US managers: politics in the office

For managers in the US: Are you acknowledging the political situation right now?

I manage a small team (10 people) that needs to follow US policy for forecasting and business operations. Upper management has been eerily silent on what is happening, and I went along with that silence for a long time. However, the morale on my team has been suffering as the days go on.

Today, I formally acknowledged the elephant in the room. I said, “I know you all have been following all of the news that relates to our industry. Knowing many of you, you are probably following additional news. I recognize these are unprecedented times and that policy is changing at an extremely rapid speed. I have been feeling a range of emotions — as I’m sure you all are too. I want to remind all of you of our PTO policies and encourage you to take time if you need it.”

It is like I lifted a spell. I think my team was hungry to have some acknowledgment that there are important things happening outside the office.

Interested to hear if others are doing the same.

Update: I should have clarified that I said this in a team meeting. It was not an email. After the meeting, each member of my team gchatted me to say thank you. One person asked for a video call to talk and started to cry out of worry of a world war. Folks: check in with your folks! Ignoring everything may not be the best response.