Ten percent time at zeroheight is time engineers can use to work on something of their choosing 10% of their time, based on 20% time at Google. It’s a practice that encourages learning, personal growth, and experimentation and is a mainstay of engineering culture at zeroheight. If you think an annual hackathon achieves the same outcome, I argue it’s not as effective. Like most things, if you don’t try to nurture practices like these, you lose them. Here’s how 10% time at zeroheight continues to thrive through regularity, process, and flexibility.

Building 10% time into the culture through regular cadence

Regular cadence is key. Hackathons are great fun and a chance to be creative, but they happen infrequently within most organizations. The longest hackathons I’ve been involved in last a maximum of 48 hours and occur once or twice a year. They’re fun but exhausting.

The biggest downside is that they are an unrealistic event. Planning is involved on all sides to ensure there is a focus and ideas are chosen accordingly. You form teams with colleagues you don’t usually work with. While it’s great for trying new roles and mixing things up, it’s such a short amount of time to find effective ways of working. Finally, with some determination, if you’re lucky, you’ll have something at the end of the hackathon to present. This is a fun ride, but there are countless new things to learn, pressure to produce something good, and a rigid structure. This isn’t to say hackathons are bad, but your engineering team is missing out, if they’re the only form of creative outlet.

Innovation works well when there’s some regularity to it. At zeroheight, 10% time could mean setting aside a day every two weeks to work on something, dedicated time every day, or anywhere in between. Establishing a cadence for when you do 10% time is important as it forms a habit. Some people block out their calendar as a reminder or build it into the sprint, it’s up to you and your team to find what works best. When you do, it is just as important as how you do it.

Set yourself up for success

The reason 10% time works well at zeroheight is the shared understanding and small amount of process around it. I’ve seen similar initiatives fail before because nobody does it or the time is interrupted. Here’s how we ensure that 10% time is effective.

1. Make it known — at zeroheight, we leverage internal documentation extensively and have a page all about 10% time. This means that anyone can use it as a reference or refresher. It’s a shared understanding within engineering and product that 10% time happens regularly. It’s important to let cross-functional managers know so everyone is on the same page.
2. Set a Slack status — this lets others know you’re doing 10% time and to not interrupt you. It sets expectations that you’re busy and might not respond.
3. Create reminders — a reminder every two weeks to take some 10% time works well, as it’s low effort and doesn’t need maintenance. If you’re someone who has more meetings, it might be effective to block out time in your calendar instead.
4. Share progress — Sharing your progress on what you’ve learned, what you’ve created etc. is a great way to encourage everyone to do the same.
5. Lead by example — as senior engineers, it’s good to take 10% time and make it known to others, so everyone feels comfortable in taking it. You could even pair-program with other engineers to help share knowledge more effectively.

These are small things you can do to encourage 10% time to flourish. When everyone is aware of what 10% time is and how it works, this lays a solid foundation for uninterrupted time. Making it known also encourages others to take it and showcasing the things you’ve been working on is a fun way to spark discussion and riff off ideas.

Embrace flexibility

My favorite aspect of 10% time at zeroheight is flexibility. Hackathons are usually focused on a specific goal. There’s a specific structure and desired outcome. Hackathons are great for creating interesting solutions, but aren’t typically a great way of learning.

10% time is self-directed. If you want to treat it like a hackathon, you can. If you want to get a better understanding of a specific part of the codebase, dive in. Need to stay up to date with the latest javascript framework, why not? Flexibility allows you to choose what to focus on and set your own goals.

At zeroheight, engineers use this time  to:

• Take an online course to learn new skills
• Learn a new programming language
• Learn how to apply particular design patterns
• Create a browser extension for admins
• Extend zeroheight in interesting ways
• Explore native app development

The strength is that it empowers engineers to use it for a variety of things from personal development to product discovery. 10% time is a great way to learn without eating into your weekends and evenings. It’s a space to leave product work behind for a day and do something different.

Why you should embrace 10% time

Many companies engage in time set aside for side projects and have varying degrees of success. If your organization can create a culture around 10% time and respond to feedback, it can be beneficial for everyone, not just engineers, and ultimately, drive innovation at your company. Space for working on new things is essential for growth, and 10% time gives the flexibility needed to chart your path. It’s a great way for engineers to build knowledge and sharpen their existing skills, as well as work on prototypes that could lead to new and interesting avenues for your product. 10% time can work for you to engage with it regularly, build a culture around learning and development, and give engineers the freedom to choose how they use it.