Innovation has long been driven by collaboration, transcending the traditional boundaries of competition. Historically, innovation was often a byproduct of rivalry among companies. However, recent trends show that organizations, regardless of size, are recognizing the transformative power of fostering collaborative challenges. These challenges aim to break down silos and encourage cross-functional teamwork, unleashing a new wave of creativity and innovation.

An internal challenge among employees can result in new ideas, products or services for your business. However, organizing and executing a powerful challenge program is more complex than it may initially sound due to the nature of a time-boxed format. Fortunately, Skild's platform and services have been created to streamline the process of creating and measuring effective challenge programs.

The Hidden Potency of a Competition or Challenge

What can you expect when you run a competition or challenge from your business? There are numerous benefits that your business will reap with a successful competition.

• Break out of a rut. Has any aspect of your business been stuck in a rut lately? Perhaps sales are low or lead acquisition is tanking. Whatever is holding up your business, it’s likely that incentivizing the problem department with a challenge will help. It’s easy to fall into the trap of simply maintaining status quo. A healthy challenge encourages employees to share new ideas, innovate and solve problems.  It's a unique way to motivate them.
  
  

• Cultivate self-awareness. Competition, external or internal, forces an organization to asses and understand itself. You’ll possibly unearth shortcomings and discover ways to overcome them. Employees will also benefit from learning and cultivating their own self-awareness. 
  
  

• Encourage teamwork. Teams can be formed withing a specific group or company vertical or they can be interdepartmental. Employees will learn to work together towards a common goal, something that will help boost your organization by leaps and bounds. Instead of thinking solely about themselves in the workplace, challenges and competitions will help employees interact and learn with and from their coworkers.

Businesses that run regular competitions and challenges reap the above rewards frequently. They create a well-oiled team that’s focused on results. However, not all challenges are created equally. You’ll need to ensure that your competition is properly designed. Our competition creation services can help you design effective challenges.

Elements to Consider in Your Next Competition

Creating an effective competition begins during the design phase. Each of the following elements will guide you towards creating and implementing a competition that drives innovations and creativity.

• Craft the challenge statement carefully. The challenge statement is the aspect of your competition on which your participants will focus. An ideal challenge statement is a specific, open-ended question, which will guide participants to detailed answers.  Reduce generalizations and target a specific problem that needs solving. An well defined mission statement and scope will provide direction to participants; not leaving them scratching their heads.
  
  
  

• Split the challenge up into manageable steps. When a project manager is handed a new project, their first order of business is to break it up into steps for their team. Treat your challenge as a new project that is going to be handed to the entire company and split it into steps for them. Doing so will prevent participants from becoming overwhelmed. For example, you can have the first step of the contest be to submit a pitch for a product. You can then select which teams have the most potential, and move them on to the second step.
  
  
  

• Make resources and mentors available to participants. If your organization is like most, you already have a wide selection of resources at your disposal. There’s also likely some members of the senior staff with years of experience to share. Super-charge your contest by making mentors and resources available to contest participants. Give unfiltered access to company resources. Seek out senior staff members and ask if they’d like to become mentors for participants. Combined, you’ll be creating an environment in which people can succeed.

You Need the Right Goals and Metrics for Your Contest

One of the main reasons why people use Skild's services is that we help businesses set goals and track challenge progress. Understanding how your contest is impacting your organization is vital for measuring the success of the initiative. Determining the right goals and metrics will vary based on your organization’s priorities. Go back to your challenge statement: what are you asking of your employees? 

Running a contest will help your business encourage teamwork, cultivate self-awareness and prevent stagnation. Time must be allocated to crafting a challenge statement. The contest should be split into manageable steps, and resources should be made available to participants. Your efforts will pay off once the contest has run its course.