Executive assistants—also referred to as EAs—play a vital role in the daily operations of an organisation. After all, they are responsible for conducting administrative tasks which help executives do their jobs efficiently and effectively. Some crucial tasks include scheduling work affairs, responding to emails or phone calls, and maintaining records.
As a company leader, you will want to ensure that your organisation’s EAs are the best of the best. To keep each one on the right track to becoming a more effective executive assistant, you will need to provide them with opportunities to improve existing skills and learn new ones. However, given the busy nature of their work, it can be challenging to squeeze additional activities into their schedules.
This is where lunch-and-learn comes into play. Hosting one of these gives EAs an enriching learning experience and a fun break without taking any time away from their work hours.
What Is a Lunch-and-Learn?
As the name suggests, a lunch-and-learn takes place during lunch and serves as an informal training session. During this program, employees are encouraged to eat lunch while they learn about topics that will help them grow as professionals.
If your company has adopted a remote work setup, you can host your lunch-and-learns in a virtual environment. Luckily, running this program virtually is similar to running one in-person and need not be any more difficult. To help you get started, below is a simple guide for hosting effective lunch-and-learns online:
Choose Relevant but Light Topics
When planning a lunch-and-learn, be sure to choose discussion topics that are light and relevant to the professional needs of your EAs. This program is not to provide intensive training, cover heavy or sensitive topics, or deliver admonitions. If you need to discuss such matters, it is best to schedule them privately and at a more appropriate time.
The best topics either impart new knowledge or help EAs take their current skills to the next level. For example, a topic could be about developing better leadership behaviours. It can improve the interpersonal and communication skills of your EAs, which are crucial given the administrative nature of their position.
Establish a Clear Learning Objective
Even if a lunch-and-learn is meant to be relaxing, your EAs should still gain practical knowledge by the end of it. Hence, you must establish a clear learning objective before the start of the program. It will help the discussion stay relevant and on track. But be sure not to make the event learning objective too complicated, or the EAs will lose interest and attention during the training session.
Pick the Right Time to Host Your Lunch-and-Learn
Inform EAs of your lunch-and-learn at least a week before it takes place. Otherwise, they may have already made other lunchbreak plans, resulting in a low turnout. On that note, it helps to use communication software with built-in scheduling features while coordinating with your participants, as it can automatically find the ideal time to hold a video conference.
As for the frequency of your lunch-and-learns, avoid hosting too many within the week. You may spread yourself thin, tire out participants, and consume too many resources. Start with holding lunch-and-learns once a week, then see where it goes from there. If enough EAs show interest, you can try increasing the frequency to twice a week.
Provide Free Food and Beverages
Free food and beverages can be great incentives for attending a lunch-and-learn. While providing them can be tricky in an online setup, it is not impossible.
One option is to have food delivered to the homes of your attendees. Alternatively, you could provide them with a virtual credit card that lets them purchase food or beverages from certain dining establishments.
Remember, you do not have to spend a lot of money if you are on a tight budget. Simple and cost-effective snacks can be more than enough to keep your participants satisfied.
Get a Strong Presenter
The effectiveness of your lunch-and-learn largely hinges on the quality of your chosen presenter. Uninspiring, detached speakers can make listening more laborious for your EAs. That said, it is advisable to ensure the presenter understands the needs of your audience. This way, your EAs can better relate to them.
Therefore, it is best to choose someone in your organisation who is aware of internal obstacles and processes. For example, choose experienced EAs or senior executives to lead your lunch-and-learn discussions.
Give EAs the Chance to Process Their New Knowledge
After a lunch-and-learn, it is best to provide a space where EAs can further discuss the ideas they have obtained from the program. It shows that you are an invested host and can help participants retain information better.
It is good to have speakers host a Q&A segment during post-event sessions. This way, EAs can ask any follow-up questions they might have. You may also leave additional resources after the program so participants can learn more about the program topic at their own pace.
Hosting an online lunch-and-learn takes effort, but following the tips above, you can ensure that everything runs smoothly. As long as the discussion and logistics of your program are well-planned, it should be an enjoyable and fruitful experience for everyone.