Featured Back to Blog How federal leaders can rebuild their team culture in times of change Date April 16, 2025 Authors John Zachary Tags Leadership and Collaboration Big changes can be challenging to adjust to, particularly when they are accompanied by continued uncertainty. This is especially true for leaders of organizations, who need to not only navigate change themselves, but also shepherd their team through it as well. Such is the position many federal leaders find themselves in now. Simultaneously, teams are adjusting to the loss of their members and returning full time to the office, while also bracing for the possibility of larger cuts to the federal budget and federal workforce. To support their teams through these challenges, leaders can take three actions. These recommendations are informed by our experience strengthening government leadership and echoed in our new FedSupport hub for current and former federal employees. Listen William Bridges’ transition model provides a useful guide for understanding how teams emotionally respond to sudden and dramatic change. For many, change may be experienced as a sudden loss, leading to feelings of shock, confusion and sadness. These feelings may give way to anger and frustration, as people shift into what Bridges calls the “neutral zone.” When teams enter the neutral zone, their productivity may drop dramatically. Meeting with and listening to team members can help leaders determine where the team is in this process and chart a way through the neutral zone to a new beginning. Acknowledge Once leaders understand the state of their team, they should acknowledge and validate people’s reactions and experiences. Creating opportunities to intentionally process loss can be extremely helpful. Tina Sung, a former Partnership for Public Service leader who currently supports its Strategic Advisors to Government Executives network, shared a powerful story of how she brought her team together to write the obituary of her agency when it was abolished with the stroke of a pen. The activity allowed her team to acknowledge what happened, share what they valued most about the work it accomplished and, most importantly, get ready for what it could do next. Re-norm To help teams regain control amid chaos, it is important for leaders to re-norm their teams. Old ways of working may be irrelevant or no longer useful for the team. Intentionally setting some new ways of working will help teams move through the neutral zone with greater ease. Re-norming conversations can vary widely, however four key elements are critical: building trust, connecting teammates back to the organization’s mission, defining clear roles and responsibilities, and addressing avenues of communication. Finally, remember that you’re not navigating this alone – organizations like the Partnership are here to support you through this time of change. We recently launched FedSupport, a centralized hub to provide current and former federal employees with critical resources to help navigate today’s dramatically changing federal landscape. It has a resource library of plain language explainers, fact sheets and guides on a wide range of timely topics, plus answers to frequently asked questions about the federal workforce and the latest developments impacting federal employees. watch – fedsupport webinar For more insights, watch the recording of our FedSupport webinar, “Re-norming team culture for federal Leaders.” Title: FedSupport Webinar: Re-norming team culture for federal leadersDate: March 26, 2025Speakers: John Zachary, senior facilitator, Partnership for Public Service. Tina Sung, Partnership COO SAGE and board director, National Academy of Public AdministrationTopics: Resources for federal employees, team culture, workforce loss, navigate change, rebuild team culture, leadership John Zachary designs and delivers leadership development sessions and programs at the Partnership's Public Service Leadership Institute®.
