Learning Fridays

Managing change III - recap and cultural integration

On 1 August, we explored how psychological research can help navigate cultural integration during organisational change. Independent business psychologist Jeremy Lowen shared practical insights from neuroscience and transition theory - highlighting threat responses, the role of autonomy, and the power of social connection. He emphasised how every colleague plays a part in shaping culture, and how behaviours drive performance across a merged business. He closed with five top tips:

1. Explore your perceptions of the other organisation

2. Reflect on your desire for cultural preservation

3. Focus on what you can control and influence

4. Embrace social connection

5. Keep your desired cultural outcome in mind If you missed the session, catch the recording to learn how building culture fuels integration success.

Energy and Natural Resources

On 18 July, we dove into Turner & Townsend’s fastest-growing segment and its strategic importance in the global energy transition. Andrew Baker presented the four key sectors (clean energy, transmission, conventional and low-carbon energy, and mining), highlighting major projects across Europe and globally. He emphasised the segment’s role in enabling electrification, decarbonisation, and energy security, and shared insights into emerging technologies like hydrogen, carbon capture, and small modular nuclear reactors. If you missed the session, be sure to watch the recording to learn how Energy and Natural Resources is shaping the future of energy.

Effective prompting in Copilot

During the Learning Friday session on 4 July, Mansour Nashi and Yoran Dorreman explained how well-crafted prompts - built around clarity, context, structure, and specificity - can significantly improve Copilot’s output, saving time and boosting productivity.

They introduced Microsoft’s recommended framework: goal, context, source, and expectations, and showed real examples comparing vague versus structured prompts.

The duo also previewed a prompting dictionary, a collaborative SharePoint tool (coming soon) where we will all be able to share and reuse successful prompts.

Moves, Adds and Changes

On Friday 20 June, Steve Billington and Carrie Gavin introduced the MAC team, who provide expert support for office moves across Europe. Not just the physical move, but everything from early planning to sustainability and post-move care.

With over 300 projects last year and a strong focus on customer satisfaction, the team aims to be involved earlier in projects to add more value. They encouraged attendees to reach out directly for support, highlighting that MAC is now a key service line within Turner & Townsend.

Enterprise Project Management

On 6 June, Penny Mocini showcased how the team delivers bespoke, high-impact project solutions for major multinational clients. Unlike traditional consultancies, Enterprise Project Management is deeply embedded within CBRE’s facilities management operations, enabling seamless, consistent service across regions.

She outlined the four core service models (dedicated teams, agency support, MAC (Moves, Adds, Changes), and principal delivery) each designed to meet clients’ unique needs and help them grow. The strategy is clear: win the client, keep them happy, and expand the relationship by continually adding value.

Penelope also emphasised the importance of collaboration, strong account leadership, and making the most of CBRE’s existing presence in client buildings to uncover new opportunities.

Cities & Places

On 23 May, European Lead and director Cheke Ramdharry presented on the super sector Cities & Places, highlighting our experience across Europe. This ranges from urban regeneration projects to tall buildings (we were involved in over 70% of London's 40+ floor-towers in the past 10 years!) and from sports venues to hotels.

Cheke also shared the plans for the future, focused on major growth through major investors and developers' programmes, hospitality projects and sports venues.

Building Consultancy

At our Learning Friday on 25 April, Pieter Frederix talked to us about our Building Consultancy services. It was another event where we had over 250 colleagues joined and engaged in the presentation and Q&A session. Pieter did a brilliant job sharing how Building Consult teams bring clarity to clients’ technical challenges be it highlighting potential risks before a project begins or identifying and qualifying potential liabilities.

Managing change II - The human side of change

In a follow up to our earlier Learning Friday on Managing change, we were joined once again by Jeremy Lowen on 11 April for a session about the different stages of transition we all need to understand and navigate during change.

Talking though the theory of psychological transitions, and his own experience, Jeremy explained how we all need to think about and go through three key stages of transition during change: 1. Endings; 2. Neutral zone; 3. New beginnings.

The visual metaphor he used – swinging on a trapeze – was very striking and elicited a wide range of responses from the 250+ colleagues on the call.

Our Digital services - going from strength to strength

On Friday 28 March, colleagues joining our Learning Friday heard more about our Digital offer for clients.

Over the past two years we’ve seen increasing demand for our Digital services, which is reflected in our growing Europe Digital team and the year-on-year doubling of revenue for these services. Our team is now some 50-strong and able to offer clients a wide range of services and support for their digital needs. These range from defining digital strategies to enabling BIM (Building Information Modelling) services, comprehensive data and analytics support through to full-service model IT project management.

Guest speakers Tim Whiteley, Eduardo Reus and Philipp Kugler shared some examples, including Dublin Metrolink, Toyota and Uisce Éireann (Irish Water)- all showcasing the range of Digital services we provide.

Cost & commercial management

At our Learning Friday on 14 March, Euan Reaper (European lead and Director) talked to us about our Cost and commercial management service. Of the 300+ colleagues who joined the event, 58% told us they do not work in cost management, clearly showing that colleagues are keen to learn more about our combined capabilities and services. We ran a couple of polls on why cost management is important and what’s needed to be a good cost manager. See the poll results.

Managing change I - The neuroscience of change

What do a hairy spider, a tall bridge and a fast-moving vehicle have in common? They are all examples of situations that trigger a threat response in our brains. This was the focus for our first Learning Friday for the year on 14 February, when guest speaker Jeremy Lowen gave an overview of neuroscience and applied it to an organizational context, such as M&A change. He talked about our different threat responses, which can be physical, psychological and behavioural – and how to manage them so that we can start seeing opportunities instead of threats.

Explore other books/recordings recommended by Jeremy and colleagues on the call: The Chimp Paradox, Steve Peters, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, Your Brain at work, David Rock, SCARF – Neuroleadership Article, David Rock.