Holacracy Quickstart Guide v2.2 PDF

v2.
Holacracy Quick Start Guide

About this Document
This guide is intended as a basic guide to help you get started using Holacracy in your organization. Find
the latest version at holacracy.org/resources/quickstart-guide. Three things for you to consider as you
use this guide:
Following this guide will not guarantee that you are following the principles or practices of
Holacracy correctly. This guide is intended to assist with bootstrapping Holacracy in your
organization, department, or team.
This is not a standalone document, just a short guide to help you get the pieces in place. See the
Holacracy Constitution for the rules and processes of Holacracy, and visit holacracy.org for
more resources and trainings on Holacracy.
Holacracy is a new paradigm for organization and can be difficult or impossible to effectively
implement without support or training. For optimal results, we recommend that you get help
from a Certified Holacracy Coach, or, if thats not practical, attend a Holacracy Practitioner
Certification Training prior to implementing Holacracy. See holacracy.org or contact us for help
in finding a coach or training to meet your needs.
Checklist of Steps in this Guide

Determine if You Truly Have an Organization
Formally Adopt the Holacracy Constitution
Set up a Shared System for Governance Records
Determine an Initial Structure
Hold First Governance Meetings & Run Elections
Set up a Shared Corkboard for Operational Items
Start Tactical Meetings
2012 HolacracyOne, LLC All Rights Reserved. Holacracy and GlassFrog are trademarks of HolacracyOne, LLC.
v2.2
1. Determine if You Truly Have an Organization

Holacracy is a governance system for an organization, not a group of people: it is the organization that is
being structured and governed - not the people. In Holacracy, we define an organization as something
that exists beyond the people and that can hold a broader purpose even as the individuals come and go.
An organization:
has a boundary which defines its scope a territory that it controls and
regulates.
has an energetic exchange with the outside world across that boundary; it
provides something to/for the world, and receives something back in
exchange.
has a purpose it pursues, work to do for that purpose, and resources to
deploy.
If you have a legal entity with property (whether physical, monetary, or intellectual) and some activity it
performs in the world, then you probably have an organization by Holacracys definition. If you are
deploying Holacracy to organize a team or department, or any other group or work, get clear on
whether and how your entity meets the criteria defined above. If you dont have an organization by
this definition as may (or may not) be the case for a movement, community, or social group then
there are other tools you may want to consider, as Holacracy is solely for governing organizations, not
groups of people.
2. Formally Adopt the Holacracy Constitution

In order to adopt Holacracy as a new power structure for
your organization, you must first use the existing seat of Sample Documents
power (whatever that may be) to formally adopt To assist with your ratification,
Holacracy, thus ceding that power into Holacracys rules HolacracyOne offers two sample
of the game. These rules are formally documented in documents that you can use as
the Holacracy Constitution, and thus ratifying this templates for creating one appropriate
document as your governing structure is the first step to to your situation:
practicing Holacracy. The existing seat of power which
needs to ratify the Constitution will depend on your For Individual Power Holder (e.g.
CEO, Team Lead, Dept. Head)
existing structure, and there may be many viable options
depending on the extent you wish to deploy Holacracy. It
For a Board
could be adopted via a formal Board-level resolution or
via a CEO policy without a board-level action, or by a
v2.2
manager of a department via the due-authority of that manager, or even via consensus if thats the
current power structure in operation for your organization.
Whichever case applies to your organization, make the adoption of the Constitution formal e.g.
capture it in writing, and identify who will act as Lead Link from the individual or group ratifying the
Constitution, to the highest-level circle that will practice Holacracy (the Anchor Circle, which, when its
the whole organization adopting, is often called the General Company Circle).
The Holacracy Constitution can be more formally adopted as well in legal bylaws (or equivalent),
however you should seek appropriate legal advice before considering such an action. At HolacracyOne,
we use an LLC Operating Agreement to bind the Constitution as our legal operating system. See this
page for an overview of how HolacracyOne has legally adopted Holacracy.
3. Set up a Shared System for Governance Records

The organizations governance records hold its overall structure in detail, and can be used to find the
expectations and authorities held by each role. If you are practicing Holacracy properly, they will likely
be referred to by everyone on a daily or weekly basis. The entire system will be undermined if the
governance records are not clear and easy for everyone to access. You can use a wiki or similar
intranet-based solution, however HolacracyOne recommends GlassFrog, a software tool HolacracyOne
has tailor-made for the task of streamlining Holacracy adoption, record-keeping, and ongoing practice.
You can see HolacracyOnes governance records within GlassFrog here as an example of the systems
output.
4. Determine an Initial Structure

Once you have ratified the Holacracy Constitution and have a system setup for holding your governance
records, you are ready to determine an Initial Structure for your organization (see Section 5.4 of the
Holacracy Constitution). Your first circle, or Anchor Circle, has already been defined in the Power Holder
Policy or Board Resolution document from Step #2. The Lead Link of that Anchor Circle is now
responsible for bootstrapping the rest of the circles.
Before you start practicing, break your organization into an

initial circle structure, starting from the Anchor Circle. This
Anchor Circle
should typically be based on the current departments or teams
that already exist, not those which you think should exist. Note
that for small organizations (<10 people) or a single team, while
you may have many roles, you probably have only one circle; if
Sub-circle Sub-circle
you think you have more, consider that each circle in your
vision may actually be a role within a single circle.
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Holacracy is a living system for evolving your organizational structure over time; thus, this initial
structure is just a starting point and will change over time with your practice of Holacracy. Dont worry
about perfecting it up-front just get something to start from. You can find HolacracyOnes
organizational structure here, and see the governance meeting history of our General Company Circle as
an example of how an organization evolves over time.
Once youve determined your initial structure, the Lead Link to the Anchor Circle should do the following
for each sub-circle beneath the Anchor Circle (if any):
Appoint a Lead Link to that sub-circle.

Determine a starting Name, Purpose, and Scope for that sub-circle.
Define any initial roles that exist in that sub-circle, and give them the minimal-possible definition
just to capture any clarity that already exists in prior documents/systems.
Trigger the Lead Link of that sub-circle to do the same steps for any of its own sub-circles, if any
exist.
5. Hold First Governance Meetings & Run Elections

The Lead Link to each circle should schedule the initial governance meeting for their circle, to hold
elections for elected roles. For the initial meeting, the Lead Link may appoint anyone as Facilitator and
Secretary of that meeting; for all future meetings, the elected Facilitator and Secretary will manage the
meetings, as specified in the Constitution. Note that the entire process, activities, and outputs of this
meeting are defined in the Constitution, Article 3.
6. Set up a Shared Corkboard for Operational Items

It is important that you have a shared space to visually manage the operational items for each circle, for
visibility and clarity into the work of the circle. If you are co-located this can be on a shared wall,
although an intranet page or a Google Spreadsheet work as well. The corkboard is used during the
Tactical Meetings, and should be available to all circle members at all times.
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The corkboard will eventually include the following:
Checklist Items for each Role, as defined in

the Holacracy Constitution, Section 4.2.4
Metrics for each Role, as defined in the

Holacracy Constitution, Section 4.2.4
Current Projects for each Role, as defined in

the Holacracy Constitution, Section 1.4
Initially, its safe to ignore the first two points, and

just post short headlines for any current projects to
start. The other two categories will evolve and
become clear with time, as-needed.
7. Schedule Regular Tactical & Governance Meetings

The Secretary of each circle should now schedule regular Tactical and Governance Meetings for the
circle going forward; a typical frequency is weekly for Tactical Meetings, and biweekly or monthly for
Governance Meetings, at least to start. Tactical Meetings are for synchronizing the team and removing
constraints to getting work done; the process, activities, and outputs of these meetings are defined in
the Constitution, Sections 4.6.1 to 4.6.3. Governance Meetings are for clarifying and evolving the
power, authority, and expectation structure needed to manifest the organizations purpose, via evolving
its role definitions and policies; the process and outputs of this meeting are documented in the
Constitution, Article 3, and it is critical to the effective practice of Holacracy that only Governance
Outputs are allowed from these meetings and captured in the formal governance minutes and records.
Conclusion
We at HolacracyOne hope that this guide has been a valuable resource in helping you bootstrap
Holacracy in your organization, and that you continue your practice of Holacracy successfully to improve
clarity and transparency across your organization, team, or department.
For further help to refine your practice, see our website for free resources. Or you might consider
attending any of our education programs, or seeking direct implementation support from HolacracyOne
or any of our licensed service providers. And of course, contact us and we will be happy to assist you in
finding an approach that is right for your organization.
This guide provided by:
www.holacracy.org 5

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v2.

Holacracy Quick Start Guide

Checklist of Steps in this Guide

Formally Adopt the Holacracy Constitution

Set up a Shared System for Governance Records

Determine an Initial Structure

Hold First Governance Meetings & Run Elections

Set up a Shared Corkboard for Operational Items

Start Tactical Meetings

1. Determine if You Truly Have an Organization

2. Formally Adopt the Holacracy Constitution

3. Set up a Shared System for Governance Records

4. Determine an Initial Structure

Before you start practicing, break your organization into an

Appoint a Lead Link to that sub-circle.

5. Hold First Governance Meetings & Run Elections

6. Set up a Shared Corkboard for Operational Items

The corkboard will eventually include the following:

Checklist Items for each Role, as defined in

Metrics for each Role, as defined in the

Current Projects for each Role, as defined in

Initially, its safe to ignore the first two points, and

7. Schedule Regular Tactical & Governance Meetings

This guide provided by:

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