Best ways to host a virtual lunch and learn will be described in this article. Everyone is aware of how simple it is to get into a rut, particularly when it comes to meetings during the workweek. If you’ve observed that your team members are losing motivation and engagement at work, you’re invited to shake things up with a lunch and learn programme, which you may or may not be familiar with.
How To Host a Virtual Lunch and Learn
In this article, you can know about How To Host a Virtual Lunch and Learn here are the details below;
A lunch and learn is a great way to get people together to learn new skills, to show your appreciation by providing a free lunch (who doesn’t enjoy that! ), and to promote team building. Additionally, it’s a fantastic method to host discussions about wellness, DEI, and other subjects to better support your team.
We’ll demonstrate how to host one for your very own group, crew, or clientele in this article.
You’ll also discover:
- What distinguishes lunch and learn from your regular meetings and official training sessions
- Adapting a lunch and learn programme for your virtual team: some helpful hints
- Topics for lunch and learn that will motivate your team and promote a growth mentality
- But let’s commence with a useful definition first.
What’s a “lunch and learn”?
A lunch and learn is a voluntary activity that mixes instruction with food from the employer.
In addition to hosting lunch and learns for their own staff, businesses frequently plan events for current or potential consumers and clients.
Even though lunch and learns aren’t considered formal training sessions, they do need some advance preparation.
We’ll walk you through the steps of organising a productive lunch and learn in the part after this, so you and your attendees can make the most of your time together.
How To Host a Virtual Lunch and Learn
In this article, you can know about How To Host a Virtual Lunch and Learn here are the details belowl;
1. Define your objective and audience
Start by defining your primary goal clearly.
Are you hoping for greater harmony within your company?
Think about cross-training, where one individual imparts some of their knowledge to members of other teams.
Perhaps you want to provide more platforms for discussions about inclusion, equality, and diversity.
You might invite a DEI specialist to talk.
Knowing your end objective will help you meet a genuine need and provide a valuable experience.
2. Select the right topic
Consider your crowd when creating a keynote address for your lunch and learn event.
Consider this: How can I improve their lives?
Don’t be scared to look outside the realm of what we typically consider “professional growth.”
People today are anxious to improve work-life balance, acquire so-called “soft” skills, support marginalised groups at work, and other goals.
(See more suggestions for topics below!)
If you’re speaking, consider your area of expertise (a.k.a. where your skills, talents, and strengths converge).
What is the greatest way for you to use your expertise?
When you’re not giving it your all, people can tell, and that can certainly affect how engaged they are in the lunch and learn.
3. Provide free meals to your attendees using a food delivery service
Using services from companies like Hoppier, Doordash, and Grubhub, it’s simple to serve meals to your virtual guests.
In order to buy food from a list of authorised vendors, for instance, Hoppier creates virtual credit cards that your virtual attendees can use.
Employees have the freedom to select their own lunch and eat what they really want, and you get to thank them for giving you their time.
Setting a per-attendee budget and a time limit for using it will help you keep tabs on expenditure.
We were also pleased by the function that lets you recover unused funds to prevent waste!
4. Schedule your lunch and learn
The fact that lunch and learns don’t require a significant time investment is their best feature (aside from the free food, of course).
Remember: Because you’re working with a limited amount of time, you need to be extremely intentional about how you organise your virtual meeting. Try to keep it in the 30- to 45-minute range.
Maintain the relevance of your talking points and “cut the excess.”
Additionally, having a facilitator will help you keep the meeting on schedule, particularly if you’re also taking questions from the audience (virtually).
Using the free time orchestration tool Clockwise, meetings can be scheduled to cause the least amount of disruption to everyone’s calendars, even those who are in various time zones!
Need some ideas? Here are some potential topics for your next lunch and learn
Let’s have lunch and learn some new things now.
First and foremost, consider your target. Are you addressing consumers or customers? Are you addressing the members of your squad, department, or organisation?
You can better cater your lunch and learn to your audience’s interests by keeping them in mind, which will increase participation and offer genuine value.
Support your employees making the transition to remote work with actionable WFH advice
Due to the epidemic, more people are working from home, making it more crucial than ever to teach people how to use Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and any other tools they might use regularly.
Host a cooking class (and have attendees follow along at home)
What better method to engage people than through a multi-sensory activity?
A cooking class is a clever method to combine learning and eating in one simple step.
Even though cooking may not be related to your business (unless you work in the food sector), team building exercises involving life skills are fantastic.
Check out TeamClass, a business that specialises in online classes (they send the kits to your workers and provide the webinar!).
Classes in mixology, cookie decorating, making pasta from scratch, and other choices are available.
Plan a series of lunch and learn events about how to make time for wellness
Your remote workers probably already have wellness on their minds; they just don’t know how to turn their intentions into concrete actions. To learn more about subjects like meditation, digital wellbeing (which includes things like healthy social media habits), how to deal with sleep issues, and other things, think about inviting an expert in. There are so many different directions you could go with this, so ask your squad what they’d be interested in!
Explore personal development with a Ted Talk-esque virtual event
Everything from time management to wellness to communication abilities is included in personal development. You can research finances, parenthood, you name it! It’s important to explore this rich and vast region. Invite writers of self-help books to talk to your remote team about the concepts and themes in their books to take it a step further. Many authors welcome the chance to talk in front of an audience! You might even send a copy of the book home with each visitor if your funding allows it. In addition to providing an additional incentive to attend (on top of the free food), this is also a method for you to support the professional development of your staff.
FAQ
How long does the average lunch and learn last?
Lunch and learns typically occur during the employee lunch break, which is typically 30 to 45 minutes, in an office environment. Keep your lunch and learning within that range, even though more people are working from home and having their lunches whenever they want.
Do icebreakers exist?
Contrary to what we were told in school, including an icebreaker is not required. Despite the fact that it can be a useful technique for making people feel comfortable, it can actually have the opposite impact on introverts. Since you’re short on time as well, it’s best to skip the introductions and get straight to the presentation.
What’s a simple method to feed remote attendees lunch?
To make it simple to provide lunch for your staff, you can look into food delivery services like Grubhub and Doordash, both of which have business programmes. Another excellent business is Hoppier, which enables you to give virtual credit cards to your staff members with a set spending limit so they can buy their own lunch.
How should a lunch and learn be organised?
It’s crucial to organise lunch and learn sessions simply because they typically last no longer than 45 minutes. A brief introduction of the speaker and the subject should be followed by a jump into the presentation (keep it digestible with just a few key points), followed by a conclusion that leaves your audience with clear insights and, if time permits, a Q&A.
To host a virtual lunch and learn, what kind of equipment do I need?
A video conferencing programme and a food delivery service are the only two instruments you require. You get extra marks if you make your lunch and learn invitation using a graphic design tool like Canva.
Going forward
Without overly relying on formal training courses to provide the time and space for learning, lunch and learns are ideal for businesses that want to promote a growth mentality in their staff members. They’re fantastic for fostering relationships and engaging in team-building exercises in a fun environment.
Think about implementing a lunch and learn programme for your own staff, and don’t forget to have fun! Don’t feel obligated to only discuss conventionally expert subjects. Permit yourself and your team to become inquisitive. You never know how a concept that seems “random” could inspire innovation within your company!