Team Resilience as Insurance against Uncertainty Fatigue

Uncertainty is one of the main causes of strain in the workplace. In many public sector organisations at the moment teams are managing restructuring, funding pressures, leadership changes and mergers. Some of this uncertainty is unavoidable, but the erosion of trust and cohesion that follows when people feel uninformed or unsupported doesn’t have to be. This is where team resilience makes a measurable difference.

I recently spoke to someone in an NHS organisation who was told months ago that up to half of the non-clinical staff could be made redundant. Since then, information has trickled out slowly, with no clear timeline or direction - a reflection of complex decision-making rather than bad intent. Still, her anxiety has risen, her focus has dropped and her confidence in the organisation has weakened.

Another person I spoke to leads a team in a public body that’s merging with two others. No job losses are expected, but decisions about future office locations may take more than a year. For the people involved, this means not knowing where they’ll work or whether they’ll need to relocate. They keep going, but their sense of investment inevitably fades when the future remains undefined.

When change is prolonged and information incomplete, people naturally fill the gaps with speculation and assumption. Leaders cannot always give full answers, and sometimes it is more responsible to wait for clarity than to share half-formed plans. What matters is how well teams are supported to work within that uncertainty.

Team resilience creates the conditions for that support. Resilient teams absorb pressure, maintain perspective and protect one another’s confidence. They keep communication flowing, share what is known, acknowledge what is not and focus on what can be influenced together. Over time, these habits build a sense of shared stability and trust that acts as a buffer against uncertainty. When individuals feel part of a cohesive team that listens, reflects and adapts together, ambiguity becomes easier to manage and less likely to erode morale. Teams that work in this way sustain collaboration and performance even when plans continue to shift around them.

You can see how we’ve applied this approach in practice here. Our team resilience programmes, led by Paul Ward, can be adapted to any environment, from one-off interventions to longer facilitated formats.