What is Aventis’s #1 Lunch and Learn Programmes about?
Lunch and Learn programmes are 60 minutes to 120 minutes voluntary training, meeting, or presentation that takes place during the lunch hours, where food is provided by the employer. This considers as an opportunity for co-workers across different departments and teams to meet and share their skills and expertise. It could be a one-off session, where perhaps your business manager outlines your company’s sales strategy, for example. Or it could be a session that takes place over several weeks.
However, not all lunch and learn programmes need not have to be focused on your core business activities. Lunch and learn programmes can be fun which promotes life skills such as physical fitness, soft-skill, and communications, or even mindfulness and mental well-being.
Where food is not provided, employees are generally encouraged to bring their lunch and hence, the term of Brown Bag was originated.
What are the benefits of a Lunch and Learn Programme?
A few benefits you probably might want to know about organizing lunch and learn programmes, such as the following:
- It offers a sociable, collaborative alternative to a traditional “top-down” or classroom-based learning. This fosters a positive culture of learning and knowledge sharing in the organization and encourage teamwork and cooperation at the same time.
- It builds and improves professional development when a colleague learns more about their co-workers’ tasks and responsibilities. This creates greater flexibility and responsibilities to changing business conditions, and better able to step in to assist when one is absent.
- It is a safe environment for people to develop their confidence in presenting and public speaking when necessary, during the programme. It can be less intimidating to stand up in front of your co-workers over lunch than to take centre stage for an audience of potential clients.
- Finally…. COMPLIMENTARY FOOD! Providing complimentary food is a way an organization can show its appreciation to its employees and their hard work.
It’s up to you to decide what is appropriate for you and your organization.
There are no rules when it comes to organizing lunch and learn programmes for your organization. You make the full decision on what is appropriate for your organization and what will benefit your employees.
Read on more and you will learn some practical considerations you can apply in most circumstances when organizing your lunch and learn programmes.
- Decide what you want to achieve
Whether the focus is on life skills, communications, team development, leadership, or business goals, remember that you are asking your employees to give up their lunch break. Good food will encourage them, but there is more to a successful lunch and learn programme than just complimentary food itself.
- Know the numbers
Plan and decide in advance whether the lunch and learn programme will be for a targeted group of employees, or whether it is open for registration to everyone. In either case, you can send invites and have your employees to respond promptly so you will get your estimated figures on how many will be attending.
- Focus on the food
Apart from having to pay for the food, it needs to be planned and prepared for in advance. You will need to agree a budget with your organization’s Human Resources or a manager and liaise with the catering or facilities in-charge to agree on how you will claim back your cost. You will need to think carefully on what kind of food you would be providing – much depending on your budget but light and healthy snacks that any individual can eat with their fingers are often a good option. Fun fact is these snacks are less distracting than a regular hot meal and creates less mess for an individual.
- Choose an appropriate venue
Areas such as canteens, atriums, and breakout spaces are generally considered as popular venues to organize lunch and learn programmes. However, they are prone to noise and interruptions. Hence, conference halls and meeting rooms are pretty much ideal, considering they offer projection facilities and employees may have better access to power sockets. Alternatively, you may choose to organize your lunch and learn programmes off-site or if budget is an issue, it can be conducted virtually.
- Promote the programme
People will not attend if they have no clue on what is happening. Publicize your programme as soon as your speaker and the above mentioned are confirmed. Emails are easily overlooked, so give your employees as much time as possible to respond and receive your calendar invites. You may also put-up physical posters or flyers to create a “buzz” around your lunch and learn programmes and make it clear that ideas and contributions are always welcome.
What are some of the popular Lunch and Learn programmes topics?
Unsure on how to start planning your very first lunch and learn programme? Here are some in-demand topics you can consider:
- Tips on mental health and wellness
- Time and stress management and boost your productivity at work
- Goal setting
- Conflict management and getting your point across with the right communication skills
- Incorporating work-life balance
- Personal financial savings
- Personal development
- Leadership Skills
- Negotiation Skills
And more to go!
The longer you go about with it, the more you will realize just how easy and effective a mere engaging 60 minutes to 120 minutes talk can be. Most speakers are generally versatile and can cover a wide range of topics, so you never have to be concerned on not finding the right speaker for your lunch and learn programmes.
Don’t beat around the bush.
Based on the National Wellness Survey, lunch and learn programmes invested in personal wellness by organizations have seen a huge reduction rate in absenteeism by up to 40% and a gradual increase of 30% in productivity. If you are an employer looking to increase your employees’ engagement and productivity in your organization, or an employee that has been hesitant about attending these programmes, give our lunch and learn programmes a shot!
What are you waiting for?
Starting at a nominal fee of SGD2,000 per session for up to 300 participants, be it face-to-face classroom training or virtual LIVE stream training – here at Aventis, we offer one of the best corporate lunch and learn programmes with over a hundred exciting topics to choose from. Additionally, enjoy an extended discounted rate with a minimum lock-in of 3 sessions with us. Get a non-obligatory quote or consultation for you and your organization’s training needs now!
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