<aside> 💡 Purpose: To increase the effectiveness of your hack-a-thon team by outlining best practices for time management.

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Keys for Success (tl;dr)

• 💼 Have a PM - an effective PM is a huge time saver. A PM helps teams avoid time-sucks caused by unclear communication, lack of check-ins, etc.
• ➗ Divide & Conquer - everyone on your team should be working on different things. If you're all working on the same thing, you're wasting time.
• ☑ Schedule Check-Ins - have set times where the team comes together to provide status updates, ask for help, etc.
• 🔎 Research First - teams waste time on bad ideas because they don't do the research first. If you learn what is already being done and what works, you can identify gaps and opportunities.
• 💬 Get Feedback - teams also waste time on bad ideas because they don't get feedback early enough. Ask for feedback throughout the process: ideation, outlining, prototyping, pitching, etc.

Sample Timeline

This is going to look a bit different for every group, but here are a few suggestions:

Choose a PM: you should have already done this - if you haven't, do it today!

Designate Roles: also get this done asap

Research Phase One: try to get this done this weekend - by 10/11

Choose an Idea: choose your idea by Monday, 10/12, or sooner

Understand Your Idea: go hard on this Monday through Wednesday

Build Your Prototype/App/Wireframe (etc.): go hard on this Wednesday and Friday - you can still be researching a bit, too

Finish Your Pitch: don't wait for the deadline to finish your pitch. Aim to get it done Friday

Practice Your Pitch: Set up a team practice on Saturday during your normal session time. Directors will have office hours then, too

Game Day! Sunday, 10/19

Resources