As soon as the year ends, everybody usually tries to finish the things they started. However, there are restless fans of their craft who also want to find new challenges.
Therefore, at the end of November, a team of Lectera methodologists, without taking a break from their main tasks, participated in the METHODOLOG HACK, a professional competition from the consulting company Mozlab. It was held on November 22-23. The hackathon helps talented professionals find like-minded people, improve their skills, and explore current trends in methodology and online course creation. According to the competition results, the Lectera team placed second with only two points away from winning first place.
"We found out about the hackathon by complete chance: one of our colleagues sent a link to a post to our work chatroom. We have never participated in a hackathon before, but we thought it could be a rewarding experience. So, we decided to participate in it," said the participants of the quest. Lectera's methodologists had the Saint Petersburg Bank case to solve and create a complete educational solution for it. Moreover, the organisers intended to find solutions for real clients and did not want it to be a game.
"We received our case on the "first come, first served" basis and one problem could be solved by 7 teams simultaneously. The competition was fierce. We needed to be around for the case that interested us the most at the right time. After signing up, we went into a separate Zoom room. A client, a representative of the Saint Petersburg Bank, was there waiting for us. Initially, we asked him questions about the case. Then we started to work on our own," said the members of the Lectera methodological team.
According to their brief, our methodologists were to work on a programme of events for developers working for the bank. The client wanted to create a separate office for a more relaxed culture than the traditional banking environment. The competition participants had to develop various activities to attract bank employees working remotely for the past year and a half back to the office again. Then they needed to propose options for activities to form a culture of interaction in the office and create a need to develop communication and teamwork skills amongst the developers. "The work was intense," the methodologists smile. "My colleagues and I talked on the phone just before the first day of the hackathon. We discussed the upcoming activities step by step. Then we made an approximate list of questions for the client. After signing up for the case, we brainstormed our solutions and then conducted research: we interviewed developers we knew, found out what would motivate them to choose the office over remote work, and discovered answers to issues similar to ours. Finally, we organised the information we received and came up with several engaging activities." A list of these activities included a virtual tour of the office, together with a listing of the advantages of their new workplace and other events held in the office, the "Know your own office" quest, which is available via a QR code, and a platform for booking places in the office with a calendar of activity. This technical solution would make it possible to book spaces for your own events, follow a calendar of events, register for your favourite activities, and subscribe to colleagues and track their plans for office life. The app also would allow you to share photos and leave feedback on an event.
The next day, the Lectera team prepared a presentation, which is customary in any consulting practice, and scored 60 points, only two points less than the winners. In addition, a separate high mark was given to the women's solution, which was called the most feasible in practice.
Lectera Magazine congratulates its team of methodologists on their victory. Furthermore, it promises to closely follow the new activities of the employees. And of course, we will tell you about them!
