How you can use MuchSkills to form winning teams for hackathons

The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has engendered a “new normal” where the usual ways we used to live, love and work have been disrupted – some say forever. There are the obvious changes: more people are working from home than ever before, children are attending online school, and grocery shopping has now become somewhat stressful.

Even the world of hackathons have changed. If earlier, most of them were multi-day events where people with varied skills gathered to find creative solutions to a problem they were presented with, hackathons are now being held remotely, with face-to-face contact being limited for the foreseeable future. 

Well-rounded teams drive the innovation hackathons demand

The word hackathon is a combination of the words “hacking” and “marathon”. Unlike a marathon, however, participants are not in it alone; most work in teams. While some tie up with friends and colleagues before the hackathon even begins, several others have ideas and hope to meet participants who can help them execute it.

In our experience, the ideal hackathon teams are those that have a mix of skills. A team that only comprises software developers, for instance, is unlikely to be as successful as a team that also has members with skills such as interaction design, project management or marketing.

Having said that, great professional skills doth not a strong team make. In simple English, you need more than just professional skills to form a great hackathon team. Soft skills such as the ability to be a team player, to handle conflict and stress, efficient time management and great communication skills are also vital to the high-stress atmosphere of hackathons.

So, in the time of Covid-19, when most of us are working remotely, how do we find people with the hard and soft skills we need within the time frame that hackathons operate in?

Use MuchSkills to form hackathon teams

That’s where MuchSkills comes in. Developed by a Sweden-based start-up, MuchSkills is an app that visualises data about skill sets in an attractive, easily comprehensible interface.

MuchSkills is a strengths visualization tool for everybody – no matter if you’re new to work or have years of experience; if you’re a growing team or even a large organisation.

This means it is also a great tool for hackathons – it can help participants form teams with the requisite skills within minutes. Here is how three different hackathon stakeholders can use MuchSkills:

1. Individuals: If you are a hackathon participant with skills on offer, sign up with MuchSkills to create a beautiful visualisation of your hard and soft skills, set your expertise levels for each of them and also set your availability. You can then easily share this visualisation with other participants. When you connect with someone looking for your particular skill set, viola, you’ll be part of a team.
2. Individuals looking to form teams: Let’s assume you are an individual with an idea that you need help with to execute. MuchSkills will make it really easy for you to find team members with the exact skills and expertise you require. Join MuchSkills, list the skills you are looking for and publish a link that hackathon participants can use to swiftly create their own skills profile in minutes. You can then easily assess the skills of these participants, check their availability and sign on new team members in minutes.‍
3. Hackathon organisers: If you want to help hackathon participants easily find each other, create a new team for the hackathon on MuchSkills, create a public link and invite everyone. When hackathon participants click on the link, they can create their skill profiles in minutes. This makes it easier for everyone to find each other and build the teams they need to make their project a success.

How to set up MuchSkills for a hackathon

If you are the hackathon organizer or you just want to make people desperately trying to find someone with the right skills stop shouting over the Slack town square, this is how you set up MuchSkills for a hackathon.

Step #1

Create an account on MuchSkills

Step #2

Create a new TEAM and set the name to be the same as the hackathon so it's easy for people to understand. 

Step #3

When you create your team, you are asked to invite team members. In this step create a public link. 

Step #4

You are now done. You have a link you can share with the hackathon participants. All you need to do now is to send out the link with instructions. (Each link is valid only for a 100 invites, a new link will need to be created if that is exceeded)

Instructions you can send to all participants

You have a public link and now it’s time to send out instructions to all participants. Below is a template you can use. 

‍

[TEMPLATE BELOW]

Are you looking to join a team or missing some skills in your team? See below

We have now made it easier for you to find new team members and create project teams. We use a tool called MuchSkills that makes yours and others' skills easier to find and match. You can easily search for people with certain skill sets and also showcase your own so you can be found easily.

Join our hackathon TEAM on MuchSkills to create your strengths and skills visualization. The more people that join, the more individuals with specific skills will can be found there. To join our team click this link [ADD YOUR INVITE LINK HERE]

How to find a person

Click on the TEAM tab on your dashboard. Search for the skill you need. Click on the skill bubble to open up a listing of all the individuals that possess that skill. Find this person on Slack and contact them directly.

How to join a team

Sign up. Create a profile by filling in your Job Focus, Soft Skills, Software Skills and some details about you. People can now find you. Go to your profile, take a screenshot and then share it on Slack. Everyone quickly understands your superpowers.

Want to use MuchSkills? It’s free

Sign up

Read more about MuchSkills here: Say goodbye to the skills matrix, a better way to visualise people’s skills is here‍