Skip to content

Hackathons

Hackathons

Hackathons are a way to experiment, learn, and solve problems creatively and collaboratively.

Hackathons should aim to develop our understanding and create business value.

While some hackathons may seek only to perform experiments, for the most part they should aim to produce meaningful enhancements to our platforms, services, and capabilities as a team.

This guide outlines how hackathons work in our department, from proposal through to sharing outcomes.

Anyone, anytime

Hackathons can be run at any time! Not just once a year.

Types of hackathon

We support two formats:

Minihacks

  • Duration: 1 day only
  • Low-cost, lightweight, immediate go-ahead (no approval needed)
  • Good for quick experiments, prototyping, or testing an idea

Hackathons

  • Duration: 2–3 days (including any preparation)
  • Require DMT approval before proceeding
  • Budgets may be requested (e.g. meals, small expenses) and must be agreed in advance
  • Maximum hackathon duration: 3 days
  • Great for building a proof of concept, or a small feature or toolchain enhancement.

All-department hackathons

Coordinated by the DMT, these periodic events will bring the whole department together to run multiple hackathons in parallel.

Process overview

  1. Idea

    • Anyone can generate an idea for a hackathon or minihack.
    • For hackathons, complete a proposal template.

  2. Approval

    • Minihacks → no approval required, just find a Sponsor.
    • Hackathons → submit proposal to DMT for review.

  3. Assign Sponsor & Coordinator

    • Once approved, a DMT sponsor should be assigned to guide and support the hackathon/minihack.

  4. Team Formation

    • Define the required skills and team size.
    • Recruit participants and appoint a Coordinator.

  5. Preparation

    • Agree the structure (virtual or in-person).
    • Determine and plan upfront preparation, such as upskilling, discovery, or design sessions.
    • Ensure participants commit fully to preparation and availability.

  6. Event Delivery

    • Run the hackathon or minihack.
    • The Coordinator ensures collaboration, outcomes, and retrospectives.

  7. Demos & Communication

    • Present at lightning talks or department meetings.
    • Publish a SharePoint news article.
    • As required, prepare additional broader communications (e.g. open demo, wider presentation etc.).

  8. Recognition & Next Steps

    • Share outcomes across the department.
    • Feed promising ideas into roadmap, insights, or operations planning.
    • Celebrate the contributions, the value delivered, and what has been learned!

Further Guidance

Proposal Creation & Approval

Use the Hackathon Proposal template, found in the Proposals library in SharePoint.

  • Proposals should be concise but clear, and focussed on a singular, relevant objective.
  • Add further context in appendices and linked docs as required.
  • Work with others to refine your proposal.

Once you have prepared a proposal, share it with the DMT for review and approval. Be prepared for feedback and to adapt your proposal.

Minihacks do not require full proposals or approval, however you must still ensure you have a clear singular, relevant objective.

Tip

Proposals will be more likely to be approved if:

  • They can clearly demonstrate potential value to the business and users.
  • They are aligned with our business and product strategy.
  • The objective is clear and distinct.

Sponsorship

Every hackathon must have a DMT sponsor. They will support in enabling alignment with our strategic goals and act as an advocate. They can provide support for the coordinator if required.

Coordinator responsibilities

The coordinator is responsible for facilitating the event and ensuring it runs smoothly.

They must take responsibility for:

  • Planning and facilitating any pre-event communications, workshops etc.
  • Ensuring the plan is clear and well understood.
  • Ensuring everyone understands the role they play, and support them in keeping engaged.
  • Ensuring all perspectives are heard and valued.
  • Keeping the group focused on the objective and outcomes.
  • Supporting collaboration and manage conflicts constructively.
  • Ensuring effective documentation of decisions, outcomes, and learnings.
  • Communicating outcomes to the department (with support from the team).
  • Running a retrospective at the end of the hackathon.

Running a great Hackathon

  • Prepare early: agree agenda, roles, and expectations before the event.
  • Stay neutral: focus on facilitation rather than driving your own solution.
  • Balance voices: actively bring quieter participants into the conversation.
  • Bias towards action: enable focus and momentum by setting clear time limits on discussions and moving towards decisions and actions.
  • Keep it visible: use shared boards, documents, or whiteboards so progress is transparent.
  • Celebrate progress: highlight wins, even if the final outcome isn’t fully realised.
  • Follow through: ensure retrospectives and outcomes are shared promptly.

Planning a Great Hackathon

  • Keep teams small: enable focus and agility.
  • Encourage junior colleagues: or those new to the topic to join for learning, with clear roles (e.g. research, scribing, interviews).
  • Adapt or cancel: if the plan becomes unlikely to succeed.
  • Focus on small iterations and enhancements: Consider possible eventual ideals and vision, but design for tangible and achievable gains.
  • In-person if possible long-running, focussed collaboration is almost always more effective in-person.

Outcomes and Sharing

Sharing outcomes ensures visibility, avoids duplication, and allows us to build on the work in our future objectives.

  • Always produce a SharePoint news article capturing objectives, outcomes, and learnings.
  • Present outcomes via lightning talks (e.g. Minihacks) or Department Meetings (e.g. Hackathons).
  • Teams should also choose broader company-wide communications such as demos or presentations to other groups.

Recognition and Follow-Through

Recognition and celebration is about collaboration, creativity, and learning, not just finished deliverables.

  • Hackathon outcomes should be celebrated across the department and the business!
  • Ideas that show promise should lead to meaningful discussions about product or business enhancements.