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Hackamonth:MixingThingsUp
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Hackamonth:MixingThingsUp
ByDebbieFergusononWednesday,April27,2011at11:16am
Facebook'sHackathonsandEngineeringbootcampshave
beenacoreportofourengineeringcultureforsometime.
Theyreenormouslyvaluableinkeepingourengineering
teamsbothcreativeandproductive.However,aswegrow,
weoftenhavetoadaptandrethinkthewaywedothingsso
wecancontinuetomoveasquicklyaspossible.
Lastyear,wehadafewreallyhighpriorityprojectsthat
CourtesyoftheFacebookAnalogResearch
neededtogetdonebutnoonewasworkingonthem.When
Laboratory
weaskedforvolunteers,itturnedout,sadly,thateveryone
wassowrappedupingettingotherprojectsdonethatnooneresponded.Afterasecond
requestwentoutwithnoreply,werealizedthatweneededtorethinkhowwecouldmore
quicklyfreeupengineersforhighpriorityprojects,and"Hackamonth"wasborn.
HackaWhatNow?
TheideaofHackamonthistoencourageanyengineerwhohasbeenonthesameproject
formorethanayeartoleavetheirteamforamonthtoworkonsomethinginacompletely
differentarea.Ideally,wehopedtohaveabout10%ofourengineersworkingona
Hackamonthatanygiventime.Thiswouldnotonlygreatlyincreasethefluidityofour
engineeringteam,buthopefullyincreasethesharingofknowledgeacrossteams.
Overthepastyear,wehavehad3pilotHackamonthswithabout35engineers
participating.Theengineersthatparticipatedhadeitherexpressedadesiretoparticipateor
wererandomlyselected.Whiletheycouldoptout,mostchosetoparticipate.
ForeachHackamonth,engineeringteamssubmittedprojectideasthatwereabouta
monthsworthofeffort.Teamsworkingonhigherpriorityprojectswerestrongly
encouragedtosubmitprojectideas,andmostdid.Theengineersthenselectedprojects
thatinterestedthemand,atthestartofthemonth,joinedthenewteamfulltime.
Duringthemonth,theseengineersbecamefullyengagedintheirnewprojectswhiletheir
previousteamswereaskedtoactasthoughthoseengineerswerenolongeravailableto
help.Wehopedthiswouldhelptomaximizetheirproductivity.
WhenaHackamonthfinished,anengineeringwideforumwasheldwhereeachengineer
presentedtheresultsoftheirwork,followedbyapostmortemwrapupdinnertogather
feedbackandtolearnmoreabouttheexperience.
TheResultsAreIn
Theresponsethusfarhasbeenverypositive.MostoftheHackamonthprojectswere
launchedasapartofthemainsite.Forexample,threeengineersjoinedthemobileteamto
helpwithourmostrecentupdatetotheFacebookiPhoneapp.Anotherengineermade
someprettymajorimprovementsinbothoverallsiteperformanceandphotosperformance.
NearlyeveryengineerfoundHackamonthtobeagreatexperienceandsomethingthey
wouldrecommendtoothers.Inaddition,atleastoneengineerfromeachHackamonth
decidedtostaywiththeirnewteampermanently.
Fortheteamsthatlostanengineer,theybelievedthatonthewhole,thetradeoffswere
worthwhile.Often,theyendedupwithareturningengineerthatwasreenergized,had
somenewideas,orweremorecertainthattheywereworkingonateamthatwasagreatfit
forthem.
ThissummerweplantostartdoingHackamonthseverymonthsothateveryengineerwho
hasbeenonaprojectformorethanayearcanparticipateinaHackamonthonaschedule
https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebookengineering/hackamonthmixingthingsup/10150161285048920/
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Hackamonth:MixingThingsUp
thatfitswiththeircurrentteamsprojecttimelines.
AsFacebookcontinuestogrow,wethinkthatthiswillbeareallyhealthywaytomove
engineerstohighpriorityprojects,togiveengineersachancetotrynewthingsandtokeep
ourengineeringculturevibrantanddynamic.
Whatdoyouthink?
DaveisanengineeringmanageratFacebook.
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