So, what is a lunch and learn?
Lunch and learn sessions are sometimes referred to as learn-at-lunch, or “brown-bag” sessions due to the brown bags used to carry lunches. Most companies today use lunch and learn programs as an alternative to formal training and seminars. The programs become integral parts of the organizational culture and with adequate planning and marketing an event that employees look forward to
A lunch and learn program is 30 minutes – 1-hour training or presentation session facilitated by an organization to employees during a lunch break.
The important thing to remember is that a lunch and learn program is not the time to perform training that’s required either by law or by the organisation. These topics should be scheduled during work hours.
Lunch and learn sessions are based on voluntary participation.
Lunch and learn sessions are ideal for the busy professional who is looking to sharpen their skills with a smaller time commitment.
Topics for Your Lunch and Learn
The topics of your lunch and learn program should appeal to the designated audience attending. If you work for a specific department within a company, or it’s a company-wide lunch and learn, you’ll want to take into consideration the priorities of the skills necessary for that department or company.
You should also take into consideration the general interests of the people in your audience. One way to do this is to conduct a training needs analysis or survey your audience as to their interests.
That said, here are 7 topics that could benefit all employees.
How to Manage Your Finances
- Include budgeting tips and how to start a savings plan for your retirement.
Managing Change and Transition at Work
- If you’re planning a lot of internal changes, this is an excellent topic to have a few weeks before announcing any of these so that people are prepared.
Making A Good First Impression
Offer tips for making a good first impression on new staff members, when meeting with upper management, or interviewing for an internal position.
For workplaces that are short on time to create new content, but have an appetite for conducting short, targeted development sessions, consider purchasing ‘ready-made training materials. These materials can be used again and again, utilised in other training programs or initiatives.Choose universal topics of interest, such as the following courses.
Understanding what makes teams effective. Tuckman’s theory of development
Tuckman’s model of effective teams applies to ANY group. It helps with understanding the stages of development a team goes through at work, but it also applies to groups of friends, networking groups, volunteering organisations – in fact, it applies anywhere you regularly interact with others in a group setting.
Tuckman’s model is significant because it recognises that that groups do not start off being fully formed, and functioning. He suggests that teams grow through clearly defined stages, from their creation as groups of individuals to cohesive, task focussed teams.
An introduction to Leadership and trust
Lencioni believes teamwork starts with trust – and the way to build trust is to come from a place of vulnerability. This one hour session contains a detailed trainer guide, handouts and video and targeted consolidation activities. Making it easy and entertaining to train.
The Pareto Rule. Doing more by doing less.
This 1-hour training course focuses on efficiency.
Pareto Analysis is a simple technique for prioritizing problem-solving work so that the first piece of work you do resolves the greatest number of problems. It’s based on the Pareto Principle (also known as the 80/20 Rule) – the idea that 80% of problems may be caused by as few as 20% of causes.
Sharing interests and skills
Encourage employees to share their interests and skills.
From cooking and baking to painting and drawing, to how to search family history. The potential is only limited to the interests and skills of your employees.
Benefits of Lunch and Learn Programs
Companies can benefit from adopting lunch and learn initiatives in several ways, including:
- Helps with transparency and understanding
In large organizations with several departments, employees may not know the functions of employees in other departments. Some may not even know the team across the office because they hardly get an opportunity to interact. Lunch and learn sessions serve as platforms for employees to bond and explain their responsibilities. When an employee understands what everyone does and gets an opportunity to learn new skills, they better appreciate the other employees in the company.
- Encourages growth and learning
A platform that allows employees to share ideas with each other also encourages them to grow their unexploited skills and talents. Lunch and learn sessions allow employees to teach others what they are best in and this gives them an opportunity to nurture their skills, and even speak during seminars and conferences. Employees who are not comfortable addressing a large crowd of people get the opportunity to address people they are familiar with, and this helps to build self-confidence.
- Strengthens the community
Often, employees get engaged so much in work that they forget their lives outside of the organization. Instead of letting the lunch break lapse without any meaningful engagements, they can use this time to showcase their talents, outside projects, and hobbies. They can link up with employees who share the same interests and build a community.
- Builds a stronger work culture
Apart from providing employees with an exciting alternative to lunch break, lunch and learn sessions help to strengthen the work culture. Employees appreciate what other employees in other departments do, and this increases their engagement in the company. They also work to the best of their capabilities when they know that the organization values their contributions.
Potential Risks and Pitfalls of a Lunch and Learn
Of course, with any training session or presentation, there are potential risks and pitfalls. Not every lunch and learn is going to be a success. Here are some of the ways a lunch and learn can fall short.
- Mandating presence, which can reduce interest and enjoyment
- Not offering a wide variety of subjects that interest participants
- Offering skills that don’t apply to participants
- Scheduling too many events that take from employees’ valuable lunch periods
- Alienating professionals by failing to offer facilities for remote employees
How to get started:
- Decide on a day or a series of days that best suits most people within your organisation to hold the Lunch and Learn, for example, Friday may not be great if that’s the day everyone chooses to work from home. Similarly, end of month activities may reduce attendance.
- Decide how many Lunch and Learns to hold, when, and how often.
- Determine whom you would like to present and then allocate them presenting dates early on.
- Promote the sessions via posters, email banners, team briefings etc.
- Since Lunch and Learns are typically short (45-60 minutes), ensure learning is bite-sized nuggets of information.
- Find a relaxed setting, such as the cafeteria, lunchroom, or book a conference room. Relaxed spaces can encourage people to attend.
- Make sessions interactive by using a variety of media/activities that involve the audience and promote discussion.
- Promote your next session. Remind participants about the topic and date for the next lunch ‘n learn.
The Team at Facilitated Training are committed to bringing you quality training materials and resources that help you to deliver expert training. We believe that our solutions are a perfect response to a market where increasingly headcount in learning teams is being reduced, whilst the demands on the trainer’s time and efforts are repeatedly stretched to the limits. Our consultants have over 30 years’ experience working globally, across multiple segments such as corporate, energy and resources, manufacturing, hospitality, retail, telecommunications, banking and healthcare.
All training course materials have been written by leading instructional designers that also have significant experience in delivering facilitated and skills-based training. Our team focuses on developing training materials with the right balance of theory and practical and engaging application, relating new knowledge back to relatable situations that occur in the workplace, whilst having fun in the learning environment.
The customisable training materials have been designed ensuring a ‘global’ application and provide targeted ‘facilitator notes’ highlighted key areas where content can be adapted based on your workplace and audience.
Facilitated Training also offers a custom “Train the trainer” workshops for those who want more support to deploy the training modules that they have purchased. Contact us today for a quote based on your specific needs.
Here are some customisable 1 hour courses that are perfect for lunch and learn topics and or adding to your development resources for leadership training and soft skills development.
Change management principles
Unconscious bias. What are your bias’
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