Holacracy as a flexible technology for managing IT companies

Abstract

The paper considers the features of holacratic structure as one of the forms of flexible organization management. The aim of the paper is to investigate the possibilities of integrating this tool into the management of Russian IT companies, as well as to analyze the consequences of such an implementation. The author solved the following tasks: the main features of holacracy in the context of Agile philosophy are outlined, the features of holacratic and traditional hierarchical structures are compared from the point of view of the system approach to organizational management, the statistics of the use of this technology in the activities of domestic IT companies is studied, the most significant results of the implementation experience of recent years are given, the arguments in favor of the use of holacracy as an organizational management tool in IT companies are substantiated. Based on the analysis of the scientific literature on project management and a number of Internet sources, the authors have identified the readiness attributes that an organization should possess for successful transition to a holacratic structure. The risks and difficulties of such a transition are considered, taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of this management method. The application of flexible management methods, including holacracy, seems to be the most expedient for those Russian IT market participants, whose activity implies the presence of cross-functional teams and microservice architecture. As a conclusion, the authors emphasize the decisive role of the personal factor in ensuring the proper level of self-organization of the company and its readiness for holacracy,and recommend a compromise variant of using holacratic principles for Russian IT.

Keywords

• flexible management methods
• agile methodology
• turquoise companies
• holacracy
• self-organization
• it companies
• systems approach