Sphere
#38
2015
08
Labs has begun!
With that announcement,
the monthly innovation
whirlwind kicks off at
3
Sweden.
3Labs, also known as
3
Sweden’s company-
wide innovative event, allows participants
to take a day from work to collaborate with
anyone they want and work on anything
they want, however they want.
The rules are simple enough: their projects
must be related to the business operations
of
3
Sweden, and the teams must share
their results the next day. Sonia Ling, IT
Project Manager and member of the team
known as the 3Labs Crew, says, “The whole
idea is to try out something you believe is
good, work on it for one day, and receive
feedback on its merits. The key is, you
challenge yourself, you share your results,
and everyone’s a winner.”
The day after the innovative event, a
‘marketplace’ is set up in a conference
room, where each 3Labs team
demonstrates their innovative solutions.
Visitors are given three Lego blocks each
as they enter, which they use to vote for
their favourite demonstration. After the
visitors cast their votes, the team with the
highest stack of Lego blocks wins. Not
only does the team keep the trophy until
the next event, but their idea also has a
chance of being implemented in the daily
operations of the company and to have a
hugely positive impact.
Humble beginnings
3Labs started off with the IT department
contemplating how they could achieve
3
Sweden’s vision – “Mobil kommunikation
på kundens villkor” which translates
as “Mobile communication on the
customer’s terms”.
“We knew what we wanted to achieve and
whom it would involve, but the ‘how’ was
a work in progress. Someone within the
IT department mentioned ‘hackathons’
(events where computer programmers
collaborate on software projects over a very
short time), where staff would be given
the time and space to work on ideas they
are passionate about. After management
agreed to give it a go – with some ground
rules – we pulled out the parts of the
process that would apply to the company,
and created 3Labs,” says Ms Ling.
“We want to be Sweden’s best IT
department and that requires room for new
ideas and innovation. It’s about smart, small
changes, new technologies, or completely
different ways of doing things,” says Ms
Ling. 3Labs provides the environment and
the people make it happen.
“It began as an initiative to boost
innovation within the IT department,” she
continues. Today it is a cross-department
aDVANCEMent
3Labs=
innovation
Telecommunications Focus
Every time 3Labs is held, an effort is made to
transform the space into a hub of excitement
and limitless possibilities.
