Sometimes, the best way to develop our skills and absorb important information is in a relaxed, collaborative environment. With that, may we suggest hosting lunch and learn sessions for your employees’ professional development? First, you’ll probably want to know what that means.
Lunch and learns are team sessions where everybody gets together to discuss and learn new information relevant to their jobs, with some company-provided meals thrown in. Imagine this: you’ve taken your team out to a park or booked the boardroom in your office. Everybody is together, the atmosphere is light, and there’s food for all. Every employee is entitled to a lunch break. It helps them to refocus, maintain productivity, and avoid middle-of-the-day failings.
Now, for the hard part: choosing what food and drinks to provide for the session. To keep it light, enjoyable, and as productive as possible, here are some great lunch and learn catering ideas that you might consider.
A good lunch and learn catering plan should consider broad and varied choices (for all your staff to partake in), flexibility (customizable options add that extra touch), budget (so you don’t go out of pocket), and food items that can be individually packaged so that everybody’s lunch stays separate and intact. Not to mention how helpful it is to local restaurants – it’s always great to support your local businesses.
1. Bagels & coffee – If you want to provide for a mid-morning session, why not order King Bagel and his Rightful Queen, Coffee? This way, staff get a shot of caffeine to wake up, and a roundtable discussion to share their ideas. Also, is there anything greater than a toasted bagel? Thought not.
2. Toasted paninis – Moving into lunch territory, toasted paninis keep it short and light. Important concepts go down well with a bite of tuna and cheese. What’s more, there are vegetarian and vegan options galore with this easy choice.
3. Pizza – Continuing with the toasted bread and cheese theme, how about one of the most popular dishes around? Again, when important topics and new skills are due to be learned, it can be a big ask to absorb it all at once. But nothing is likely to boost morale in the lunch and learn sessions more than accessible food that is loved by all.
4. Salads and bowls – Moving onto more substantial dishes, salad and grain bowls are accessible, universally loved (right?), and bristling with energy. This is definitely one for the midday lunch category. Of all of these lunch and learn ideas, this is debatably the most healthy and will give your staff the buzz they need to be productive.
5. Mexican food – Finally, the greatest dish of all time (if you disagree, you are wrong)... Mexican. Well, not “a” dish, but a cornucopia of endless lunch options: tacos, burritos, bowls, salsa and guac, nachos, taquitos, and so much more. This is another option that will serve a big team and is highly customizable, so think about pulling it out of the bag when there is a lot to learn.
There are many lunch and learn benefits that come with a fulfilling array of snacks. Not just energy for your staff to use productively, but also excitement. Nothing amps one up for the session like being told, “Hey, did you hear there’s going to be pizza at the thing…”
Now all you need is an accessible platform to acquire your catering with. To this end, Ritual for Companies makes it super easy to provide meals to large groups of people at the click of a button. What’s more, each of the items listed above can be ordered from nearby restaurants through Ritual!. So, get ready to dive into a great learning experience and a delicious meal!
