At the in-factory, all employees meet twice a year for further training or a team event, which takes place for one or two days in a hotel.
In the past, presentations were usually given by employees on customer-specific IT topics. Each employee had to prepare a presentation, and neither the topic nor the speaker could be chosen freely.
With the ideas of new ways of working and agile software development, we started 2014 with the first small changes to the process and organization so that more employees were actively involved in the programme and became speakers. One of the first items on the agenda was the "5-minute fame". Each employee and each project had 5 minutes to present a new feature, an insight or a success.
The Hackday
After two years of minor changes, the first major upheaval came with the introduction of Hackday (also known as Hackathon).
The second day was no longer to be filled with frontal presentations, but was organized as a hackday. The employees were informed of the topic and a brief description a few days in advance:
Which task the employee would like to take on should be chosen independently according to interest, previous knowledge, desire for something new or inclination. Topics can be worked on alone or as a team. The decisive factor is that something presentable is created at the end of the day.
There are tasks that are unlikely to be completed in the six hours or that require preparation. It is therefore a good idea to choose a topic in advance and complete small preparatory tasks beforehand.
The tasks are broadly diversified and range from hacking software and writing texts to creating slides. Everyone should find something suitable. Other tasks can also be suggested.
Excerpt from the e-mail to all employees about the Hackday process
With the feedback from the day, further successful hackdays were subsequently held. They are still an integral part of the workshop days today.
OpenSpace
After two more years, the next big change was due. The first day of planned presentations was replaced by the OpenSpace format.
Here too, the changes were briefly explained to the participants by e-mail.
The procedure is a little different this time and we think that everyone will be happier and have more fun. It's an experiment.
As you can see in the wiki [link to company wiki], the first workshop day has no program, only a time schedule. We will work out the program together and there will be 2 to 3 tracks in parallel. The form of organization is OpenSpace and the idea is to systematize the talks in coffee breaks at conferences and spread them out over the whole day.
Another principle is that everyone is a participant and speaker. That's why everyone can present their concerns in the morning plenary and hold a session with others. The concerns can be prepared presentations, or a question, problem or concern can be asked and help sought.
There are already a number of issues in the wiki under Collection of topics [link to company wiki]. However, this is not a prerequisite for being able to offer a session.
Excerpt from the e-mail to all employees on the Open Space process
Procedure in the OpenSpace
After the first experiment with OpenSpace, the feedback from participants was consistently positive. Since then, we have held workshops exclusively in this format.
The workshop begins with a brief introduction to OpenSpace. At the beginning of the first session, posters (*) with the most important principles are distributed in the conference room and the principles are explained with the help of these drawings.
The timetable for the day is created on the theme wall or marketplace. In the morning, only the times and rooms are posted on the theme wall. Participants take it in turns to present a topic or their concerns to the group. The basic level of interest is assessed and a corresponding room and time is determined based on the knowledge gained. At the end, all concerns are listed on the topic wall and the timetable for the day is set.
(*Photo) Poster of the company Neuland.
