What did MeetBerlage need?

MeetBerlage is a co-owned and operated business. We run a Seats2Meet location in the center of Amsterdam with a unique history and vibe. We have always explored ways to work differently. Adopting many ideas from Ricardo Semler, Eckhart Wintzen, and the like. But when times were tough we struggled with dealing with challenges and at the same time not being a team of micromanagers or doubting each other’s accountability. We wanted the next step.

What did we do?

As we are a service organization with our clients on the premises we did our Holacracy tactical and governance meetings in the same room as our clients were working. We were literally surrounded by our clients. It was a challenge to do meetings while serving our clients but at the same time we remain very aware of how our Purpose as an organization translates to how we are actually serving our clients.

One of the special moments during our implementation was that immediately at the start our founder handed over the Lead Link role. Showing the power of Holacracy by enabling everybody to playfully to their strengths. Recognizing that a Lead Link is just a role requiring certain capabilities and that there are many more roles that are valuable to the organization. 

What are the results?

Over the four months of our implementation, we gained a solid practice in Holacracy being able to operate in a Holacratic ourselves. We learned to organize the Holacracy way. Facilitating our own meetings and evolving step by step our own organizational structure. We actually measured our progress during the four months making many meaningful improvements in how we work together, the engagement we feel with the work we do, and just how much we enjoy our work.

Note: for further reading, view this video interview with Felix on collaborative ownership