Uncertainty. These days, it surely ranks as the longest four-letter word in the English language.

I had the opportunity yesterday to attend an insightful mergers and acquisitions event hosted by my former colleagues at Weber Shandwick. We heard from a cross-section of veteran bankers, lawyers and M&A advisors during the two panels that were convened. Uncertainty came up again and again.

It was cited as the primary reason merger activity, among other things, has ground to a halt. And for good reason. Business leaders can’t pull the trigger on major initiatives without at least some window into what will happen tomorrow. Long-term investors typically don’t love uncertainty, either.

At moments like these, while we wait for mergers and other major initiatives to proceed, communicators can still make important progress for their organizations. I’d think about two areas, in particular.

Updated messaging. This is a perfect time to revisit and refresh core messaging around your company and its business lines. Almost certainly, the events of the past weeks – and the new realities that may follow – require some adjustments to messaging. Why not get that work done now and be ready when the window for action reopens?

Ongoing storytelling. Uncertainty has the insidious ability to create an information vacuum, which in true chicken-and-egg fashion feeds further uncertainty. So, it is critical to keep communicating as everyday business proceeds. The key is to do so authentically and be sensitive to the challenges customers and clients are facing.

The good news is this: Periods of uncertainty are just that. They eventually end. And once companies have regained the ability to forecast, longer-term initiatives will move forward again.

Until that time, there’s plenty of productive work to be done.