Late last year, I had a wonderful chat with Denise Dorigo Jones, Vice President Human Resources - Millendo Therapeutics.
We met earlier in the year, when Millendo was the HR Hackathon Alliance Challenge Host in Detroit. When we met again a few months later, I was thrilled to hear how the ideas generated by the Hackathon had helped Denise’s team further nurture their original culture, while working remotely across continents. It is a journey, as she says. Here is her experience about being a Challenge Host:
Q: What encouraged you to be an HR.Hackathon Challenge Host?
Denise: We are a small team of 24 people across functions. The HR.Hackathon was a great platform for our team to leverage and brainstorm HR thought leadership from other HR leaders across organizations.
Q: Did you have any apprehensions before the event?
Denise: I was a little curious to see how open HR folk would be in sharing ideas, but the energy of the HR.Hackathon pushed those concerns aside. Everyone was open, sharing ideas and positively energized to come up with a great solution. I also was apprehensive about the amount of preparation the HR.Hackathon would require, but the Detroit HR.Hackathon Hosts Dawn Poteau and Barbara Boldt simplified the process – making it easy and fun.
Q: What were your takeaways? Were they helpful?
Denise: The HR.Hackathon generated six main ideas, but a ton of other brainstormed ideas that we could take away and work with. The ideas were incredibly useful, and we are using some of them already. I am being careful not to implement all the ideas at one time, so they integrate into the organization effectively and sustain themselves.
We took the HR.Hackathon ideas and our original culture efforts and plotted them against a framework for great culture. This allowed us to create a culture plan and begin rolling out the plan with great leadership and employee support.
Q: Were the solutions helpful?
Denise: Yes absolutely, we see improved collaboration, involvement, and communication across the organization.
Q: Did you have to do a lot of homework before the event? How did you prepare for the event?
Denise: It was straightforward. Dawn and I discussed the challenge and prepared a few slides on our company and our challenge. After that, the Millendo team presented our problem at the event. We explained our current situation and challenge to the audience and shared what we hoped to achieve.
In our case, we were looking for ways to build upon and continue to nurture our great culture while working remotely. We loved our culture and wanted to make sure we did not lose it during the pandemic. I think this is pretty much a universal concern today.
After we presented the problem, we were part of a team, brainstorming and coming up with ideas with other participants.
Q: What did you like most of the HR.Hackathon itself?
Denise:
It was a very targeted event. We had a clear agenda which allowed us to get as many ideas as possible in a short amount of time. I thought it was highly effective.
It was very time efficient. About 2 hours.
I loved the collaboration by all participants.
I liked that the technology was effective and easy for people to use and adapt to.
Q: What was your favorite part of the HR.Hackathon?
Denise: The voting. It shows you what everyone is thinking. I loved it.
Q: Would you do it again? Would you want to be an HR.Hackathon Alliance Challenge Host again?
Denise: If the right opportunity presents itself.
If I have a challenge that is relevant to my organization;
That is somewhat universal so that other companies and participants can benefit from the ideas;
If I have the support of my organization again, then I would gladly be a challenge host again.
Having said that, I think a truly relevant topic right now hovers around reentry. Every company, big or small is juggling and struggling with what will our workplaces look like when we return from the pandemic. It would make for a great HR.Hackathon challenge.
Q: When is it the right time for an organization to be a Challenge Host?
Denise: When they want to and need to leverage ideas and experiences from people outside the organization. Also, when they want to shift the conversation and do something highly creative and different. When the current ways of doing things do not work or need to be enhanced.
Q: Is your team using the Design Thinking process in any other areas of work today?
Denise: I have just introduced it in some select meetings. I would like to use it more broadly. I think the process is remarkably effective, innovative and simple to incorporate in our everyday lives.
Q: Any advice to potential Challenge Hosts? Those who are wondering whether to jump in?
Denise: It is a great opportunity. Embrace this chance. When led by exceptional facilitators – as I had in Detroit, the HR.Hackathon community responds with amazing ideas.
If you want to be an HR.Hackathon Challenge Host for the LA area, please reach out. I would be happy to chat with you. Together, we can design some creative, human-centered and effective solutions.
Author: Stuti Dhandhania