Did you know that More than 80% of Fortune 100 companies organize hackathons to generate innovations ? (hackerearth). Much more than a simple ideas competition, the hackathon has become a strategic lever for innovation, engagement, and collaboration. By bringing your employees together around a concrete challenge to be solved in a limited time, you create a bubbling of collective intelligence, break down silos and open the way to new solutions.
In this article, discover why and how to organize a hackathon in your company to make it a true catalyst for transformation.
What is a hackathon?
A hackathon is a tool to boost innovation. First of all, the hackathon consists of encourage ideation, to generate ideas and solutions on a given theme. Finally, teams will be able to test their ideas in rapid succession, experiment and prototype, in order to validate the ideas submitted.
Organizing an internal hackathon allows you to take employees out of their daily routine et to suggest that they take a step back from their missions to think about potential innovations.
💡 Companies like Facebook and Whirlpool regularly hold internal hackathons to grow their businesses. For example, the instant messaging button, or the Facebook “Like” button are ideas that emerged during internal hackathons.
The objectives for organizing an internal hackathon
The hackathon is a short and intensive format, generally lasting 24 to 72 hours, designed to bring together talents with varied profiles around the resolution of a concrete challenge.
You can organize a hackathon with several objectives. Here is a list with some examples to help you frame your approach:
- Finding new areas of innovation thanks to ideas from the field
- Engage employees by involving them in strategic issues
- Bringing your company values to life
- Strengthen your employer brand
- Improve processes management or other
- Identify key talents and high potentials of your organization
- Supporting transformations of your market or working methods
Key benefits
Organizing an internal hackathon is a great way to boost innovation:
- It helps structure the emergence of ideas. If you don't already have one participatory innovation platform continuously, organizing a hackathon will allow you to structure the ideation. Indeed, you offer your collaborators a space to propose ideas, and where these will be studied or even tested.
- Prototyping takes very little timeIn a few days, the project teams validate the feasibility and prototype their ideas.
- It allows the organization of the concrete deployment of new ideas. What would normally take a long time is accelerated here.
- You develop the skills of your employeesBy allowing them to escape from their daily lives, you help your employees to take a step back and improve their skills.
- You boost transversality in your organization. Because organizing a hackathon means creating a meeting between engineers and the field, between different departments, between different professions, etc. In short, it is a very concrete experience of multidisciplinarity.
Possible formats: from 100% face-to-face to phygital
The hackathon can be divided into different formats depending on your constraints and objectives:
- Face-to-face format: dynamic, friendly, conducive to social bonds
- 100% online format: more inclusive, allows remote employees to be mobilized
- Hybrid format: combines the best of both worlds
Ideal duration: between one day and two days. Beforehand, plan some preparation time to form the teams and set the framework.
What the best hackathons have in common
1- A clear, authentic, engaging challenge
A good hackathon begins with a strong, well-defined problem, often aligned with the organization's strategic vision. It's not just a "code game," but a genuine call for contributions on a real issue, stimulating genuine engagement from participants.
💡 Example: “How can we help farmers better anticipate the effects of climate change using data? » is more mobilizing than “Create a weather app”.
2- A diversity of profiles brought together to create value
The richness of ideas comes mainly the diversity of expertise and internal experiences. It is this interdisciplinary collective intelligence that makes it possible to generate relevant, innovative solutions anchored in the reality of the organization.
- Business Operationals – bearers of concrete problems – bring the reality on the ground and the practical constraints
- Internal technicians/developers – prototype makers – provide technical feasibility and speed of execution
- Support staff (HR, finance, legal) – facilitators of complete solutions – take into account internal processes
- Local managers – catalysts of engagement – bring strategic alignment and are the hierarchical relays
- “Invisible” collaborators (logistics, maintenance, reception, etc.) – key players often forgotten – bring a field vision, real uses and new ideas
- Young recruits – bearers of a fresh perspective – bring creativity and disruptive questioning
3- A strong link with downstream: after the hackathon
Too many hackathons shine...then fizzle out. What sets impactful hackathons apart is the existence of a framework that follows:
- Incubation or post-event support
- Dedicated budget to industrialize certain projects
- Integration into internal roadmaps
- Transparent communication on the follow-up
To discover the steps in more detail, discover Our complete article on this subject !
Pitfalls to avoid and key success factors
✅ Key success factors
- A clear brief (issue, deliverables, success criteria)
- Strong sponsorship (involved and visible management)
- Quality supervision (mentors available, technical support)
- A credible jury (multidisciplinary, decision-making)
❌ Common pitfalls
- Choosing an issue that is too vague or too complex
- Do not plan for a post-event follow-up
- Underestimating the importance of time frame and rhythm
- Forgetting to onboard first-time participants
FAQ – Organizing a hackathon
Typically between 24 and 72 hours. But formats extending over several days/weeks (sprints) are gaining popularity for greater maturity.
From €5 to €000 depending on the scale: logistics, price, supervision, communication, etc. Partnerships can help to pool resources.
Not necessarily! Non-technical profiles (design, strategy, marketing, end users) are crucial in creating value.
The hackathon focuses on theintensity in limited time and immediate prototyping, whereas an innovation competition can last several weeks or months with selection phases.
🧠 To go further
👉 Discover our complete guide to organize and host a hackathon within your organization!
💬 Don't hesitate to contact us to discuss with an expert, if you are interested in setting up a hackathon within your organization.