Navigating Uncertainty

Three rounds of layoffs. Six months of uncertainty. A team of four who weren't allowed to talk about it in group settings. This is how we came out the other side.

The Problem

In early 2023, Meta announced layoffs in three waves — March, April, and May. My team of four learned they were in the final group, with uncertainty stretching across nearly six months. What made it harder: managers were explicitly instructed not to discuss layoffs in team settings. Everything had to happen in 1:1s.

The challenge wasn't just morale. It was how do you keep a small team focused, producing, and psychologically intact when the ground is shifting under them — and you can't even acknowledge it openly in a room together?

How I led

As a leader, people assume you know more than you say. During six months of layoff uncertainty, I had to be honest with my team — and with myself — that I didn't. No insider information. No insight on who would be cut. I was as much in the dark, and at as much risk, as anyone reporting to me.

What I could control was how I showed up. Not toxic optimism, not performed calm — honesty about what was hard, paired with clarity about how I was working through it. The unspoken expectation that managers know things is one of the quiet costs of leadership during a layoff. Naming it openly was the first move.

What I Did

I didn't wait for people to come to me.

I built a FigJam board as a shared resource — a timeline of what to expect, stress management tools, company resources, a place to share music, a space to leave notes of appreciation for each other, and an optional area to exchange personal contact information like phone numbers. It was part operational clarity, part human acknowledgment that this was hard.

In 1:1s I was direct: stress makes people act out of character. I named it openly so my team had context for the behavior they were seeing around them — including XFN partners who had outbursts in meetings or went quiet for weeks. When that behavior crossed a professional line, I escalated and confronted it directly.

For months I was less manager and more the person they called when they didn't know what else to do.

When the May layoffs hit and a direct report was impacted, I was on the phone with her as she processed the news. I stayed in touch through her search until she landed somewhere new.

Outcome

The team shipped 10+ zero-to-one projects during that six month window — with a team of four, half of whom were eventually laid off.

My manager pulse score moved from 83 to 100. During the layoff period, not after it.

Half the team was let go. The other half stayed focused. Both groups knew they were seen.