“In the beginning, there was the idea of making customer-focused methods and tools more widely available in the company,” says Christoph Müller from the Customer Experience Management (CEM) team. And so this is how the first Brown Bag Sessions came about as a pilot project: voluntary, informal lunch & learn sessions of one hour, focusing on a specific topic. What quickly became clear is that employees generally have a great appetite for exchanging knowledge informally and in a practical way. 

From pilot project to institution

Since then the Brown Bag Session has become an institution. About twice a month new topics are presented and discussed on subjects of growing relevance in the modern working world. Popular examples are working with customer journey maps, crash courses in visualization, PowerPoint for professionals or designing successful workshops. And the topics are continually being expanded: “Meanwhile, we are also encouraging people from other units to hold a session,” says Müller. 

Very little theory, but lots of creativity

At the Brown Bag Sessions there is little room for theory, but plenty of space for creativity, spontaneity and collaboration. And this is reflected in the schedule too: during the first quarter of an hour there is input (and the food you brought in yourself), during the next half hour the methods and tools are applied to real case studies, and the last 15 minutes are kept aside for debriefing and feedback. 

Alas, often oversubscribed

The relaxed atmosphere and the opportunity for practical activities are certainly a big part of the success. The Brown Bag Sessions are so popular that the 20 available places are usually oversubscribed. And this is despite the sessions being voluntary and not counted as working hours. 

Learning new things – just like in the Brown Bag Sessions – is becoming increasingly important in an agile working environment.