So, you’re thinking about hosting a lunch and learn. If that’s the case, then you’ve come to the right place because, in this article, we’ll not only outline the definition of a lunch and learn, how long it should take, and even clarify who should provide lunch, but we’ll also provide you with a list of over 50 lunch and learn topics and ideas.
If you take it all into account during the planning process, then you should end up with a lunch and learn that’s worth the effort you spend planning it and the time your audience spends attending it.
What Is a Lunch and Learn?
A “lunch and learn” is an event that is occasionally hosted during the lunch hour for educational purposes. They’re typically 45 to 90 minutes long and can be held either in-person or online. Oftentimes, lunch and learns are used to share knowledge, encourage skill development, unveil a new product/service, roll out an organizational initiative, reinforce the company culture, or provide important industry insights.
As the host, it’s important to remember that when you ask employees to attend a lunch and learn, you are asking them to sacrifice personal time. As such, it is a common practice for employers to provide lunch for employees at the event. Not only does this serve as a practical incentive for employees to attend, but it also sends the message that you value your employees' time and dedication.
Why You Should Host a Lunch and Learn: The Benefits
Now that you have answers to some of the most common logistical questions, let’s review the potential benefits of lunch and learns in the workplace that is strategically planned and thoughtfully executed.
- Facilitates Knowledge Sharing: Lunch and learns are a great way to facilitate the exchange of information and expertise among teams, departments, and divisions that may not otherwise have the chance.
- Stimulates Continuous Learning: Lunch and learns reinforce the importance of continuous learning and learning agility by giving people a chance to gain new knowledge, develop their skills, and ask questions.
- Creates an Opportunity for Relationship Building: Lunch and learns are usually more informal and relaxed than your average team meeting, which means they’re a great place for internal networking, which can lead to stronger working relationships.
- Supports Professional Development: Lunch and learns can be a cost-effective way to provide a team, department, or organization with ongoing opportunities that support their professional development. Better yet, they can be used to support and reiterate the learning that has taken place in recent team training sessions.
- Fosters a Culture of Collaboration: Lunch and learns can help reduce the prevalence of a “silo mentality” in the workplace by creating a sense of community and fostering collaboration across teams and departments.
- Opens the Lines of Communication: When teams, departments, or organizations are struggling with poor communication, it’s important to find opportunities to open the lines of communication and encourage dialogue where there historically hasn’t been, and lunch and learns are just one way you can do that.
50+ Lunch and Learn Topics
As you’ll see from the list below, there are countless lunch and learn topics for you to choose from. However, you shouldn’t just pick one at random. Be intentional and strategic. What goals are your team, department, division, or organization working to achieve? What challenges are they facing? What would make their life easier or better at work? By choosing a lunch and learn topic this way, you’re more likely to get positive feedback like “That was actually really helpful” or “I was worried that would be a waste of time, but it wasn’t! I’m glad I came.”
- Effective time management strategies
- Building resilience Improving communication skills
- Embracing diversity and inclusion
- Navigating conflict with colleagues
- Data privacy and protection for employees
- Handling abusive customers
- Effective presentation skills
- Identifying your work style and making it work for you
- Hybrid work best practices
- Having difficult conversations
- How to prioritize tasks
- Creating a culture where everyone feels they belong
- Assertive vs. aggressive communication
- Holding yourself accountable
- Innovation and creativity in the workplace
- What it means to lead by example
- Social media etiquette for professionals
- Understanding your resistance to change
- Giving and receiving feedback
- Negotiating a win-win
- Identifying your personal leadership brand
- How to show better judgment at work
- Recognizing and preventing cybersecurity threats
- Coaching employees in-the-moment
- Building productive and meaningful working relationships
- Making others feel heard
- Virtual meeting best practices
- Demonstrating emotional intelligence in the workplace
- Practicing active listening
- Setting boundaries
- How to say no at work
- Understanding your leadership style
- Work-life balance strategies
- Dealing with unconscious bias
- Deescalation in customer service
- Showing empathy in leadership
- The impact of AI in the workplace
- Answering questions
- The habits of successful people
- Leading performance conversations
- Internal vs. external networking as a professional
- Building a team
- Remote work healthy habits
- Self-management in the workplace
- Managing your anxiety
- Optimizing your workspace for maximum productivity
- The importance of humility in people management
- Casting a vision
- Developing a customer-centric mindset
- Practicing mindfulness in the workplace
Lunch and Learn Ideas and Activities
Depending on the topic of your lunch and learn, your audience, and the amount of time you have available, you may choose to run an activity. If so, here are a few lunch and learn ideas and activities that your team members will see real value in and be willing to participate in. Bear in mind though that logistics, such as time, space, availability, and audience size, will impact the feasibility of an idea or activity.
Create a Team Charter
Amidst the daily hustle and bustle, it can be hard to find time to sit down as a team and discuss your purpose, goals, roles, responsibilities, and expectations. If this sounds familiar, consider hosting a lunch and learn where the goal is to have that conversation and formalize it in the form of a team charter.
Peer Speaker
If your goal is to teach the audience of your lunch and learn something new, consider asking someone in the organization who is an expert to come in and speak. This is a good idea for a lunch and learn because peers can often relate better to each other's experiences, challenges, and successes. This relatability can enhance the relevance of the information shared during the lunch and learn, making it more relatable to the audience.
Run a Start-Stop-Continue
It’s rare to find an activity that applies to as many situations as a Start-Stop-Continue does. Plus, it’s just about as straightforward of an activity as it gets. Step one, discuss what you want to start doing. Step two, discuss what you’re going to stop doing. Step three, discuss what’s working that you’re going to continue doing.
Ask An Executive
How often do your team members have the chance to speak directly with a high-ranking leader in your organization and ask them their burning questions? If the answer is not often, consider hosting an "Ask an Executive" activity during a lunch and learn. Done well, this has the potential to foster a stronger sense of communication, transparency, and engagement between executives and employees.
Try On the Six Thinking Hats
Whether the audience of your lunch and learn is faced with a decision, a challenge, or an imminent change, the Six Thinking Hats can help. Essentially, it encourages critical thinking within a structured framework, making it an efficient and engaging way for participants to explore different angles of a topic or challenge.