In a hyper-fast space like web3 the ability to adapt fast is imperative. Projects that can’t evolve fast are doomed. The era of elastic evolutionary organizations capable of reacting immediately to ever changing conditions is here to stay.

This bring into question: Is my team ready to DAO?

There are 3 basic questions that need to be clear for every organization looking to DAO.

With every organization being different, is important to understand the benefits of going into this journey and what are the expectations in the long run.

• Is your project looking to become a community owned & run project?

• Have you identified a genuine interest from your community members to help the project succeed?

If the answer to the 2 questions above is Yes - then your project might be in front of a good opportunity to DAO things up!

The “when?” is tricky. It requires team commitment and preparation for this strategy to develop smoothly and be prepared for unforeseen situations to be controlled.

The very first steps start in-house. All team must be aware of whats the process, the end goal, and why is beneficial to the project to work together towards this objective.

• Story telling is king! Tell the team about successful projects running in this fashion. Make sure the team can relate to the story and see themselves running this path.

• Make sure everyone understand the challenges in the way.

• Start an awareness & education campaign! There is no need to be a DAO in order to start working internally as a DAO. Teams can start working as independent self-sufficient working groups interfacing with other groups in the organization.

At this point the team recognizes becoming a DAO is a good idea and have a good notion of how the process will be, but there is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path…

Starting a DAO nowadays is art and not science. Finding mentors and peers that can validate and challenge the overall strategy becomes critical. Learn from their experiences and incorporate any good practices that fit well into your plans.

Creating a detailed master plan to allow contributors to hit the ground running is vital in the initial stages. New comers must clearly understand the teams setup, where to look for help, and everything about the tooling & infrastructure for the DAO.

Defining roles for every community member and a logical path to advance in the DAO is key towards developing engaged contributors that are motivated to stay for a long time, and will become leaders of the different organizational units.

Now, one of the most complex decisions to take is where to start?

In many cases there will be groups within the organization that are already working in a similar fashion to the desired DAO approach, but if no team is ready then it’s time to make a pause and start developing this culture internally first.

If the organization is ready to move forward and a team can start being “decentralized”, there are a few other action items to guarantee everyone knows the rules of the game:

• Document everything!

• Define metrics and goals for the team as a whole

• Define metrics and goals for each role

• Create exit strategies!

Contributor onboarding is definitely one of the most challenging tasks in this process. Keep your eyes open for new trends and your ears open to what your contributors have to say.

There is no step-by-step guide that tell organizations how to successfully launch a DAO, and at the center of all this fun stuff there are humans. Dare to start, dare to fail, learn to unlearn, and learn to iterate fast… as the saying goes: it’s all about coordination… human coordination.