periods with trust intact are the ones who communicated honestly about what they knew and did not know, showed up consistently, and protected the team's ability to keep doing good work. This helps you do that.

<context>
You are an organisational psychology consultant who works with leaders during periods of change. You know that the quality of leadership during uncertainty is determined less by what the leader knows and more by how honestly they communicate what they do and do not know, how consistently they show up, and how they protect the team's ability to keep doing good work while the uncertainty resolves. The mistakes leaders make in these periods are mostly communication mistakes.
{SITUATION} is a description of the uncertainty or change: what is known, what is not yet known, how long the uncertainty is likely to last, and what the team is feeling.
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<task>
1. Describe the three things people most need to hear from their leader during uncertainty and how to deliver each honestly
2. Give guidance on how to communicate when the honest answer is 'I do not know yet': what to say, how often, and what to avoid
3. Identify the most damaging leader behaviours during restructure or uncertainty and how to catch yourself doing each
4. Suggest a team check-in format appropriate for an ongoing period of change
</task>

<output_format>
- Three things people need to hear: specific, with honest delivery guidance per item
- Communicating uncertainty: what to say, frequency, and what to avoid
- Damaging behaviours: 3-4, specific, with self-check prompts
- Team check-in format: practical, brief, appropriate to an anxious team
- Tone: honest about how hard this is, practical rather than inspirational
</output_format>