The atmosphere in the room is energetic and lively. People interact with each other, share ideas, ask questions, discuss, and reflect. The findings and decisions made are recorded on colored moderation cards, pinned on the flipchart and clustered. The common goal is in sight. This scene takes place in the braintec office in Zurich and will be repeated several times during this day.
Because today the first internal hackathon of braintec takes place.
Whether physically on-site or online, via video call, participants came together to spend a full day working on their ideas, using their creativity, developing solutions, building prototypes and testing them.
As an international full-service IT consulting company with the mission to provide clients and employees with first-class services, products and development opportunities, innovation is an integral part of braintec's corporate culture.
And this culture of innovation is a lived reality.
On the one hand, through our product, specifically the pioneering all-in-one business software Odoo, which we use to digitize business processes for companies of all sizes and industries. And on the other hand through our values such as entrepreneurship, agility, openness, trust - to mention just a few - as well as direct drivers for innovation, such as in this example the organization of an internal hackathon.
An internal hackathon has several benefits. For braintec, these are in particular:
The hackathon gives us the opportunity to develop new or improved products and services as well as solutions for internal and external challenges. These are then quickly transformed into prototypes, tested in use, and evaluated for feasibility. Since our aim is to offer our customers the best products and services and ultimately also gain a competitive advantage.
Our employees are empowered to think outside the box, to put aside their everyday tasks for a whole day and to be creative as well as to question critically.
We want to create a positive and attractive working environment where our employees can have fun, use their creativity and enjoy their work. The hackathon is also a platform for socializing and inspiration with breaks and the opportunity for casual conversations and networking.
We want to create a positive and attractive working environment where our employees can have fun, use their creativity and enjoy their work. The hackathon is also a platform for socializing and inspiration with breaks and the opportunity for casual conversations and networking.
We want to create a positive and attractive working environment where our employees can have fun, use their creativity and enjoy their work. The hackathon is also a platform for socializing and inspiration with breaks and the opportunity for casual conversations and networking.
A wealth of ideas
The Hackathon kicked off a few months before the actual day of the event. All employees were asked to submit their ideas for new or improved products and applications, internal or external services and processes, as well as customer and user experiences.
In total, 43 very exciting and innovative ideas have been submitted. This wealth of suggestions not only drives growth but also serves as valuable feedback from employees, allowing us to identify and anticipate specific concerns, opportunities for improvement, and challenges early on.
The selection process
Thereafter, we asked our employees to pick their top 5 to work on. These seven ideas got the most votes and were tackled at the braintec hackathon:
The establishment of a showroom to showcase and test Odoo
An improved backlog synchronization to save time for our project managers
A customer care app for better customer support
The integration of operational controlling in Odoo
A solution for dropping local installations to simplify the work of developers and IT
An enhanced website package for the Odoo website app
UnitTesting templates and code snippets as a standard for testing developments
Team building and preparations
The participants of the hackathon could choose their two favorite topics. Thus, the teams almost formed by themselves. Only for a few groups adjustments were made regarding group size. The members of the teams were responsible for choosing the team leader and the team name.
In the six weeks before the hackathon, the teams came together for an initial brainstorming session. They set up the technical and administrative requirements and documented their planning in a backlog and a roadmap.
Certainly, we equipped our brains for the hackathon with the right accessory: a cozy braintec hoodie for comfortable work.
Let’s Hack
At the hackathon, the teams had a whole day to work on their ideas. They self-organized and recorded their results in a presentation. All participants were highly motivated and the hackathon was characterized by a positive atmosphere, collaboration, learning, openness, and creativity.
One week later, the presentations took place. The teams had a time slot of 12 minutes to present their results to all braintec employees. Live demos or prototypes, potential analyses and roadmaps were used to show the solutions and the way forward.
The output was remarkable. We are very delighted about the innovative solutions that allow us to improve our products, services and processes, or make our workday easier.
What's Next
All teams defined recommendations for action and the next steps for the further development of their projects. Based on their goals, additional personnel, time and financial resources were made available. For the further processing, the teams will be supported by experts from the respective departments. Feedback from all stakeholders and project progress will be regularly discussed to ensure that the projects can be implemented successfully.
Overall, the hackathon was a great opportunity for both employees and braintec to gain knowledge and skills for the future. The resulting projects showcase braintec's internal innovative power and have great potential.
We thank all our brains for their work and contributions and look forward to putting the promising projects into practice.