Hackathon during working hours

We conducted an experiment - a two-day hackathon, during which we did a two-week volume of tasks and enjoyed working.

The birth of the hackathon idea

During the working day, developers have to constantly be distracted. Questions from technical support, tasks from different projects. From vinigret from tasks at the end of the day, fatigue and the feeling that he did not do important tasks.

So the idea came up to make a large task in the form of a hackathon, where you can not be distracted and focus on one task. It was interesting to see how focusing will affect the speed of work.

I had to participate in real hackathons in which teams compete. These were two-day weekend hackathons. The atmosphere of the holiday, the spirit of competition, free pizza, red bull and sleep on the tables or under the table reigns on them.

When I decided to hold a hackathon at work, I most of all thought how to make it interesting, because the hackathon will take place during working hours and the work task will be carried out. I didn’t even think about the holiday atmosphere, at least the spirit of competition was needed.

The result is the following rules

Hackathon is held on weekdays. I immediately refused the idea of ​​holding on the weekend, because everyone gets tired for a week and then it’s hard to work on Monday after the hackathon on the weekend.

No one distracts the hackathon participants for two days. It is important to focus only on the hackathon task.

The prize is one day off. There can be any reward, but a day off is also a valuable prize.

You can prepare for a hackathon, for example, read the documentation. You can not only program in advance.

In the hackathon process, the team posts achievements. We do this in a group in Telegram. This allows participants to see their achievements, and the rest of the staff is simply interested.

The hackathon is held for two days, from 9 to 18 with a lunch break. It may seem unsportsmanlike, but our task is to evenly distribute forces over two days and not burn out on the first day.

We inform about the status of work in the hackathon process

Achievements

At the first hackathon, we did integration with Retail CRM. Usually, creating a new integration takes us 2 weeks. We were able to do it in two days. For us it was a great achievement.

Impressions

After the hackathon we were very tired. But some kind of special fatigue, I would say pleasant, because they did, because it worked out. I admit, after the first hackathon I did not want to start a new one for a long time, but this feeling has passed, and we make about one hackathon a month.

The feeling of teamwork. It is difficult to get in the normal mode of operation, because everyone does his task, often in different projects. At the hackathon, everyone thinks of one task. And although everyone does their part, they always help if someone doesn’t succeed, and they understand that the success of the whole team depends on his work.

Why does it work

I think our internal hackathons work for the following reasons:

• We focus on one task. This in itself helps make any job faster.
• Participants help each other. If someone from the team is “stuck” on their task, we solve it together.
• A clear goal and limited time - help to get together and work faster. Such mobilization is not given for free, we get tired, so hackathons will not work out often.

What can be improved

At the last hackathons we began to apply the tomato technique. Its essence is to take five-minute breaks every 25 minutes of work.

Since the hackathon is a marathon, you need to evenly distribute the forces. True, the tomato technique is difficult to use, in the excitement of work we often ignore breaks.

Make a checkpoint on the first day. If at the end of the first day a key task is not done, the team is not allowed on the second day and the hackathon ends. Perhaps this will make the hackathon more athletic, and will ensure that the goal is reached by the end of the second day.

Conclusion

In our company, hackathons have shown good results. Of course, this method is not suitable for everyone, but if employees often have to be distracted, and everyone needs to work on their task, the hackathon will help you work as a team and enjoy the result. It is only important that they are voluntary, this is the main rule, which I did not write above.