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Who are you and how would you explain your kickbox idea?
We are two apprentices who are training as media technicians at Swisscom. Our goal is to use RoomMate to simplify the process of finding rooms and workplaces in Swisscom buildings for all employees. If you want to get to know our project better, you can watch our NEX-Talk.
Why did you start your Kickbox?
Because of Swisscom's training model, we apprentices travel a lot during work and often have meetings in buildings we've never been to. We always had to spend too long looking for our rooms, even if we used the maps in the building or the building documentation on the intranet. We thought, "How much time could we save all our staff if everyone could find their way directly to the right room?". Thus our project was born.
What is the current state of the box?
Although we still have a lot planned for RoomMate, we are starting small at first. In cooperation with RnR, we automatically generate a small image for each room, showing where the room is located on the floor. This should already improve the situation somewhat. Later, the goal is to continuously improve the process through indoor navigation and other exciting features.
How was Swisscom able to support you on your way?
Through Kickbox, our project is official - we are allowed to spend part of our working time on it and have even received a small amount of start-up capital. The Kickbox programme also helped us a lot with the expertise of the coach and the feedback from the experts at our first pitch. But we have also received a lot of reactions and feedback from other employees, which makes our project even better.
What was the biggest highlight on your way as kickboxers?
For us, the biggest highlight was the feedback from the kickboxing experts after the pitch. It was great to hear that the experts liked the pitch, the feedback helped us enormously to determine the next steps of our project and to reset our priorities. For example, we also found out that there are already motion sensors in certain buildings that we can use to indicate which focus spaces are free and which are not. Another highlight was when we were able to present our project at NEX-Talk together with Kickbox.
What was the biggest lowlight?
So far there hasn't been much negative. It will probably only get tricky as soon as we start messing around with indoor navigation.
How do you manage to combine vocational training and the Kickbox project?
For us, Kickbox is a valuable extension of our vocational training. Thanks to the support of our mentors, we can gain a lot of experience in the areas of product design, web development and marketing and independently acquire new skills, while at the same time furthering "RoomMate". Of course, it also takes discipline to balance the work on our project and normal work. Since we both work in teams that are very flexible, this is not a big problem for us.
What was your biggest learning?
When we started the project, we wanted to get started right away. We created mockups, sent out requests for interfaces in RnR, and wanted to start implementing right away. Then our Kickbox coach slowed us down and encouraged us to explore the problem in detail first, so that our "product" would address the problem and the needs of the employees in the best possible way. This was an important learning and has changed how we approach general projects in the future.
What advice would you give to other Swisscom employees, especially apprentices?Try it. Even if your start-up idea is not yet refined to the last detail, it is really worth starting the journey with Kickbox. Because even if you realise in the months after the project starts that you don't want to take the idea any further, you'll have a box full of valuable experience to take away. We highly recommend Kickbox if you want to bring your startup idea into the world as Innovators of Trust!
Thank you very much @Janic Bosshard, GHR-POD-NEX-28 and @Sascha Arnold, GHR-POD-NEX-27 for your exciting insights into your Kickbox project. We wish you continued success and look forward to seeing what happens next with RoomMate!
Swisscom Kickbox
Swisscom employees who have an idea can easily start and grow it with Kickbox . The physical box contains
- a starting credit of CHF 1,000
- 20% of working time for 2 months
- a manual explaining the idea validation process and providing valuable tips
In a multi-stage process and accompanied by a coach, the idea is pushed forward, pitched to juries and, in the best case, approved for the next stage.
More information on the Kickbox programme
Link to the Swisscom Kickbox ideas platform