How to Make Your Lunch and Learn Events a Success

Lunch and learns offer a powerful opportunity to enrich your company culture. They empower your staff to acquire new skills, enhance existing ones, and create an ideal environment for genuine mingling and socializing.

What Exactly Are Lunch and Learns?

Lunch and learns are informal sessions where employees gather during their lunch break to learn something new and enjoy a bite together. These events provide an opportunity for professional development, team bonding, and knowledge sharing.

Why You Should Host Lunch and Learns

Hosting lunch and learns can benefit both employees and the organization. Here’s why we as Sharebite believe in them:

• Continuous Learning: Lunch and learns encourage a culture of continuous learning. Employees can stay updated on industry trends, new technologies, and best practices.
• Employee Engagement: These events boost employee engagement by providing a break from routine work and fostering a sense of community.
• Skill Enhancement: Employees can acquire new skills or deepen existing ones through interactive sessions.

What Are The Benefits of Lunch and Learns?

Sharebite recognizes several benefits of lunch and learns:

• Cost-Effective: They don’t require significant resources or external trainers.
• Time-Efficient: Employees can learn during their lunch break, minimizing disruption to work schedules.
• Networking: Lunch and learns facilitate networking among colleagues from different departments.
• Full Stomaches: Any opportunity for employees to be fed are a huge positive in our books. This allows employees to spend their hard earned dollars on things that may matter more to them.

What Are Some Limitations of Lunch and Learns?

While lunch and learns are valuable, there are some potential limitations:

• Attendance: Not all employees may attend due to conflicting schedules or other commitments.
• Content Relevance: Ensuring the content is relevant to diverse roles and interests can be challenging.
• Bringing Together Remote & In-Office Employees: Not everyone can be in physical location at once. Adding a virtual option is an option, but it does make the team bonding aspect of it a bit trickier. Plus feeding remote employees can take extra work, that is unless you are utilizing something like Passport, a virtual meal benefits card.

How To Best Host a Lunch and Learn

The following strategies are recommended to ensure successful lunch and learns:

Offering the Right Food and Beverages

• Variety: Provide options to accommodate everyone's dietary preferences (e.g., vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free). To learn more about dietary needs check out our handy guide on "Being Mindful of Dietary Restrictions When Feeding Your Workforce".
• Comfort: Comfortable seating and a relaxed atmosphere enhance the experience. Standing and eating is not a relaxing experience and can cause people to eat faster than they should. Meals should be enjoyed!

Scheduling

• Consistency: Regularly schedule lunch and learns (e.g., once a month) to build anticipation.
• Timing: Opt for mid-week to avoid Monday blues and Friday distractions.

Best Practices

• Make it Voluntary: Encourage participation without making it mandatory.
• Keep It Under 3 Hours: Short sessions maintain engagement.
• Be Mindful of Dietary Restrictions: Consider allergies and cultural preferences.
• Get Feedback: Continuously improve by seeking employee feedback.

Having an Objective

• Define clear objectives for each session (e.g., skill development, team-building, product knowledge).

Picking Topics

• Choose topics aligned with company goals, employee interests, and industry trends.

What Are Good Topics and Ideas for Lunch and Learns

There are many topics that can be covered, but here a list of suggestions to get the ball rolling:

• Developing Professional Skills
  • Time management techniques
  • Effective communication
  • Leadership skills

• Workshops
  • Collaborative design review
  • Problem-solving exercises

• Product Training
  • New software tools and best practices
  • Internal product updates

• Employee Training
  • Diversity and inclusion
  • Mental health awareness

• Goal Setting and Planning
  • Personal and professional goal-setting
  • ICE (Impact, Confidence, and Ease) scoring for upcoming projects
  • Establishing or reviewing OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)

• Health and Wellness
  • Nutrition tips
  • Stress management

• HR Updates
  • Benefits overview
  • Policy changes

• Company Wide Updates
  • Strategic initiatives
  • Organizational changes

• Expert Q&As
  • Invite industry experts for interactive sessions

Lunch and Learns are More Than Just a Midday Break

They’re a catalyst for growth within your organization. By fostering an environment where knowledge is shared, skills are honed, and connections are forged, you’re not only investing in your employees but also in the collective success of your company.