How to Create an Amazing Lunch and Learn Program
Lunch and Learn is the newest angle on employee training. While formal training sessions are based around skills directly pertinent to the job and your company, Lunch and Learns tend to be more informal and focus on subject matter beyond basic and necessary skills.
Check out our tips on how to create an amazing lunch and learn program.
Choose a specific topic
The point of Lunch and Learns is to learn a new skill and expand our knowledge over lunch. Due to the time limit of lunch hour, it’s important to choose a specific topic that can be covered within 30 minutes to an hour. Setting a learning objective beforehand makes it easier to plan the event, and be sure to end each Lunch and Learn with takeaways to ensure your employees processed the information.
Make it voluntary
One of the biggest drags of employee training sessions is that they are required (and usually focused on not-so-exciting topics). Make your Lunch and Learns voluntary. You’re more likely to have a mix of employees at each session and your Lunch and Learns are more likely to stick.
Learn about more than business
The informal tone of Lunch and Learns make them an excellent opportunity for cross training, personal development, and life skill learning that would not normally be visited in a regular employee training session. By varying the subject matter each time, you’re likely to keep employees engaged and interested in your Lunch and Learns.
Order lunch
Learning is the essence of a Lunch and Learn, but so is lunch! Order from a healthy corporate lunch catering service to incentivize your employees to show up, and to ensure they have a productive afternoon.
Invite your employees to lead
Asking employees to present a Lunch and Learn builds their leadership and public speaking skills while also making it easier for you to diversify the topic of your Lunch and Learns. Open the opportunity to all employees and allow them to propose a topic of their choosing to you.
Hype it up
Hang posters, send email reminders, and include all Lunch and Learns on your company calendar so employees are sure to know when they’re coming up and which topics should be covered.
Follow-up
After every event, survey employees about their thoughts on the Lunch and Learn they just attended, along with their ides on how to improve the series as a whole.
Lunch and Learns are an excellent way to build your team’s connection to one another while learning something new. Happy lunching and learning!
Meet Rootasters:
Meg is a dreamer, entrepreneur, and homesteader based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. She loves her cats, feasting, and road trips in her green VW Bug.