Holacracy Tools and Practices: A Practical Guide

Holacracy and sociocracy promise a clear shift: authority distributed to where the work actually happens. But the gap between theory and practice is where most organizations struggle. You read the constitution, attend the training, hold your first governance meeting, and then reality sets in. Who tracks which roles exist? How do you know when an election term expires? Where do governance decisions get recorded so people can actually find them six months later?

The answer comes down to tooling. The right tools do not just support holacratic practice; they make it sustainable. Without them, governance erodes into informality, circle structures drift out of date, and the organizational map becomes a historical artifact rather than a living reference.

This guide covers core concepts, essential tools, a concrete implementation roadmap, and the pitfalls that derail even committed organizations.

What Is Holacracy? (And How Does Sociocracy Relate?)

Holacracy is a governance framework where authority is distributed through roles and circles, governed by a written constitution. Created by Brian Robertson, it gives every role explicit purpose, domains, and accountabilities. Authority flows from the governance process itself, not from a manager’s discretion.

Sociocracy is a governance system based on consent decision-making, circle structures, and double-linking. Its roots go back to the 1970s in the Netherlands, drawing on the work of Gerard Endenburg. Sociocracy influenced holacracy’s design, and the two share more DNA than their practitioners sometimes acknowledge.

Shared principles

Both frameworks rest on common foundations:

• Circles as semi-autonomous units: groups with defined scope and decision-making authority.
• Roles over titles: work is organized around functions, not hierarchical positions.
• Distributed decision-making: no single person holds all authority.
• Structured governance meetings: decisions follow defined processes, not the loudest voice.
• Transparency by design: governance outputs are visible to the entire organization.

Key differences

Aspect	Holacracy	Sociocracy
Decision-making	Integrative decision-making process	Consent-based (no reasoned objections)
Constitution	Formal, written constitution (versioned)	Principles-based, more adaptable
Circle leadership	Lead Link (appointed by parent circle)	Leader (elected by circle members)
Linking mechanism	Lead Link + Rep Link	Double-linking (Leader + Delegate)
Formality	Highly structured, rules-heavy	More flexible, easier to customize
Adoption path	Often all-or-nothing (“adopt the constitution”)	Gradual adoption possible
Governance scope	Organizational structure only	Can extend to strategy and operations

In practice, many organizations adopt a hybrid: sociocratic consent-based decisions with holacratic role definitions, or holacratic circle structures with sociocratic election processes. The framework you choose matters less than the consistency with which you practice it. For a deeper look at sociocratic implementation, see our sociocracy guide.

Core Concepts Every Practitioner Needs

Whether you are new to these frameworks or refining an existing practice, the following concepts form the foundation of day-to-day governance work.

Circles

A circle is a semi-autonomous group with a defined aim (purpose), domains (areas of authority), and the decision-making power to govern its own structure. Circles are not departments; they are governance units that can create, modify, and remove roles within their scope.

Circles nest inside each other. A “General Circle” sits at the top. Sub-circles specialize in particular areas. Each sub-circle is connected to its parent through linking roles, ensuring information flows in both directions. This nesting is what makes the frameworks scale: a 10-person organization might have 2-3 circles; a 500-person one might have 30-50.

Roles

Roles are the building blocks. A role consists of three elements:

• Purpose: why this role exists.
• Accountabilities: what the role holder is expected to do.
• Domains: what the role holder has exclusive authority over.

A role is not a job title. One person typically holds multiple roles across different circles. Roles are granular, transferable, and explicit. When someone leaves the organization, the role stays. It just needs a new holder. This is a fundamental shift from position-based thinking, and it is what gives these frameworks their resilience.

Process roles

Every circle needs specific governance roles to function. These are sometimes called “structural roles” or “elected roles”:

• Leader / Lead Link: connects the circle to its parent circle. Brings strategic context from the broader organization into the circle’s work. In holacracy, this role is appointed by the parent circle. In sociocracy, the leader is typically elected.
• Delegate / Rep Link: represents the circle in the parent circle. Carries concerns, tensions, and feedback upward. Ensures the parent circle hears what is actually happening on the ground.
• Facilitator: runs governance meetings and tactical meetings. Ensures the process is followed, manages the agenda, and keeps discussions focused. Elected by circle members with a defined term.
• Secretary: records governance decisions, maintains the circle’s governance records, and schedules meetings. Elected with a defined term.

Double-linking

Double-linking ensures information flows both up and down between circles. The Leader brings context from the parent circle into the sub-circle. The Delegate carries concerns upward. Both sit in the parent circle’s meetings, creating two independent channels. Without double-linking, the leader becomes an information bottleneck, unconsciously filtering what gets communicated upward.

Governance meetings

Governance meetings are where the organizational structure evolves. They are not operational meetings. Instead, you process proposals to:

• Create, modify, or remove roles.
• Change circle domains or policies.
• Elect people to process roles.

Decisions are made by consent (no reasoned objections), not by consensus (everyone agrees). This is a critical distinction. Consent asks: “Is this good enough for now? Is it safe enough to try?” Consensus asks: “Does everyone agree this is the best option?” Consent is faster and avoids the paralysis that consensus often produces.

Elections

Process roles are filled through structured elections with defined terms. Circle members propose candidates, share their reasoning, and integrate objections. Terms matter: without them, “temporary” role assignments become permanent by default. Elections with terms, typically 6 to 12 months, ensure regular reflection on whether the current holder is still the right fit.

Essential Tools for Holacracy

In practice, these concepts require tooling to remain functional. Here is what your toolkit needs.

1. Organizational visualization

You need to see your circle structure at a glance. Without visual representation, circle nesting becomes abstract. The map should support multiple views (nested circles, tree structures, list views) and be the first thing a new member sees during onboarding.

“Peerdom has been very helpful during onboarding. We introduce new team members immediately to our map.” — Earthshot Team

A good organizational map is not a static diagram you update quarterly. It is a living reference that reflects the current state of governance at all times.

2. Role management

You need the ability to create, define, assign, and transfer roles with full detail: purpose, accountabilities, and domains. The tool must support the reality that one person holds multiple roles across multiple circles.

It should also support mirrored roles: a role defined once and reflected across many circles. The Facilitator role, for example, has the same purpose and accountabilities in every circle. Define it once, mirror it everywhere. When you update the definition, the change propagates automatically.

3. Visual role types

Not all roles are the same, and your map should make that visible at a glance:

• Leaders and representatives: roles that link circles together.
• Elected roles: roles filled through election (e.g., Facilitator, Secretary).
• Mirrored roles: roles appearing in multiple circles with a shared definition.
• External or advisory roles: roles outside the governance structure.

These visual cues communicate governance structure without requiring anyone to read documentation.

4. Election tracking

Mark roles as electable, set term lengths, and receive reminders when terms expire. Without this, elections become forgotten promises. The Facilitator “elected for six months” is still there two years later.

5. Decision documentation

Governance decisions must be recorded, linked to specific circles, and searchable. When a question arises (“Do we have a policy about this?” or “When did we change that role’s domain?”), the answer should be findable in seconds, not buried in meeting notes from eight months ago.

6. Change journal

Governance evolves. You need a record of who changed what, when. This is essential for governance meetings (“What changed since our last session?”), for auditing, and for building institutional memory. Without a change journal, governance decisions become hearsay.

7. Feedback mechanisms

Role-to-role feedback helps improve accountability. This is not personal feedback about someone’s character. It is feedback in the context of specific roles: “In your role as Project Coordinator, here is what I have observed about how you handle deadline communication.”

Role-based feedback keeps the conversation structural rather than personal, which makes it easier to give and receive.

8. Health monitoring

Healthy governance produces detectable patterns, and so does unhealthy governance. Organizational insights should help you detect:

• Role hoarding: one person holding 15 roles, creating a bottleneck.
• Role turnover: a role that keeps changing hands, suggesting an unclear or untenable definition.
• Group scatter: team members spread across too many circles, reducing their effectiveness in each.

These patterns indicate structural problems that governance meetings should address.

“Peerdom perfectly meets our needs: lightweight and very easy to use, it allows us to see our organisation as we have never seen it before.” — Bernard DuPasquier, Bread for All / HEKS

Implementing Holacracy: A Practical Roadmap

The following steps provide a concrete path from “we want to practice holacracy” to “our governance is working.”

Step 1: Configure your vocabulary

Different frameworks use different terms. Configure your tool to match your preferred language. In Peerdom, you can rename Group to Circle (or Squad, Team, Unit), Representative to Delegate or Leader, Peer to Member. This reduces cognitive friction and ensures the software speaks your framework’s language, whether that is holacracy, sociocracy, agile, or a custom model.

Step 2: Map your circles

Start with the General Circle (top-level). Add sub-circles for each major area of work. Define the aim and domain for each circle. Resist the urge to over-nest initially. Start with 3 to 5 circles and add depth as the organization evolves. A circle should exist because distinct governance is needed, not because an org chart looks better with more boxes.

Step 3: Define process roles

In each circle, create the governance roles: Leader, Delegate, Facilitator, Secretary. Mark the Leader and Delegate as representative roles so they appear with the appropriate visual distinction. Mark the Facilitator and Secretary as electable, which triggers the election tracking system.

Step 4: Use mirrored roles for consistency

Create the Facilitator role once, then mirror it to all circles. Do the same for the Secretary role. Changes to the mirrored role definition update everywhere simultaneously. This ensures consistency across the organization and eliminates the maintenance burden of updating the same role in 20 different circles.

Step 5: Set up double-linking

In each sub-circle, ensure you have both a Leader role (marked as representative) and a Delegate role (marked as representative). Both should appear with representative visual treatment. The Leader brings context from the parent circle. The Delegate carries concerns upward. Verify that both are included in the parent circle’s membership.

Step 6: Enable governance documentation

Record proposals, decisions, working agreements, and policies. Link documents to specific circles so anyone can find the governance output for their area of work. This documentation becomes institutional memory that keeps governance consistent as people rotate through roles.

Step 7: Track elections and terms

When assigning holders to electable roles, set the term length and configure reminders for upcoming expirations. Review expiring terms in governance meetings. This rhythm keeps governance roles fresh.

Step 8: Monitor organizational health

Use insights to monitor patterns: role hoarding, unstable roles (high turnover suggesting a design problem), and scattered teams. These signals should flow into governance meetings as proposals for structural change.

Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)

Having assisted organizations through governance transformations, we see the same failure modes repeatedly.

1. Over-complexity too soon

Organizations that launch with 30 circles find themselves drowning in governance overhead before the practice has taken root. Start with 3 to 5 circles. Add complexity only when the work demands it, not because the framework allows it.

2. Role hoarding

One person holding 15 roles creates the exact bottleneck that distributed governance is supposed to eliminate. Monitor role distribution and raise it in governance meetings when imbalance appears.

3. Neglecting elections

Without enforced term limits, “temporary” becomes “permanent.” Track terms. Run elections. Even re-electing the same person has value: it creates conscious choice rather than passive continuation.

4. Missing documentation

A governance decision not recorded is a governance decision that will be relitigated. Document every proposal outcome, every policy change, every role modification. Make it searchable and link it to the relevant circle.

5. The invisible map

If nobody looks at the organizational map, it becomes another artifact. Make it the homepage of your intranet. Reference it in meetings. Onboard new hires through it.

“Without Peerdom it would be unthinkable to forward our organisation’s development!” — Regina Meier, Greenpeace

6. All-or-nothing thinking

You do not have to adopt every holacratic practice simultaneously. Start with circles and roles. Add governance meetings when people are ready. Introduce elections when the process roles feel established. Gradual adoption gives people time to learn, reduces resistance, and allows you to validate each practice before adding the next one.

Holacracy vs. Sociocracy vs. Hybrid: Choosing Your Path

Most organizations do not adopt a pure framework. They take what works and leave what does not. A hybrid approach might combine:

• Sociocratic consent-based decisions (faster than holacratic integrative process for most teams).
• Holacratic role definitions (more granular and explicit than traditional sociocratic role descriptions).
• Agile sprint-based project management for delivery work.
• Traditional reporting lines for legal compliance and HR processes.

“We base it on distributed leadership responsibility, agile principles, and a humanistic approach.” — Markus Meister, inova:solutions AG

The key insight: your software must support this flexibility. Framework-agnostic tools like Peerdom let different parts of the organization use different models (holacracy in one circle, agile in another, Beta Codex in a third, traditional hierarchy in a fourth) which reflects how real organizations actually operate.

When choosing your path, consider these factors:

Factor	Pure Holacracy	Pure Sociocracy	Hybrid
Training investment	High (constitution mastery)	Moderate (principles-based)	Low to moderate
Adoption timeline	Months (big-bang)	Weeks to months (gradual)	Weeks (start small)
Organizational disruption	Significant	Moderate	Minimal
Regulatory compatibility	May conflict with legal structures	More adaptable	Most compatible
Framework rigidity	High (by design)	Moderate	Low (pick what works)
Long-term sustainability	Requires ongoing commitment	Easier to maintain	Most flexible

The right approach depends on your organization’s culture, risk tolerance, and how much governance overhead your people are willing to absorb.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you do holacracy without special software?

You can, but it is like navigating a city without a map. Spreadsheets and documents become outdated the moment a governance meeting ends. Within weeks, nobody is certain which version of the role description is current. Dedicated tooling keeps governance alive between meetings. That said, the practices matter more than the software. Start with the practices, then adopt tools that reinforce them.

How many circles should an organization have?

There is no magic number. Create a circle when a group of roles needs its own governance space. A 50-person organization might have 5 to 8 circles; a 500-person one might have 30 to 50. Start with fewer than you think you need. You can always add circles later.

What is the difference between a role and a job title?

A job title describes your position in a hierarchy: “Senior Marketing Manager.” A role describes specific work: “Campaign Strategist” or “Brand Voice Guardian.” One person might hold 5 roles across 3 circles. Roles are granular, transferable, and defined by purpose and accountabilities, not by seniority. For more, read our article on defining job roles instead of job positions.

Can large companies use holacracy?

Yes. Organizations with thousands of employees use holacratic principles. The key is nesting: circles within circles, each with clear boundaries and governance authority. Large-scale adoption requires consistent tooling and a willingness to let circles evolve their own internal structure. The top circle does not need to know every sub-circle’s details, only that each circle’s aim aligns with the organization’s purpose.

How do you handle conflicts in holacracy?

Structural conflicts (overlapping domains, unclear accountability boundaries) are handled through governance: propose splitting or clarifying domains, and let the facilitator manage the process. Personal conflicts are handled separately, through mediation, coaching, or HR processes. Holacracy separates the person from the role, so most tensions can be addressed structurally.

What is double-linking and why does it matter?

Every sub-circle has two connections to its parent: the Leader (who brings strategic context down) and the Delegate (who carries operational concerns up). Without double-linking, information flows only top-down through the leader, creating a bottleneck. The delegate provides an independent upward channel, ensuring the parent circle hears what is actually happening.

How often should governance meetings happen?

Monthly is typical for most circles. Rapidly changing teams may benefit from biweekly meetings. The key is regularity, not frequency. A monthly meeting that people attend reliably is more effective than weekly meetings that get skipped. Some circles also adopt “on-demand” governance: any member can call a meeting when they have a proposal, with a minimum monthly cadence.

Start your governance journey

Whether you are adopting holacracy, sociocracy, Beta Codex, the Spotify model, a Teal approach, a hybrid model, or evolving your traditional hierarchy, the path starts with making your governance visible, trackable, and accessible to everyone in the organization.

• Try the holacracy template: pre-configured circles with Lead Link, Rep Link, Facilitator, and Secretary roles, nested structure, and fields for domains and policies.
• Try the sociocracy template: pre-configured circles, process roles, and vocabulary for sociocratic organizations.
• Start from scratch: build your own circle structure with full framework flexibility.
• Browse all templates: explore templates for holacracy, sociocracy, Beta Codex, and more.
• Need guidance? Book a demo and we will walk through your specific governance setup.