Wellington
Note: This version of the Enspiral story replaces a version that was incorrectly posted onsticK. I apologise to Enspiral and Josh Forde for the error
At first blush, a business with no bosses as such, run on a democratic basis where participantsopt in on projects would seem a recipe for a disaster.
Yet, 30-month old Wellington collective (if that's the correct term), with an Auckland hub,
So, how does a non-hierarchical, democratically run business operate in the age of the internet?In fact, it is possibly only because of the internet that it works as well as it does.
Throw in the fact that its founder Joshua Vial, decided recently that he wanted to go and do someother things in his life, and told the rest of his team simply to get on with it.
Enspiral is a loose group of mostly web/computer developers, along with designers, visualcommunicators, branding and animation experts. The 15-20 core members of what is effectively acollaboration aren't run in a top-down manner.
"Most business models are inefficient, based on a small number of managers working off less thanperfect information," says Enspiral business development manager, Josh Forde.
"The focus of our work is that teams are formed around a project, disbanded, and maybe come backtogether, or it might be a different team altogether."
There may be up to 10 projects on the go (at the moment) at any one time says Forde, and thoughthe BDM's may be maintaining the relationship with the client, "we try not to have it too tightlycontrolled."
That said too, the company project creation and delivery is still a work in progress.
It has been greatly aided by SAAS products,
Trello
,
As a governance and organisational model Enspiral is experimenting with open means of consensusdecision-making in the business to engage all members’ voices.
For example a client will present a challenge to Enspiral, and will receive an agreement backthat attempts to break down the expected project's stages.
Enspiral uses open software sources as much as possible, often coding through Ruby on Rails whichoffers the proven advantage of Open Source technologies and scale without the budget considerationsof proprietar software systems.
"We want to be as open and honest as possible," says Forde. "We're after a longer game withclients, a long relationship where they receive the best value they can."
The Enspiral model allows a great deal of flexibility, and staff can choose the hours they work,how long for and at what rates.
"It is inherently lean and efficient," with the benefit that staff may have a particular affinityfor types of projects, Forde says.
Project groups could come together around a geographical location for example, or values - suchas a specific environmental project.
As a work in progress and a stage beyond a start-up, Enspiral doesn't have ingrained systems orlegacies; "we're on the shop floor of what is going to be," he says.
An increasingly large part of the company's work is around science innovation, cleantech, socialenterprise and a number of not-for-profit organisations.
Part of the social enterprise ethos is about giving something back, and Enspiral is part of itsworldwide movement says Forde.
Without centralised control, there can be free sharing of information, and much more openness andtransparency of how things work.
"We're a fully functioning business, with a different way of going about things," says Forde."The fact that we're transparent about how we operate, and where the costs lie, is of tremendousbenefit for most of our clients. We go out of our way to develop relationships with who we workwith."
Forde says the whole social enterprise model is loose, ill-defined and growing. With that,Enspiral's method of doing business doesn't really have a name.
Perhaps its best description could be 'ordered anarchy' - as contradictory as that sounds!