Five Compelling Reasons to Invest Company Resources in Hack Days
The advantages of participating in Hack Days, positive impact on teams, organizational culture, and innovation. Team-building activities, distributed leadership in flat organizational structures, continuous learning opportunities, impressive team achievements, and the freedom to explore bold solutions without reigns.
The following are five compelling reasons to invest company resources in Hack Days.
The Five
1. Breaks the monotony of daily work life
Hack Days offer a refreshing break from the monotony of daily work life. They provide a welcome change of pace, allowing employees to explore new technologies and ideas. This freedom to experiment with new technologies and ideas is a great way to foster innovation and creativity.
It's important for decision makers to lead the way and create an environment where employees feel comfortable taking a break from their daily work. This is especially true for employees who are new to the organization, but just as much for those who have been around for a while and may feel they have an obligation to continue with their daily work.
2. Allows participants to explore new technologies and learn new skills
It has become increasingly popular for companies to advertise about all the opportunities they offer for continuous learning, but putting that into practise typically ends up being the individual employee's responsibility which creates a barrier for many.
Hack days is one way of providing a structured opportunity for continuous learning. It's a great way to explore new technologies and learn new skills without the pressure of delivering production ready software.
3. Improves team dynamics as participants collaborate on projects outside their usual work
Hack Days are a great way to improve team dynamics as participants collaborate on projects outside their usual work. This collaboration is a great way to build trust and strengthen relationships throughout the organization.
Hack Days are also a great way to learn more about the organization as participants collaborate with colleagues from other departments.
4. No reigns
Without the reigns of a typical project, participants are free to explore and experiment with new, bold and unexpected ideas. This freedom allows for innovation and creativity to flourish.
The goal isn't necessarily to ship something (although it's always cool to see hack project reach production), but can instead be about validating solutions through whiteboard diagrams, prototypes and similar.
5. Hack days exemplify the principles of decentralized leadership
Hack Days embody the essence of distributed leadership. Advocating a hands-off approach for executives, this approach extends to various aspects within our organization. Operating as a flat structure, decisions are driven by consensus rather than top-down directives, promoting autonomy and ownership across all participants.
Regardless of the number of participants, Hack Days serve as a model for distributed leadership, fostering a flat organizational structure and encouraging decentralized planning. This approach offers a valuable opportunity to test-run projects without a designated team lead.
How do you organize a hack days event?
Are you curious about what hack days are and how one can organize one? Check out our blog post A Dive into the World of Hack Days.
Erik Engervall
Founder