Benefits of internal hackathons

Michele Erba

Hackathon Expert

What is an internal hackathon?

An internal hackathon is an event designed specifically for the employees of a company.

Selected external participants and Mentors can sometimes participate.

Internal hackathons answer a specific question: “How do we stay competitive and boost creativity in our organisation?”

 This powerful tool (also known as “private” hackathon) is a dynamic event that not only fuels innovation and brings results but also provides a myriad of other positive side effects.

Internal hackathons are an effective and solid strategic approach for companies to tap into the collective intelligence and creativity of their employees. These events have evolved to encompass a wide range of ultimate goals beyond coding and technology. Internal hackathons are now being utilised by businesses of all sizes and industries to drive innovation, enhance collaboration, and propel organisational growth.

In this listicle, we highlight the main benefits of hosting an internal hackathon. In case you’re not familiar with what a hackathon is, you might want to take a step back and read our article “Welcome to hackathons”

When an internal hackathon is well-structured and thoroughly planned, it will harvest multiple benefits at once:

Table of contents

1. Boosting creativity
2. Creating new internal synergies
3. Encouraging cross-functional collaboration between different departments
4. Strengthening the teamwork
5. Promoting an innovation mindset and culture
6. Enhancing and accelerating problem-solving
7. Making the employees think outside the box
8. Accelerating process/product development
9. Generating new ideas
10. Retaining top talents
11. Acquiring the skills of the future
12. Raising workplace attractiveness and improving the company’s public perception
13. Receiving feedback from employees
14. Conclusion

Let’s deep dive into each one of them.

1. Boosting creativity

One of the most significant benefits of internal hackathons is their ability to lift the creativity of the employees.

A hackathon event is way different from a regular corporate event: an internal hackathon is well conducted when the employees have a “creativity safe space” feeling.

New and inventive ideas will be generated only when these conditions are met. Ideas that may not have emerged through traditional channels.

We wrote a full blog article on this matter that you can read here.

2. Creating new internal synergies

Internal hackathons are an effective, fast, and solid tool for innovation.

Companies can prepare and present specific challenges or problem areas and invite participants to propose innovative solutions to innovate a whole business, a process, or a product.

We wrote a specific article on innovation hackathons that is available here.

3. Encouraging cross-functional collaboration between different departments

New synergies and communities, obtained as explained in point 2 above, can also break down silos between departments, encouraging cross-functional collaboration.

When individuals from different areas of expertise collaborate on a project, they bring unique perspectives and approaches to problem-solving.

This interdepartmental collaboration can lead to more comprehensive solutions and improved efficiency.

In this article, we deep-dive into this matter further.

4. Strengthening teamwork

Hackathons provide an opportunity for employees to work closely together, enhancing teamwork and aggregation spirit.

Collaborative efforts in a high-pressure environment can lead to stronger bonds among team members and improve overall workplace dynamics.

You can think about hackathons as a team-building activity, but with a business purpose.

Read this article for a deeper insight into how hackathons can strengthen teamwork.

5. Promoting an innovation mindset and culture

Internal hackathons are not just about the event itself but also about instilling an innovation mindset and culture within the organisation.

When employees see that their ideas are valued and that innovation is actively encouraged, they are more likely to continuously seek out innovative solutions in their everyday work. One methodology to achieve this can be hackathon megaworkshops.

The hackathon support can be provided by external mentors and coaches, capable of bringing fresh, new, diverse, and open perspectives to the employees.

Read this to discover all the benefits of an Internal Innovation Hackathon.

6. Enhancing and accelerating problem-solving

Internal hackathons are a great way to get around wicked problems or brain-teasers that the company is struggling to solve.

The intense, time-bound nature of these events forces participants to think critically and creatively, leading to accelerated problem-solving and the development of practical solutions.

The benefits are double for the company: problems are solved, and employees develop new skills. Understand how in this blog post (spoiler: design thinking has something to do with this).

7. Making the employees think outside the box

By taking them out of their daily working routine, internal hackathons encourage employees to think outside the box.

By breaking away from conventional thinking patterns and exploring uncharted territories, employees can discover novel solutions that have the potential to revolutionise products, processes, or services.

Formation live sessions with external speakers are often a good idea.

For example, an iterative innovation scoping workshop or a design thinking introduction webinar.

8. Accelerating process/product development

Hackathons can serve as incubators for rapid solution development, considerably shrinking the time to market.

They create a sense of urgency and excitement, which can motivate people to work harder and faster.

Though this is done in a controlled and safe space for people to experiment and take risks.

This will lead to prototypes or minimum viable products (MVPs) being developed much more quickly than would be possible in a traditional development process.

9. Generating new ideas

A beautiful and deep mind contamination happens during internal hackathons.

The diverse melting pot of a newly created hackathon team is, without a doubt, a fertile ground for new ideas to sprout.

Team members come into contact with fresh perspectives and undiscovered points of view, resulting in gaining valuable insights that help refine their ideation process.

This process is convergent: the teams’ discussions and iterations will result in defined ideas.

10. Retaining top talents

An internal hackathon is perceived as a very cool thing by the employees.

Frequently organising hackathons can enhance your company's appeal to top talent, as it demonstrates the company's dedication to promoting innovation by providing employees with opportunities to showcase their abilities and creativity.

At last, they’re often closed by a celebration ceremony, boosting everyone’s spirit!

11. Acquiring the skills of the future

Live sessions, workshops, seminars, warm-ups, and hands-on exercises are often organised before the actual internal hackathon takes place.

During this preparatory period, participants have the chance to acquire new technical, problem-solving, and collaboration skills, which can benefit both the individual and the company in the long term.

One good example of this is running a ChatGPT hackathon where employees can acquire prompt engineering skills while being guided by AI experts.

Read more on this matter here.

12. Raising workplace attractiveness and improving the company’s public perception

The benefits of internal hackathons can also be projected externally by your marketing team through a dedicated campaign.

Social media content can be generated for posts, videos, and promotional material, contributing to raising workplace attractiveness, reaching new talent to be hired, and making your competitors jealous.

Read this if you want to know more about how hackathons can boost a company’s image, lift perceived attractiveness, and enhance the public perception.

13. Receiving feedback from employees

Lastly, internal hackathons allow companies to receive direct feedback from their employees.

Participants can provide insights into existing challenges and suggest improvements, helping organisations fine-tune their operations and work culture.

This is done by asking to fill in a comprehensive survey after the end of the event.

Understand the direct benefit of this process here.
 

14. Conclusion

All the greatest companies in the world are running internal hackathons, and they’ll keep doing that for a long, long time.

As businesses evolve in a constantly reshaped world, internal hackathons are decisive in defining their future success.

Internal hackathons are more than just fun, time-bound events.

They are potent instruments to drive innovation, strengthen collaboration, and promote a culture of continuous innovation within companies.

By boosting creativity, encouraging cross-functional collaboration, and accelerating problem-solving, these events empower employees to think outside the box and develop groundbreaking solutions.

Additionally, hackathons contribute to talent retention, skill development, and overall workplace attractiveness.

Let’s talk if you’re intrigued by running an internal hackathon for your company.

Request a demo with our team today!