Circles are the equivalent of ‘working groups’ or ‘distributed teams’ that work on the DAO itself

In a decentralised working model, work is coordinated into working groups called circles. Each circle has a purpose, and a number of delivery roles to ensure the circle’s work is pushed forward.

Any DAO member can join a circle and become a working group member. Certain key roles, identified in each circle, are held by specific individuals for the entirety of a season to maintain consistency of operations, although other members may step into these roles as agreed by the community.

<aside> 👉🏼 Read more about how work gets done in our decentralised model here

</aside>

From the top-level downwards, each circle has a purpose, and the work of the circle is aligned with its purpose. Each working circle and ultimately every role, is like a subDAO in it’s own right!

Work in each circle is carried out by roles which people step into to help deliver on the circle’s activities and each roles’ accountabilities.

Each role itself has a purpose, and can expand to become a full circle if the work to be done is significant in size.

Key Roles in a Circle

There are 4 key roles required for a circle to operate effectively - the circle lead, the circle rep, the circle secretary, and circle working group members.

• The circle lead

  • Carries messages from the outer circle to this circle
  • Responsible for prioritising the work of the circle and for coordinating strategies to push the circle’s purpose forward.
  • Defines the roles required to fulfil the circle’s purpose and invites members to fill those roles.

• The circle rep

  • Channels messages from the circle to the outer-circle for messages that cannot be processed within it.
  • For example, a marketing circle needs a design role to produce assets, the rep brings that into view of the outer-circle or directly communicates with the relevant “design” circle to ensure it’s resolution.

• The circle secretary

  • Arranges meetings and puts them in the calendar
  • Takes notes during meetings and makes them available to other members of the DAO
  • Makes sure actions are being recorded and actioned

• Working Group Members

  • Responsible for delivery of work as defined by their own accountabilities.
  • These might be called different things in different circles to speak to their specific roles (community manager, developer, strategist, etc).