Activity · 45-60 minutes
Lunch and learn sessions
Short talks over lunch where colleagues or guests share a skill, a project lesson, or a topic - from design basics to personal finance.
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Learning
Hackathon and innovation day
A day (or two) where cross-functional teams build prototypes, process fixes, or product ideas and pitch them to leaders.
- Duration
- 1-2 days
- Group size
- 15-120 people
- Budget
- Medium ($11-$25 per person)
- How often
- Once or twice a year
Benefits
- Surfaces ideas from across the company, not only from managers.
- Builds collaboration between departments.
- Often produces real improvements the business adopts.
What you need
- A theme or problem statements, rules, and a judging rubric.
- A space with power, internet, whiteboards, and refreshments.
- Mentors from different teams and a panel of judges.
- A budget and a plan to follow up on winning ideas.
How to run it - step by step
- 1
Announce the theme early and let people form their own teams across functions.
- 2
Hold a kick-off to explain the rules, the timeline, and the judging criteria.
- 3
Provide mentors and check-ins at set times during the build.
- 4
Have each team give a short demo and pitch.
- 5
Award prizes in several categories and commit to owners and deadlines for the best ideas.
Variations
- Non-technical version: a process-improvement or customer-experience challenge.
- Remote format with breakout rooms and a shared demo day.
- Quarterly “innovation hours” instead of a full event.
Mistakes to avoid
- Running the event and never acting on ideas - the fastest way to kill enthusiasm.
- Making it feel like extra, unpaid work.
- Letting only technical staff take part.
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