Lansons' special edition newsletter - Crisis Management
Lansons' Special Edition Newsletter
Crisis and Issues Management
Crisis management
Tony Langham, Co-founder and Chief Exec
Managing crises has become a greater part of Lansons and our clients’ lives. Over the past four years we’ve won 7 major PR awards for helping the Co-operative Bank recover from one of Britain’s severest corporate crisis. Last year multiple clients were impacted by the “Paradise Papers” and we helped develop more “crisis playbooks” and conducted more “crisis rehearsals” in a larger number of countries, than ever before in our 28 year history.
Research by McKinsey suggests that there are ten times as many publicly known corporate crises than there were in the 1990s. Today, in the era of the ever present threat to corporate cyber security, it's likely that almost every senior executive, reputation manager and corporate communications director will be faced with a crisis to manage in their career. This special Lansons newsletter looks at the key elements of successful crisis management, with four articles from senior practitioners:
- Claudia Guembe outlines the 10 key steps to crisis management.
- Ralph Jackson discusses the characteristics that make great crisis managers, and teams.
- Scott McKenzie highlights the key elements that lead to the quickest possible recovery after a crisis.
- David Masters outlines the particular issues facing asset management firms this year.
I have three key observations building on my colleagues’ thoughts:
Firstly, it is vital that organisations put in place the right management and decision making structure during a crisis. This is because they have to be able to act quickly and, more importantly, make the correct big decisions. The right structure often involves overriding many of the silos that normally exist within organisations and establishing a more streamlined structure for the duration of the crisis.
"The correct decision making structure is one of the biggest factors in the successful management of a crisis."
– Tony Langham, Lansons
The key elements include: involvement of senior management, typically the CEO; regular (often daily) meetings or conference calls; involvement of communications people and, most crucially, free and unfettered debate of key decisions. The correct decision making structure is one of the biggest factors in the successful management of a crisis.
Secondly, in times of crisis, it is crucial to consider all stakeholders and all audiences together – in an integrated way – when considering how to react and what to communicate. Many of the greatest mistakes have happened when corporations prioritised investor audiences, because the share price has been affected, rather than considering the whole of society.
Thirdly, and for me, the crucial element for everyone working in “reputation management” (which I’d suggest includes all senior executives as well as communications professionals) is the diligence and thoroughness of crisis preparation, scenario planning and rehearsal.
There are now so many publicly known crises that many of them are soon forgotten. The ones we remember, and that have a lasting impact, are those that were genuinely terminal (as for Harvey Weinstein) or where the crisis was mishandled to the point that a crisis also became a “PR disaster” (as for BP) or, as so often in politics, where the “cover up” becomes bigger than the initial incident (from Watergate through to Damian Green and images saved on his computer).
The fact that we tend to remember the “PR disasters” emphasises the importance of professional crisis management. We hope that you aren’t aware of most of the twenty significant (and multiple minor) “crises” we helped manage last year, as in our job, that’s success. In our view, the best way to ensure successful crisis management, is to have prepared and rehearsed properly.
"The fact that we tend to remember the “PR disasters” emphasises the importance of professional crisis management."
– Tony Langham, Lansons
On that note, I’d like to wish you a crisis free 2018 but hope that your organisation has planned for a year that involves a crisis.
Tony Langham co-founded Lansons in 1989 and still leads the organisation and works actively with clients. He has been commissioned by the Public Relations & Communications Association (PRCA) to write the PR industry’s handbook on Reputation Management, which is due to be published later this year.
Tony Langham
Co-founder and Chief Exec
Contact: TonyL@lansons.com
Keep calm and what crisis?
Claudia Guembe, Account Director
It’s 8.30am on Monday morning. You walk into the office, coffee in hand, and notice it feels slightly quiet for a Monday. You turn the news on and see reports from the police investigating an explosion at your nearest tube station during the rush hour commute. This is the world we live in…
Across the world, we have become acquainted with this scenario. Only today you feel it a bit closer to home…. It’s now 10.00am and three of your colleagues are missing. You try to contact them desperately with no luck. Rumours are starting to spread and people begin to panic. What do you do next? How do you handle this situation?
Let’s consider a different scenario. One where people are safe but your corporate reputation isn’t. Your IT systems have been hacked and customer data is missing.
Luckily, this time your business is prepared and has a crisis management plan in place. But with IT systems down, how do you access the crisis playbook? How do you gather your crisis management team? Most importantly, how do you contact affected customers?
In the meantime, customers are starting to complain on social media; they want answers and you don’t have one. The media want a statement but you can’t reach your CEO. Employees are sharing their version of events in the absence of a clear message.
"Uncertainty is everywhere and preparedness is the new currency."
– Claudia Guembe, Lansons
From terrorist attacks to cyber security breaches, organisations today face many unknown and sometimes unsafe situations. Uncertainty is everywhere and preparedness is the new currency.
Put simply: if you don’t prepare, you will incur more damage. Advanced planning is key to survival.
But how can organisations plan for the unknown? How can they navigate issues and protect their corporate reputations? Here are 10 critical steps to crisis management every business should have in place.
1. Anticipate crises. Some crises are unavoidable, but proactive horizon scanning can help you identify potential scenarios that are likely to impact your business. Not only will this help you prepare a response but it may also highlight that some incidents could be easily avoided by modifying existing standard operating procedures.
2. Be prepared: half the job is done when you have a plan. People need to know what to do and who is in charge during a crisis so having clear steps to follow and a team in place to respond will help you protect people and shield your organisation’s reputation. All your energy should be spent dealing with the complexities of the unavoidable, not addressing what could have been planned in advanced.
3. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Understanding your organisation’s crisis response protocols is one thing, but experiencing a live scenario and simulating circumstances close to reality will help your teams appreciate the emotional pressures of a crisis. The stress caused during a crisis dramatically reduces our cognitive functioning, impairing our ability to make decisions and control our emotions.
Crisis simulations enable you to train your emotional response and develop mental resilience in a safe environment. Controlling your emotions and adopting a problem-solving attitude is just as important as knowing the plans inside out.
4. Communicate accurately and immediately. If only to acknowledge that something has happened, express concern and reassure stakeholders that you are doing everything you can to resolve it. In the eyes of the public, no comment is the same as saying, “we don’t care” or “we’re in trouble.”
Especially in the early hours of a crisis, align your communications – and actions – to human safety and people’s needs first. However, be mindful that communicating something incorrect or inappropriate can be more damaging. Accuracy is key so consider legal and ethical constraints before rushing any decisions.
5. Give the crisis a human face. Identify and train your spokespeople to act as ambassadors for your business in front of the media or any other public group. Your leaders should be seen to be leading so prepare them to face difficult questions, take control of the conversation and avoid being drawn into any degree of speculation.
"Your message should be consistent across all communications channels."
– Claudia Guembe, Lansons
6. Deliver an honest, transparent and consistent message to reassure stakeholders, minimise rumours and soften potential media frenzy. Your message should be consistent across all communications channels: client communications, internal announcements, media interviews and social media.
7. Keep employees informed. Providing accurate information to employees and guiding them on how they should react to an incident will help you gain their support. Give them clear instructions of what to do and what not to do: what’s your ask of them?
"Monitor what your stakeholders are saying on social media and use it to regain control of your message."
– Claudia Guembe, Lansons
8. Guard your online reputation. Social media can work against you during a crisis, accelerating and intensifying rumours that could paralyse your organisation. Inaccuracies should be corrected, particularly if posted by influential sources or commentators which could have an impact on your share price and reputation. Monitor what your stakeholders are saying on social media and use it to regain control of your message.
9. De-escalation. A crisis should be closed and the crisis management team disbanded once there are no further threats on the horizon. It’s now time to think about business continuity and how to re-adapt critical functions to return to ‘business as usual’ as soon as possible.
10. What have we learnt? Evaluating crisis management performance and capturing lessons learnt once the crisis has been resolved is critical to shape your future response to crises. Notably, the reputational damage caused by the crisis should be assessed and plans should be put in place to rebuild trust amongst affected stakeholders.
"When handled well, a crisis can ultimately enhance your reputation and increase stakeholder loyalty."
– Claudia Guembe, Lansons
It’s important to remember that a crisis does not have to affect you negatively in the long-term. When handled well, a crisis can ultimately enhance your reputation and increase stakeholder loyalty.
Corporate reputation is a company’s most valuable intangible asset, and as such, it should be wisely protected.
As Warren Buffet said, ‘It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it’.
Claudia is part of Lansons’ team of crisis management specialists, advising organisations on effective crisis preparedness and response. Lansons offers crisis management training designed to improve the individual and collective ability to deal with issues and crises. We also have a considerable track record in managing live crises across various sectors and advising organisations to take the best steps to restore their reputation longer term.
Claudia Guembe
Account Director
Contact: ClaudiaG@lansons.com
Who is at the eye of the storm when it comes to crisis management?
Ralph Jackson, Director
‘There cannot be a crisis this week, my diary is already full’ Henry Kissinger once famously said on the topic of crisis handling and availability. The reality is that issues and crises strike when we least expect them to – even if we have prepared well for them – so how we handle them, and how critically individuals behave during them are key elements for surviving them.
The lexicon surrounding the analysis of issues and crises is full of such words: survival; stress; behaviour; psychology, etc. But as we know the impact is felt by people, who stands up and stands out, when it comes to dealing with such matters? Who is the calmest person – the eye of the proverbial storm – that a crisis team needs to include? In my view, there are several people that require core qualities for such eventualities and any organisation should identify them as they are key to the handling, and hopefully the successful resolution of, unexpected events.
The norm in crisis handling is that a collection of mostly senior, and mostly representative of the key functions (operations, IT, communications, legal, dependent upon sector) will be involved in handling issues and crises. I’m not advocating that should change but I am advocating that any individual involved should be properly prepared – physically and mentally – to deal with such issues. Not every CEO that fronts problems fares so well – think of BP and Talk Talk as two examples in the last few years – nor is everyone senior capable of explaining technical issues such as data breaches. And equally not every situation is capable of straightforward honesty without difficulty.
The boss at VW tried to explain away why testing was done in the way it was, but no one was fooled and it was clearly wrong as the US emissions authorities found; and as for the executives at United Airlines, how their staff treated ‘awkward’ passengers became an internet sensation of the wrong kind.
I think that every crisis team needs people with the following qualities, and responsibilities, and if they are the senior folk in the organisation then you are blessed with some of the right talent.
First is the ‘traffic cop’, the person who deals with the myriad of issues and queries that usually bedevil the early hours of a crisis. Most of this type have formal titles found in crisis plans, e.g. Incident Management Controller etc, but they are the pivot for the rest of the team. The traffic cop manages the inflow of requests and oversees, with others, the outflow of information. They may have legal training and understanding, because of potential liability or risk, but ultimately, they are the heart of the crisis team.
They are supported by the ‘decision taker’, the person who without any need for upward authorisation can call the action as they see it: call a press conference; close the plant; close off all production; dismiss the person who is responsible, etc etc. They will be senior, but must have a calm disposition; this is the person most resembling that ‘eye of the storm’ character. They will be trained to extreme levels to stand the stress of such situations, with endless simulations to test their resolve, but it is their experience and judgment that is essential, not seniority.
Two other people help the decision maker make big calls: you could call them the angel and the devil, but in essence they resemble caution, and daring. In crises, one needs a degree of polarity to enable the team to think in the round, to assess the risks and measure them quickly.
"The best talents need to be involved in quick decision taking, so extreme views in my opinion can help create that tension necessary for better decisions to be taken by the group."
– Ralph Jackson, Lansons
Both people here challenge that: the cautious person for example advises that a workforce issue needs explaining carefully internally as a priority; the more daring person says while that is right, time dictates that different stakeholders – such as customers or investors – are a more critical audience to be involved early. This ying and yang is critical for the crisis team, and should be indulged. The best talents need to be involved in quick decision taking, so extreme views in my opinion can help create that tension necessary for better decisions to be taken by the group.
And finally, there is what I term the ‘rules master’. This is the person who understands process, who knows the scenarios inside out because they have helped devise them and they will also have been involved in the stress-testing of them. They are more than likely to be in possession of the corporate history of any organisation, so sadly these people may now be in short supply given the quick turnover of senior people in organisations.
The one characteristic that probably unites these individuals is calmness. They should be unflappable when their emotions suggest the opposite, and they should be neutral, detached and thinking of others, when they are clearly involved and thinking only of themselves and their organisation. This is not easy but better outcomes I believe will come from a collection of those type of people.
"Playing catch-up can have serious consequences, so planning and preparation is critical – and that comes down to team selection."
– Ralph Jackson, Lansons
Our experience of recent international crises we have worked on is that this desired team is not always evident. In one recent example responsibility was devolved away from the leadership team leaving a vacuum at times where key decisions could not be taken without due authority. Time does not allow for this in a crisis, and playing catch-up can have serious consequences, so planning and preparation is critical – and that comes down to team selection. Training can help, and simulations can hone the skills necessary for this, but temperament is innate. These types need to be found, nurtured, and be ready.
Many reading this will say ‘we know this, and these people’ or even perhaps ’we are these people’. As extracts elsewhere in this newsletter indicate, the most important parts of crisis handling are what has come before – preparation and testing – and what we have learnt from the handling, the de-escalation phase. In our experience if those people are involved in preparing for and developing the response then the handling can be improved.
Ralph is a Partner and Director at Lansons, and has decades of experience in advising on, and handling issues and crises in many different sectors and geographies.
After the crisis – a time to reflect and rebuild
Scott McKenzie, Joint Managing Director
At the height of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the then CEO of BP Tony Hayward (in)famously remarked that “he wanted his life back”. He was understandably pilloried as a result for his crass lack of sensitivity, as people had lost their lives, fisherman had lost their livelihoods and wildlife across the Gulf of Mexico had lost their habitats.
"One of the most overlooked aspects of managing a crisis is knowing when it is over."
Within all of that there is however, an important question: when does life return to normal after a crisis? How do you know when you can have your life back? Perhaps the most overlooked aspects of managing a crisis is knowing when it is over.
Based on our experience of handling crises for clients, there are three elements of the late/post crisis period:
- De-escalation of the crisis
- Lessons learned
- Reputation recovery
De-escalation of the crisis
What we have observed is that most organisations are good at recognising the signals that a crisis is happening and mobilise their Incident Management Teams and crisis protocols effectively.
By contrast, there is not the same rigour around recognising when the crisis is over. When a pattern has been set of Saturday evening conference calls, monitoring round ups being sent around three times per day, and WhatsApp group traffic every evening, it is perhaps understandable that people get a bit too used to it.
Indeed there is a risk that people begin to crave the adrenaline that the crisis has provided, and prolong the crisis as a result. This of course has cost and resource implications – and is frankly a major risk to the organisation.
"Senior executives have a duty of care to their colleagues, the organisation and indeed themselves to avoid prolonging the crisis."
Managing a crisis is mentally and physically exhausting and senior executives have a duty of care to their colleagues, the organisation and indeed themselves to avoid prolonging the crisis. Allowing unsustainable ways of working to persist can have long term implications for the health of those involved.
On that basis, we would strongly recommend that the client has a clear-headed assessment of the crisis and is able to use the same decision-making criteria they used to escalate the issue into a crisis to start switching things off. After all you can easily go back to calls three times per day if the situation warrants it.
The decision around starting the de-escalation process is of course one of judgement, but can usually be based around stability across a range of key performance indicators (KPIs) over a prolonged period of time.
Lessons learned
In any crisis your processes, judgement and decisions will be put under severe pressure. At the point the crisis passes there is the natural drift back towards people doing the day job they have been neglecting in order to handle the crisis.
We would strongly recommend that there is an exercise to evaluate the organisation’s handling of the crisis and specifically to gather lessons learned. There is a temptation to focus these exercises on what went wrong, but in our experience there is just as much validity in capturing what went well so that this can be repeated in future. In sessions we facilitate we focus on four questions:
- What went well?
- What went wrong?
- What would you do differently next time?
- What do we need to change as a result of this crisis/issue/incident?
While all aspects of the session are important, the emphasis should really be in the final question – what specific actions does the organisation need to take to improve their approach to handling a crisis?
One further consideration is when to run this type of exercise. There is a balance between allowing some distance from the crisis for people to reflect, versus capturing issues while things are still fresh in the mind.
We think it’s worth doing in two stages: gather some initial views as part of the de-escalation process (perhaps via a template), and then conduct a further exercise (usually a workshop) when people have had time to reflect.
With respect to the workshop we think it’s important to be objective and that you have a facilitator who will challenge the participants to reflect on their own performance through the crisis, and to be thoughtful around what worked and what could have been improved. On that basis we would recommend independent facilitation of the workshop, structured as above around what went well, what did not work, improvements for the next crisis, as well as identifying actions and recommendations (and owners for those actions).
Reputation recovery
The final and usually the longest part of the post-crisis period is recovering the organisation’s damaged reputation.
"It’s important to listen to customers and other stakeholders and ensure that any attempts to rehabilitate your reputation are based on what they are telling you."
Depending on the severity of the crisis this can take many months and years (as BP of course have found out to their immense cost). Based on our experience of working with clients, it’s important to listen to customers and other stakeholders and ensure that any attempts to rehabilitate your reputation are based on what they are telling you. For example, have apologies been made, compensation paid etc.
It would be worth stepping back and asking:
- Do we need to change anything about our business approach to address the new realities?
- Which stakeholders do we need to engage with?
- What messages do we need to reinforce and /or introduce?
Indeed one key area of judgement is evaluating the timing of when to switch the emphasis of your communication from handling the crisis, to more positive communications about the brand. This will partly be informed by your brand and reputational KPIs which will have been monitored closely throughout the crisis, but are also down to a high degree of judgement.
"It’s important that people feel you have paid a fair price for any mistakes you may have made before you start telling everyone how wonderful your products are (again)."
However, once that decision is reached it’s important that people feel you have paid a fair price for any mistakes you may have made before you start telling everyone how wonderful your products are (again).
Longer term, rebuilding the organisation’s reputation goes well beyond the communications effort. You need to look at practical ways you can rebuild trust – for example if the issue was around a product failure - what investments have you made to avoid similar failures in future? You could argue that the best examples go further than rectifying mistakes – they recognise the need to have genuinely learned from the crisis and applied lessons to the way the organisation operates.
For example, our client the Co-operative Bank saw the various crises they faced as an opportunity to re-establish their ethical credentials, by conducting the largest ever poll of customers (and staff) on their ethical policy.
In summary, handling the end of a crisis requires more emphasis, effort and investment than it sometimes gets. Knowing when to de-escalate, how to gather the lessons and how to begin the reputation rebuild are all essential building blocks in handling a crisis.
Scott McKenzie is Joint Managing Director of Lansons and also heads up our specialist change and employee engagement business. Scott has worked on major corporate issues and crises across a range of sectors including healthcare, financial services and manufacturing.
Recent projects include helping a chemical firm develop its issues preparedness protocols, helping a Bank recover from a major reputational challenge and working with a manufacturing company to implement a high profile redundancy programme in a heavily unionised environment. If you’d like to discuss this article or any aspects of handling a crisis then please contact him at scottm@lansons.com.
Scott McKenzie
Joint Managing Director
Contact: ScottM@lansons.com
Bad moon rising
David Masters, Director
When the whole industry is perceived to be under a cloud, protecting your own company’s reputation is never more important or challenging.
This is the situation currently facing many asset management firms as we enter 2018. Increasing regulatory scrutiny and the rapid development of digital technology helped to expose the fund management industry as ill-prepared for public viewing, and the sector has been struggling to rebuild its position of trust with investors of all types.
This is not to say that fund managers, just like other businesses in other sectors, had not become reasonably adept at handling those issues that life occasionally threw at them – manager or senior exec departures, outflows and under performance, for example.
"You cannot proclaim social value at an industry level without also admitting public interest at an individual company level."
– David Masters, Lansons
For all but the largest and well-known, doing so in the relatively closed universe that asset managers used to inhabit, versus the brave new world that asset managers are now being propelled towards are two entirely different things, however, and require a very different mindset. You cannot proclaim social value at an industry level without also admitting public interest at an individual company level.
The general approach and processes for managing crises are dealt with elsewhere in this newsletter, but the imperative for protecting your reputation has never been greater. Whilst we often talk about the ‘retailisation’ of the investment market (i.e. the shift towards fund-based products, such as DC pensions), the ‘institutionalisation’ of the funds market is just as important.
Irrespective of how the funds are packaged for the end investor, professional fund selectors are increasingly choosing funds and fund managers in a similar way to that of long-term, large scale, strategic investors, such as large corporate pensions, foundations and family offices.
These criteria go well beyond hard performance statistics and analytics and into the realm of much ‘softer’ data, and the reputation of the product provider is increasingly significant in that process. So that poorly handled crisis now becomes a clear ‘sell’ or ‘do not buy’ signal.
News, particularly of the bad variety, is global and travels fast. It does not recognise legal jurisdictions or national borders. This creates further complexities for an industry where intermediation either by consultants or financial advisors has become king and the distance between the product provider and the end investor has seemingly reached its zenith.
"An uncontrolled crisis can quickly become a global game of “whack-a-mole”."
– David Masters, Lansons
Asset managers often operate in peripheral areas with very small client-facing teams covering fairly large regions, and this can create real containment issues. An uncontrolled crisis can quickly become a global game of “whack-a-mole”.
Avoiding that requires not just the existence of an effective and road-tested crisis playbook, but also the ability to allocate skilled and experienced resource to where it is needed most. Your reputation is hugely valuable and its vital to protect it.
In blockchain we trust
George Pitt, Account Manager
In May 1995 Bill Gates sent his staff at Microsoft an internal memo to support the “internet tidal wave” despite questions being raised over the role this technological development will play in the future. Little did the public know at that moment in time that Microsoft would be the pioneer in the space and all our lives would never be the same again with the developments that were about to happen. Fast forward two decades and we are now in the same position with blockchain.
The technology, which many know as the underlying system that supports bitcoin, was created in 2008 by the anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, partly in response to the global financial crisis. With trust in global institutions at an all-time low, Nakamoto had a vision to create a system for electronic transactions which didn’t rely on trust. For the first time, a currency was brought into the public sphere which wasn’t controlled by a government or a financial institution.
"It’s time to move the conversation away from price speculation and the potential ‘bubble’, instead looking at the applications of the underlying technology."
– George Pitt, Lansons
Ten years later and now the mainstream media is starting to recognise the role that blockchain and bitcoin can play in the future. The exponential price increase of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has helped this area gain attention, but now it’s time to move the conversation away from price speculation and the potential ‘bubble’, instead looking at the applications of the underlying technology (blockchain) and why it is so important for businesses to embrace.
First of all, it is vital to understand two fundamental points that make blockchain so significant for businesses; trust and transparency.
The blockchain is a distributed database that can be shared across a network of multiple sites, geographies and institutions. Visualise in your mind a giant, global spreadsheet that runs on millions of computers which is distributed and open source, so anyone can insert information, which can be seen by everyone. This makes it a truly peer to peer and open style of technology, which doesn’t require powerful third parties like banks to authenticate or to settle transactions. It inherently enables transparency. Anything that happens on it is a function of the network as a whole.
If we think back to the 2008 global financial crisis, the lack of transparency was one of the many reasons why the industry ended up in a crisis. The public was relying on these institutions, trusting that they were doing the right thing with their money, but actually the majority were unaware of what was really going on behind the closed doors. With blockchain, we could have been in a better position to understand the assets which institutions owned, and perhaps expose the risk. Now I’m not saying the blockchain would have stopped the financial crisis, but if institutions were using a system which promoted transparency, it might not have ended so badly.
Another significant opportunity with the blockchain, is its inherent ability to prevent against cyber security attacks. Blockchain security methods use encryption technology, and by storing data across its network, the blockchain eliminates the risks that come with data being held centrally. Its network lacks centralised points of vulnerability that computer hackers can exploit. Therefore, any hack, theft of assets or system failure that does occur, will be localised as opposed to systemic across an entire database – creating a much more robust system.
The benefits of blockchain in financial services makes sense, but over the past 10 years we have seen new opportunities emerge to democratise processes in other industries that are traditionally very complex. A perfect example is land registry in third world countries. We have seen crises arise in place like Honduras where the government has evicted families from their homes and taken control of the land. With blockchain, land registry can be publicly and uncompromisingly recorded on the blockchain and the ownership cannot be altered by governments or other third parties. It therefore acts as a source of truth. This is just one of the many opportunities blockchain has to eliminate future crises.
"The technology has the power to truly transform financial services and other sectors, and usher in a revolutionary new era of trust and transparency."
– George Pitt, Lansons
Looking forward, the ambiguity and debate concerning bitcoin and other crypto currencies will continue, but it is clear that the underlying blockchain is here to stay. The technology has the power to truly transform financial services and other sectors, and usher in a revolutionary new era of trust and transparency.
With that in mind, we welcome you to attend Blockchain Week in January 2018 to hear how this technology can transform a number of sectors including financial services, law, healthcare, and many more. Lansons will be supporting the promotion of the event, and Chief Executive Tony Langham will be chairing a panel of industry experts to discuss the pertinent issues surrounding Blockchain and its potential applications in financial services.
For more information, or if you are interested in attending or participating in the event, please contact us at: BlockchainWeek@lansons.com
London Blockchain Week 2018
Date: Monday 22 January - Wednesday 24 January 2018 | Time: 9.00am - 5.00pm | Venue: Grange Tower Bridge Hotel
Now in its fourth year, Blockchain Week will bring together world-leading experts and forward-thinking companies to discuss this disruptive technology that has taken the world by storm. The event will kick off with the Hack-The-Block Blockchain Hackathon on Friday 19 to Sunday 21 January 2018, moving into a three-day exhibition and conference from Monday 22 to Wednesday 24 January, featuring an expo of 40-60 of the hottest blockchain companies worldwide. Panel sessions at the event will cover topics such as Blockchain & Financial Services Disruption, Blockchain & Government, Global Trends and more.
For more information, or if you are interested in attending or participating in the event, please contact us on: BlockchainWeek@lansons.com
A Neurocomms Masterclass
Date: Tuesday 27 February 2018 | Time: 9.00am - 5.00pm | Cost: £549.00
Lansons, together with Dr Helena Boschi, author of our book, Why We Do What We Do, is offering a one-day masterclass in applying the neuroscience of communications and behaviour to change programmes.
The day will start with an explanation of why traditional approaches to change and communications do not work and why we need to understand neuroscience in order to influence and change behaviour. We will then apply these insights to real-life scenarios that are relevant to many of your change and communications programmes.
Come and experience a dynamic, interactive and experiential workshop. Places are limited. Register your interest at: neurocomms@lansons.com.
