Domains

“Things the Role may exclusively control and regulate as its property, on behalf of the Organization”

— Holacracy Constitution 4.1, article 1.1(b)

Explanation

A circle can establish a domain if it wishes to regulate access to something within the circle's control. It can be anything: an asset (all the heavy-duty machinery), segments defined by the organization (customers located in the Netherlands), activities (maintaining IT hardware), intellectual property (Logo) and other things. 

National parks are open to the public, provided they pay entry fee and comply with park regulations. Park rangers ensure visitors adhere to this. 

In practice

Controlling and regulating does not imply no one may use/access the domain other than whoever holds the domain. It means he/she oversees the access and usage of this item and anyone wishing to access/use it must ask his/her permission. A domain holder has the duty of processing such requests, even over executing other work. 

Policies

Granting permission on an individual basis can be cumbersome and may introduce unnecessary delays. Hence the opportunity for the domain holder to publish policies which stipulate the conditions under which (certain) people may access the domain without domain holder approval.

Additional information

Within a circle 'All functions and activities' is also considered a domain. This implies the circle can establish policies regarding the work that the circle does. (Sample: 'all social media outings must mention the name of the organization'). 

If a domain is delegated to a subcircle that chooses not to delegate it to a Role within this subcircle, then the following applies:

• Establishing policies for all circle member is done via governance in the subcircle
• The circle's lead link may establish policies in the Supercircle

Relevant articles: 1.1.(b), 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 4.1.2(c), 4.1.3(a)