Your team is shaken by organizational restructuring. How can you rebuild trust and unity?

Before your start I suggest you find promoters and key people to make them part of the process, allow them to feel confident and taken into account so you have someone on your side when the process begins. They will also be key to regain trust and peace afterwards. Some team members will rely on their opinions over yours and can become a source of information on the risks or necessities that have to be addressed.

"Organizational restructuring" is pretty vague. I think it's worth sharing as many metrics as you can to show why the change was necessary in the first place. There will always be those who won't see it from your perspective, but giving them the opportunity to understand your reasoning is the least you can do.

In my experience, when restructuring, one big layoff day is best and not prolonged layoffs throughout a period of time because regaining tris is easier when you don’t continue with dismissals over time. Is best to “rip the band aid” in one day, allowing everyone who remained to return to work confident, than having them not knowing who is next. Other thing is that being empathetic with your people is mandatory. Losing a job is losing the source of stability for most people so be human about it, take in the nervousness, frustration and fear snd work through it with the remaining team.

Communication with the team is specially important during these processes. Sharing with them the new goals and needs that have to be pursued by the company will help them come back to focus and motivation with more clarity. Reinforce your values as a leader, the new practices you’d like to implement for that moment on and regroup your team constantly. Make sure they know they can come to you with concerns that will get addressed.

Timely and clear communication is key in every aspect of the workplace culture so make sure you communicate with your team constantly and make sure you are as transparent as possible so they can trust you and engage with company. You may not be able to share every little detail but when people know where they are going and why, they will feel more compelled to be part of it. Do not promise something you can’t keep, specially after restructures so your words and actions can impact positively. Bonus points if you established solid relationships with your key people and promoters from the beginning because they will help you engage the rest of the team behind doors.

Your team needs a win after a process like this so make sure you celebrate the big and the small, reward in public collectively and individually, when possible, to boost the spirit but also the commitment.