Language: Español
Sociocracy combines consent decision-making, a decentralized system of authority and intentional processes to improve our decisions and processes over time into a governance system that supports effective and efficient process while increasing connection, listening and co-creation among members.
Sociocracy is used in businesses, communities, nonprofits, cooperatives, grassroots groups and in education. See the sociocracy resources on this page to get started.
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Books from Sociocracy for All
Many Voices One Song
The practical sociocracy handbook written by the co-founders of Sociocracy For All. 300 pages full of real-life support!
Let’s Decide Together
The definitive guidebook for practicing sociocracy with children. Children can decide with sociocracy too!
Sociocracy topics
Each of these short summaries gives you an overview of the sociocracy resources for you to learn more.
More: Selection process | Writing proposals | Implementation
Making group decisions: consent
Consent is the default decision-making method in sociocracy. In consent, a decision is made when no circle member has an objection. Every person will consent if they can accept the proposal, and object if the proposal has negative implications with respect to the circle’s shared aim.
A group moves to consent in the consent process: presenting the proposal and clarifying questions, quick reactions and a round of consent/objections.
Different from blocking a proposal in consensus decision-making, objections are welcomed as valuable information and they can be integrated by modifying the proposal, its term or its measurements.
Circles and roles: who decides what?
Decisions are made in circles, a defined team of people working together towards their circle’s aim. Circle members make collective policy decisions in their domain and they define operational roles to empower individuals to take on responsibility and circle roles to self-manage their circle.
Circles are connected through parent circle/sub-circle relationships of nested domains, leading to a system where everything can be decided locally in the system, without centralizing power at the center. To make sure two circles are connected, we double-link them with two people as members in both circles.
Sociocracy resources on structure: Overview article on structure
Meetings with sociocracy
Sociocratic meetings are inclusive and efficient with a clear format:
- Opening: check-in and ADMIN
- Content of the meeting
- Consent to agenda
- Agenda items
- Review
- Check-out (meeting evaluation)
Facilitation is a focus of sociocracy. Rounds – the practice of speaking one by one – are commonly used in meetings to keep equivalence and focus. Rounds also make it easy to run virtual meetings in video calls.
Performance
All sociocratic processes are built on the basic idea of continuous improvement. Feedback is a way to improve what we do, both by creating feedback-rich organizations, a commitment to interpersonal feedback and formal, peer-oriented performance reviews. Other practices are: meeting evaluations in meetings, reviews for all policy decisions and for role selections.
Leadership in sociocracy is peer-oriented and based on accountability to own commitments and to the circle. Many people also combine sociocracy with restorative justice or Nonviolent Communication to align their practice with their values and to improve their effectiveness and communication.
Selection process
A sociocratic circle chooses together who will fill an operational or circle role. The most common process to choose that person is the selection process with nominations, change round and consent.
Ready to learn?
More sociocracy resources: articles and videos
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Participatory proposal writing
Picture forming, proposal shaping and synthesis – a 3-step process to turn everyone’s ideas into a good proposal!
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Sociocracy or Holacracy?
We are observers and participants of a paradigm shift in management. More and more attention is focused on dynamic governance, which slowly, but inevitably replaces the so-called traditional management, hierarchical in the power-over meaning of the word. Different names are being used to describe organizations operating under the new model.
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R:ekobyn i Röstånga – a forming community
R:ekobyn is a forming ecovillage in rural Sweden. R:ekobyn encourages local businesses and plans to lease part of the land to new businesses to bring back daily social life to the village, reduce the need to commute.
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Sociocracy. The operating system of the New Economy.
Sociocracy. The operating system of the New Economy.
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3 tools from sociocracy for better decision making
Language: Español Many organizations are intrigued by the idea of self-management because they hope to have better decision making while creating a power-with culture and structure. Sociocracy is one of […]
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What I learned about sociocracy in crisis mode
Are sociocratic organizations more responsive than top-down hierarchies? Read a case study of two sociocratic organizations – a community and an NGO workplace – and their responses to the covid crisis.
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A facilitator’s guide to keeping meetings on track
Stop overthinking. Start doing. Improve from there.
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Slime Mold Intelligence, Open Source, and Self-Organization
Slime mold may not be good at staying put, but it sure has one thing going for it – it doesn’t get stuck! You can learn secrets of self-organizing from this ultimate innovator
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Leadership without hierarchy – how to be a good leader
Leadership without hierarchy, is that possible? How can leaders empower others and move everyone towards the vision? This article describes healthy leadership in a consent-based system like sociocracy.
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On interpersonal feedback
Language: Español There is no right and wrong Many people are afraid of feedback. “Can I give you some feedback?” is typically followed by criticism, and we don’t do well […]
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Rocky Corner cohousing
Rocky Corner is a cohousing community being built in Bethany, Connecticut in the USA.
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Scottish Communities Climate Action Network (SCCAN)
Case study of sociocracy in SCCAN. Its mission is “To inspire and promote, connect and support community-led action in Scotland to address the Climate Emergency.”
