Hackathons are a fun way to crowdsource ideas and solve problems. While they’re often associated with software development and the wider tech industry, many companies use hackathons to solve other challenges too.
The question a lot of organizations ask is “How do we organize a hackathon, successfully?”. Luckily, we’re here to help. See, like any event, to organize a hackathon, you need three things:
- Time
- Patience
- Resources
It’s also important you ask yourself – or your team – several questions that will help you run a hackathon in a way that generates the results you want. These considerations range from hackathon duration to goal-setting and participant demographics.
By asking the questions, you can organize an internal hackathon effectively and efficiently with little to no obstacles. So, what are we covering in this guide on how to run a hackathon in 2024?
We’ll first take a look at nine super practical tips that will help you create your event, along with some frequently asked questions about how to plan a hackathon.
Ultimately, businesses are ramping up their innovation efforts and now is the time to embrace hackathons. That can only be achieved by knowing how to run a hackathon, the right way!
How to Run a Hackathon (Successfully)
Hackathons are a fantastic means of generating a lot of ideas to solve specific challenges. Whether it’s designing a new app or improving sustainability, organizing a hackathon for your business’ employees empowers them to explore creativity and work collaboratively with one another.
Not only does this strengthen your team’s relationships but improves employee engagement, and offers a sense of achievement to those taking part. Hackathons also offer a chance for individuals to work on a project that isn’t linked to their individual KPIs and day-to-day work, making them fun and enjoyable!
Below, we’re looking into nine individual tips for how to run a hackathon that will produce the results you want. Starting with goal setting.
Identify Your Hackathon Goals Beforehand
Hackathons need objectives, and these must be decided before your hackathon begins. Think about the outcomes and results you want to achieve. Think about the time constraints of your upcoming hackathon, and decide on what is genuinely possible.
It’s a good idea to write out the goal of your hackathon. Is it to improve teamwork? Or are you hoping to find the solution to an upcoming challenge?
You must be realistic and ambitious with your hackathon goal-setting. Before you move through any other tips for how to run a hackathon, start with a clearly defined goal! Let’s have a look at some example hackathon goals:
- Design a remote learning platform for employees.
- Create a feature prototype based on customer feedback.
- Streamline our complicated supply chain.
These are just a few examples of hackathon goals. Although they are very ambitious, they demonstrate a better sense of direction on how to plan a hackathon. Not sure what goals to set, or how? Try SMART goal-setting, and then make your decision from there!
Have a Clear Hackathon Theme
Your hackathon theme will underlie the entire event. From the prizes you give to the closing event and the challenges you set. If you’re hoping to create an app that helps residents locate their nearest doctor, then it’s safe to say your theme is “healthcare”.
Once you have your theme and outcome, run them by your stakeholders to get their input and opinion. Only then can you communicate the hackathon schedule and inform participants of the key details they will need before the event.
But what else does deciding on a hackathon theme do for you? It leads to a bigger impact. Hackathons that are clear with their direction deliver the best results, and they do so with heightened levels of engagement and collaboration.
Your theme is as much about informing participants and communicating your ambitions as your hackathon structure. So, choose a theme and stick to it. Trust us, you’ll create an environment fit for transformative innovation!
Build a simple Hackathon Schedule
Every successful hackathon needs a schedule. A simple timetable that informs both organizers and participants of what’s happening, where it’s happening, and who is involved or responsible.
For a successful hackathon schedule to come to life, it needs to be accessible, simple to understand, and informative. The following information should be included in a hackathon schedule:
- Goals and objectives.
- Duration, dates, and duties.
- Confirmed venues.
- Hackathon activities.
- Post-hackathon plans
These are just some of the details needed to flesh out a robust hackathon schedule and keep all your participants in the loop. Try to host all this information in a digestible way somewhere people can locate it. Like a Google Document, or edison365.
Further on in this guide, we’ll look at the typical structure of a hackathon, and how each segment comes together to create an engaging experience for everyone involved. Ultimately, however, a hackathon schedule is a must-have.
Provide Ample Resources
Resources are pivotal to a smooth-running hackathon. Any organization looking at how to run a hackathon must consider the tools and hardware available to them, and what they may need once the event is underway.
From power outlets for computers and tech devices to software tools and other pieces of hardware, the list can be long — and sometimes the decider between a well-organized hackathon and one marked by chaos!
It’s important you back up your resources with more than necessary to avoid the risk of being ill-prepared should a resource stop working. But it’s not just your tools and tech that must be considered when running a hackathon. It’s People too!
People are resources, and if you are wondering how to organize a hackathon in 2024, well, you’ll need great people to make it happen! Run through the different individuals responsible for hosting a hackathon and determine if you’re prepared to manage dozens (or hundreds) of participants at any one time.
Hackathons are a big deal. They must be organized well, for the safety of your investment, the safety of people, and to empower ideas to flourish!
Outline Hackathon Participant Expectations
To run a hackathon efficiently, people must know what’s expected of them. They can’t innovate in the dark, after all! Once you’ve identified your hackathon objectives, and built a clear schedule, ensure your expectations are concise and acknowledged.
Your participants are responsible for making your hackathon a worthwhile endeavor. Highlight the goals of your hackathon, opportunities for recognition and rewards, the judgment process, the resources available, and what happens after your hackathon.
To really drive home your expectations and plan a hackathon successfully, create an expectations document that can be accessed by all participants. Below is an example of how you might outline this information…
- Actively participate in all hackathon efforts with an open mind.
- Demonstrate strong problem-solving and collaboration skills.
- Participants must responsibly use hackathon resources.
- Adhere to respectful behavior expectations.
- Participants must attend the hackathon in full.
The above expectations effectively communicate how to run a hackathon with the best output from your attending members. Now, let’s dive into choosing a suitable venue!
Choose a Suitable Venue for Your Hackathon
To choose an appropriate hackathon venue, you need to consider the number of participants involved. For instance, you can likely accommodate ten people in your very own office! But 50? 100? 150? Then an events hall will likely be a better option.
It’s also worth considering the kind of equipment and space each team or individual may need. Desks, laptops, and office chairs can take up a lot of room. Ultimately, when looking at how to organize a hackathon, your venue is determined by these two things: the number of participants and equipment and hardware.
Think about Your Post-Hackathon Objectives
Your hackathon doesn’t end at the blow of the whistle. Believe it or not, there are post-hackathon actions and objectives you might want to address before the true closure of your event. After all, you want to maximize the impact of your company hackathon.
Start by considering the viability of the projects and ideas submitted. Could they contribute to your organization’s goals? How do they push your team in the right direction?
Another avenue you will want to explore in your post-hackathon phase is the feedback from participants. If you plan on organizing another hackathon, it’s important you do even better than this time around. Ask, ask, and ask again!
Your post-hackathon actions may even include delivering expected rewards to the winning participants for their ideas or presentations. You must stick to your own rules and pay up your side of the bargain.
Most importantly, however, your post-hackathon stage is about kickstarting the planning phase of a new project or idea that was developed during your hackathon. Include the relevant individuals and work on making said ideas come to life! That’s how you know your hackathon was a success!
Promote Diversity and Inclusion
In today’s workplace, it is organizations that foster diversity and inclusion that truly thrive! By hosting company hackathons, you demonstrate a willingness to hear the voices and ideas of everyone.
As for the hackathon itself, be sure you are building diverse teams and creating inclusive spaces where participants feel comfortable and prepared to do their best thinking and creativity. Some say diversity and inclusion drive innovation, and that couldn’t be closer to the truth!
If you truly want to take new ideas and opportunities seriously, you need to hear from a wide range of people with different backgrounds and experiences. Hackathons are about thinking outside of the box after all.
The Typical Hackathon Structure
There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to your hackathon structure. After all, it is your event, funded by you, and most likely for your team. Decide on the best possible approach, the most reasonable schedule, and what works for the goals you have set.
Structuring Your Hackathon Day
Hackathons can run over periods lasting from hours to days! Some organizers like to keep breaks informal, with food and drinks on hand for participants. If your hackathon is scheduled to run for 24 hours or more, you may choose to organize sleeping areas where your participants can catch forty winks!
Create your hackathon structure in advance, remembering to include a few presentations and workshops at the start to get participants acquainted with your challenge. This is a helpful if many individuals are new to the concept of a hackathon.
You could also appoint several mentors who are knowledgeable about your issue or theme, and who can be on-hand to talk to those taking part during the hackathon.
Remember: it’s very easy for a hackathon to end up feeling somewhat unstructured. Find ways to keep communication going throughout to ensure that your participants are getting the most from it.
Planning Your Hackathon Teams
A good hackathon structure keeps teams small so everyone’s voice and ideas are heard – say, around 6 people. You can allow people to come in fully formed teams, but it’s a good idea to include networking time before the hackathon starts.
Be aware of how much time it will take all participants to present and be careful to ensure you limit overall numbers to allow time for this. A successful hackathon structure applies time constraints to innovation and problem-solving.
If you’re running a hackathon within your business, you should also remember to make the event flexible so that as many people can get involved as possible. For example, you could run it during work hours over a couple of days.
That way people with childcare commitments don’t have to choose between taking part or catching the school run. That is the difference between a well-run hackathon and a chaotic event with poor participation!
Hackathon Communication
Communicate your hackathon structure and house rules to everyone involved. This means planning your hackathon ahead of time so that all participants are in the know! A well-structured hackathon starts with communication and ends with communication.
Similarly, if you’re running your hackathon as a competition, you should clearly define your judging criteria. You’ll also need to establish your panel, which should include at least one expert on your chosen topic or task.
If you’re running a software-based hackathon, you’ll need at least one programmer on the judging team. Don’t forget to base any prizes you offer around your theme and make them relevant to your audience. If you’re running a hackathon to come up with ideas for reducing waste, avoid offering prizes made of disposable plastic.
Most importantly, Have Fun!
Don’t forget this is meant to be fun! Plan an entertaining event for everyone to take part in following the hackathon and have snacks and drinks on hand to keep participants fueled while they take part.
Your hackathon structure must consider employee engagement. If you’re not structuring your event in a way that appeals to your target audience/your participant demographics, you can surely bet they’ll lose interest!
Following the Hackathon
Once your hackathon has finished, you can contact participants to thank them for taking part, including photos of the event and a round-up of the winners. Plus, the date of the next event for them to add to their diaries!
If you’re hoping to make hackathons a regular occurrence, then it’s also a good idea to survey those who attended to get their feedback (the good and the bad!) about how the event went. This will enable you to make improvements for the next year.
Remember to let your participants know how their ideas have progressed and if any have gone on to become fully-fledged projects. Knowing that they have made a difference is a huge motivator, so this is an especially important factor in how to run a hackathon for your business!
All that said, let’s look at an example of how a hackathon structure might look. From kicking things off with a morning coffee to prizegiving, let’s jump right in!
Hackathon Structure Example
Before you run a hackathon, you need to identify a few things. Look at the list below, and see how you can build out the beginning of a hackathon schedule using the following information…
Coffee and networking
This is the beginning of your hackathon event. It is an informal setting, away from the working environment, that gives people the chance to meet one another and form teams.
Introduction
During your introduction, you want to speak to all participants about the objectives you have set, the expectations you have, and the challenges and overall rules. Don’t forget to mention any prizes and rewards involved too!
Workshops and seminars
This stage is pivotal in your hackathon structure. Organizers must set up workshops and seminars to equip participants with the relevant information and skills to break away, innovate, and problem-solve successfully!
Hackathon starts
This is where the magic happens. This point in your hackathon structure is where participants are split up into their teams and the activities are up and running; the clocks are set and innovation can blossom!
Progress Update
A progress update is a chance for participants to share the progress they have made and take a short break to meet other teams, bounce ideas, and network. Remember, even the best innovators need the time to step back and breathe!
Second half of the Hackathon
Now it’s time to resume your hackathon and motivate all your participants for one final push. It’s where changes are made, refinements considered, and some finishing touches are made.
Hackathon Judging
Judging a hackathon is non-negotiable with your event. It’s what happens as your hackathon comes to an end and your participants are ready to present their ideas and solutions to the challenge at hand.
Prizegiving (optional)
Not all hackathons offer a prize, but if your event does, this is the time to present the winning participants and their reward. It’s important to recognize everyone’s efforts publicly and hackathon rewards can help you achieve just that!
Post-Hackathon Actions
If any actions take place after your hackathon has happened, now is the time to act! Whether it’s bringing projects to life in edison365, setting up your next hackathon event, or collaborating further with participants.
How to Run a Virtual Hackathon
To run a virtual hackathon, you only need a handful of things: participants, a stable WI-FI connection, and communication and collaboration tools. That may sound unrealistic, but technology has come so far along, that a virtual hackathon is possible!
Hackathons don’t have to take place in one packed-out room. Virtual hackathons are useful for teams spread out over multiple countries. For instance, if several team members are based elsewhere, using tools like Teams and Google Meets can bring everyone into one real-time conversation.
Make sure you have the technical support in place, you don’t want the event to become frustrating for participants because the technology isn’t working properly. That isn’t how you should run a hackathon.
Organize the meetings and presentations well in advance, using your existing collaboration tools to limit the costs of putting together your virtual hackathon. Your teams must also contain people with different levels of expertise so that newer or more junior members have the chance to learn from their colleagues’ experiences.
This is key for virtual hackathons! But what a lot of participants truly care about is the competitive edge of a hackathon. Set clear rules that are accessible to all participants and include information on criteria, time limits, and forbidden technologies.
To give a sense of community, organize catch-ups during the day where teams can talk as a group about their progress so far. This helps build a togetherness despite the fact it is a virtual hackathon.
How to Run a Hackathon Conclusion
There are a lot of great things that can come from organizing a hackathon. Not only do you strengthen the relationships between your teams and departments, but hackathons can revolutionize employee engagement, creativity, and collaboration.
If you’re looking at how to run a company hackathon, this guide should now leave you with all the techniques, tips, and tricks to avoid extortionate costs, unnecessary planning, and poor participation.
Like anything in business, hackathons are an investment in creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. It’s important you stick to the advice outlined in this guide and you’ll most certainly impress yourself with the results your team sees.
