Trauma Informed Ways to Support Your Team When there is Bad News

Our world is more interconnected than ever and news from around the world is often at our fingertips. So often that news is not good, rather it is often a window into a tragic and traumatic experience happening to someone in the world or perhaps in our backyard.

The devastating wildfires in Hawaii this week are a sobering reminder of the destruction and trauma that can be dealt by natural (and unnatural) forces within moments. Perhaps you were affected, either personally or just by the images and knowledge of such devastation.

With news like this, it can be challenging for your team members to focus or hold space to be their best selves at work. Depending on their connection to the event or what it may trigger in their own experience- the effects range from minimal to severe- without you knowing why.

In addition to the bad news we all hear about, each of us also may receive personal bad news- a passing in the family, a frightening medical event, or challenges with a loved one. As you are working with others, you likely will have no idea what persona ‘bad news’ they are facing.

Bad news, and challenging times- whether at the community level or personal, are part of life. So they are also something organizations need to be prepared to navigate. Given the sensitivity of these moments, it is also important that organizations and leaders navigate them with the principles of trauma informed culture in mind.

Actions you can take to support your teams every day to help navigate challenging times and bad news

Acknowledge

Acknowledging the challenging news and events or that bad things happen is the first step in supporting your teams. Acknowledgment is a key aspect of transparency and helps your team know that they are not alone in their feelings or experiences.

When significant public events occur, it may be appropriate to call out to your team that you acknowledge and recognize the distress being experienced and offer the appropriate support to your team and also those directly affected if applicable in the form of mutual aid and other support.

For some, misconception may exist that acknowledging bad news or current events at work isn’t appropriate, so they may be uneasy to be open about effects, but by leading with acknowledgment, your team will see that it’s okay to talk about these challenging moments and their effects.

Create Space to Not be Okay

Once you make acknowledgment part of your cultural response to tragedies, it’s important to take it a step forward and create space within your teams to not be okay.

What does this look like? It can look different on different teams, but it can be mental health days, honest conversations with managers about needing to take an afternoon away, and all the way to checking in with the emotions of your team.

My recommendation is to create space in a way that anyone can take it at any time. This way, if the challenging news is personal, the individual has the choice to disclose details or not. As a leader, consider how you give your team explicit permission to take this space- otherwise, they may not take it. It could be as simple as your team knowing they can tag you in for an afternoon away without having to share the details.

If your immediate question goes to ‘What if they abuse this space?” My answer- most people won’t. If someone is taking a lot of time or space away, it will warrant additional conversations to best support the individual and at the same time ensure the support for the full team.

Flexibility and space aren’t excuses for a lack of accountability. Don’t let that misconception prevent you from extending grace and space to your team.

Be Vulnerable

It can be difficult for people to ask for time and space when there is challenging news or personal issues. The best way to further encourage your team to take the space they need to care for their mental health is to model this behavior yourself and do so vocally.

Positional power can be misused (we’ve talked about that in our article about Collaboration) but this is a moment where you can use your positional power to give permission through your own actions.

When something comes up that affects you, share with your team that you are affected and what you are doing to take space. I recommend offering that space to them directly as well.

Seeing a leader be vulnerable and prioritize their self-care is incredibly powerful. Find the courage to model this behavior and watch the amazing impact you have on yourself and your team.

It’s the right time for a reminder- you cannot create trauma informed cultures for your team when you aren’t taking care of yourself. Self-awareness and responding to your own needs is the starting point for trauma informed leadership.

Reaffirm Safety

Safety is the foundational principle for trauma informed cultures. Without safety, it is hard for us to think about much else. When tragedies occur, often feelings can stir about our own safety and for some, this can create distracting rumination on scenarios where our safety could be jeopardized.

In these moments, make sure to reaffirm the actions your organization takes to ensure your team is safe — physically, psychologically, and financially. Since these feelings may be triggered outside newsworthy events, it is also a good practice to reaffirm these safety protocols and make them easy to access for reassurance.

Provide Resources to Talk through Feelings

For some, being able to talk through their feelings and experiences will be key to processing events. Make sure as part of your benefits offerings, there are resources for therapy or crisis counselors available to your team members to access confidentially.

If you are comfortable offering and holding space for a conversation, you can also listen to your team members’ feelings or tag in an HR professional for support as well. But don’t take it personally if your team prefers a third-party resource- it is normal and has nothing to do with you as a leader.

Offer Community/Peer Support

In certain scenarios, especially in larger organizations, tragic events can be an important opportunity to leverage internal community or peer support, such as ERGs. In these cases, listen to your teams and whether they are seeking this support and levels of discussion and how they’d like to move forward with this support either formally or informally.

Forcing conversations is not the solution here. Instead, focus on creating space and empowering ERGs and other groups within your organization to facilitate conversations and support in a way that works for them.

Recognize not everyone will have the same experience or triggers

Finally, it’s important to remember that everyone will have different reactions to certain events. It is both to be expected and okay. If someone doesn’t appear upset- do not push them or shame them. Everyone processes and reacts to things in a different way.

What’s most important is that you make sure your reactions do not invalidate or trigger the reactions of others as much as possible. A specific watch out here for those of us who may use humor as a coping mechanism- this can be very poorly received and harmful to others who do not cope in the same way.

As you navigate your reactions to events, understand that they may be different than others and that’s okay! But what isn’t okay is harming others with how you cope.

Bad news, tragedies, and personal challenges are universal. By preparing to navigate the impacts as they come up for you and your teams, you are more likely to create a safe and trauma informed culture within your organization. Remember, it’s also okay to not get it right all the time. This is why humility and responsiveness are also principles of trauma informed workplaces. If missteps are made- acknowledge them, take action to rectify and move forward with the learnings from the mistakes.