Engagement Technique: Two Hour Takeover

Big change doesn’t always come from big ideas.

Two Hour Takeover is a simple engagement technique where everyone gets two hours a month to work on something that improves the company in a small but meaningful way.

Not personal projects. Not “blue-sky innovation”. Just practical improvements that make work better. Think of it less as innovation… and more as renovation.

What it is

Once a month, people block out two hours to work on something that helps the organisation.

It could be:

• Rewriting a clunky email template

• Fixing a messy part of the CRM

• Improving an onboarding step

• Creating a mini FAQ for new joiners

• Tidying a shared space

• Creating simple employer brand content

• Improving a process everyone quietly complains about – this could tie in with the bug bears exercise

This will have to be agreed, and justified for how/why it would improve the business. Ideally the employee decides on the task, although you could have a set of tasks required to support and offer the time to employees to complete it, ensuring criteria of what ‘good’ looks like

The key rule is realism. Don’t expect people to do specialist tasks outside their skill set.
No one is suddenly coding if they’re not in Tech. This is about contribution at every level.

How to run it

Start with a submission stage. Before the first Takeover, ask teams: “What would you love two hours of help with?”

This is where it links beautifully to the Bug Bears exercise. Many of the small frustrations that surface there become perfect 2 Hour Takeover projects. Create a simple list of opportunities, or get your employees help in curating that list. Then let people:

• Pick something they care about

• Volunteer to help another team

• Work solo or in small groups

Some organisations keep it flexible. Others lightly coordinate it through Ops or People. Both approaches work, as long as it doesn’t become bureaucratic. What you don’t want is a Jam Festival. See the video below:

Why it works

Two Hour Takeover gives people permission to improve things they’ve always noticed but never had space to fix. It also builds ownership. When someone sees their improvement adopted, used, or appreciated, it reinforces that their contribution matters beyond their job description. You’ll often see:

• Better cross-team collaboration

• Faster small improvements

• Reduced frustration

• People thinking more like owners

Sound familiar? This is a bite size version of something a big company achieved previously. Google famously allowed employees time to work on ideas outside their core role with their 20% rule.

What to watch out for

There are a few risks to manage:

• Stepping on toes. Make it clear this is about helping, not overriding ownership.

• Scope creep. Two hours means two hours. Keep it small, with opportunity to demonstrate realistic results

• Over-policing. This works best with trust, not tracking every minute – if you can’t trust your employees, this is something to address first. If leaders visibly support it, others will follow.

The takeaway

You recognise the theme of these techniques by now, right? The Two Hour Takeover proves that engagement doesn’t always come from grand initiatives. It often comes from giving people time, trust, and permission to make things better.

Sometimes innovation is launching something new.
Sometimes it’s repainting the walls, fixing the process, or making work a little easier for the next person.

Both matter.

This post is part of our Engagement Techniques series of practical, low-cost ideas to bring more connection and meaning into work. Find the rest here

👉 Want to explore techniques like this in more depth? I run interactive employee engagement workshops where we bring these ideas to life.