Doing a Hackathon to Get Your Project Across the Finish Line

Sometimes deadlines can be tight. Either time slips away and the progress gets behind on a project, or possibly enough time isn’t given up front for your team to get anything done. Or perhaps you have a great app idea that you want to make happen and get out right away. No matter the situation, maybe the right solution is a hackathon.

Here at CKH we have an annual Hackathon with one of our clients we consult for. It can be very exhausting, but at the same time very rewarding. It goes something like this: We first split into teams of 4 developers and brainstorm lots of ideas that can benefit the company, such as a new application that can help customer user experience, or perhaps an internal application that can help employees with their work. We then choose which is most realistic or bring the most value to the company. We then spend the next 24 hours or so hacking away and making our ideas come to life.

Recently we had a situation where time slipped away on a project that we own as a company and there was a lot of work that needed to be completed on the project. What better way to accomplish that than a hackathon?! We all grouped up in teams of two and got down to work. We didn’t need to brainstorm much in this case, but more so just got down to building the application. We had already distributed work between the teams, so it was clear prior what our tasks would be. Pizza for lunch was a great thing to look forward to and a nice break to split up the day! It’s amazing how it makes you feel when everyone comes together as a team and you make it happen. The productivity is through the roof, and since everyone is on the same project it’s very easy to bounce ideas off each other or answer any questions to keep the code flowing. Another benefit that can come out of a hackathon is the team morale that you build up. It is very apparent how well everyone can work together. Just a small sense of urgency can help keep you focused and help to get the work done.

If your team is in a crunch and you are feeling that sense of urgency as well, give a hackathon a try! You may be very surprised not only of the outcome, but the team morale that you will build up. Hack away!