From Code to Care: What Happens When Tech Teams Govern Themselves
In 2021, Inforyde, a Madrid-based software development firm serving the energy sector, took a bold step and transitionedinto a fully self-managed organization. This formal shift, however, was not the beginning of their story, but rather the continuation of a long-standing commitment to building a workplace rooted in trust, autonomy, and authenticity. From the very beginning, Inforyde had nurtured a culture where individuals were not expected to leave their personalities at the door, but instead were encouraged to bring their whole selves to work. David Soler, the company’s founder, believeddeeply that professional environments should not require people to perform a role disconnected from who they truly are. His vision for Inforyde was not merely organizational. It was human and relational at its core.
This blog post is part of 80+ case studies of progressive organizations we created for the ZeroDX awards 2025. These organizations embody the principles of RenDanHeYi in their work structures:
Zero Distance to customer: Decision what to build is based on insights from the marketplace
Autonomy: Small teams with full decision-making autonomy enable speed in execution
Shared Rewards: Everyone in the micro-enterprise participates in its financial success.
“We’ve never believed you should act differently at work than at home,” said Ana Pérez, who joined the company as adeveloper fifteen years ago and now coordinates the entire structure. “You come to do your job, yes, but you should still be you.” This philosophy shaped not only daily interactions but also the structural decisions that made the later transition to self-management feel like a natural evolution rather than a dramatic break from the past.
Long before any formal model was introduced, Inforyde had operated with minimal hierarchy and a collaborative spirit. Instead of relying on traditional departments, employees came together voluntarily to form committees that addressed areas such as quality, internal communication, and company culture. There was no HR department, and no rigid reporting structure. People contributed where they felt most motivated and capable. This fluid, trust-based approach to organization laid the groundwork for what would come next. When the team encountered the NER (Nuevo Estilo de Relaciones, or New Style of Relationships) model through the consultancy K2K, they didn’t adopt it to fix something broken, but rather to give structure and language to values they had already been living. The alignment between their informal practices and the principles of NER, and later RenDanHeYi (RDHY), was striking, especially in its emphasison decentralization, transparency, and shared ownership of decisions.
The transformation officially took place during the COVID-19 pandemic and was carried out entirely online. It wasapproved unanimously in a company-wide assembly, with full participation from every team member. The new organizational design built on existing relationships and habits, giving form to what had already taken root. Today, Inforyde’s governance revolves around six knowledge teams, each connected to a core technology or function: C# (a programming language commonly used for developing enterprise software), Python, web development, infrastructure,data and activity analysis, and support services. Each team selects a rotating representative who participates in a monthly Steering Meeting where proposals are reviewed, clarified, and, when appropriate, passed on to the General Assembly for broader discussion and consent-based decision-making.
In parallel, four cross-functional teams focus on longer-term strategy in key areas: Culture, Economy and Salary Bands, Product, and Training. These teams are composed of members from various knowledge areas and reflect RDHY’s emphasis on distributed authority and localized decision-making. While no one formally "leads" these teams,coordination, facilitation, and continuity are ensured through rotating roles and strong peer accountability.
Proposals that affect only one team are handled within that team. Others are reviewed in the Steering Meeting, and broader issues that touch multiple teams or the whole organization are brought to the General Assembly. There, a proposal must achieve 80 percent support to move forward. This process is not about consensus for its own sake, but about ensuring shared understanding and commitment. It allows Inforyde to move both quickly and thoughtfully, staying true to RDHY's principle of dynamic adaptation driven by those closest to the work.
Client-facing teams form and dissolve as projects evolve. These teams, often cross-disciplinary, manage their own internal coordination and external communication. Many clients come from hierarchical organizations and initially request a single point of contact. But once immersed in the work, they come to appreciate the depth and consistency that Inforyde’s model offers. Over time, this closeness can complicate internal mobility, since clients may resist lettinggo of trusted collaborators. At the same time, these relationships create a strong foundation of trust and shared purpose that benefits both teams and customers, reinforcing Inforyde’s commitment to long-term collaboration.
The company’s rhythms are deliberately light and flexible. Only one in-person workday per month is required, and thatrequirement is waived during July and August. Outside of a shared block from 9:30 to 13:30, employees are free to set their own schedules. Teams manage 24/7 support rotations, holiday coverage, and client meetings autonomously. These rhythms reflect RDHY's respect for individual initiative combined with shared responsibility, and they have enabled high levels of performance without sacrificing freedom.
To support autonomy at this scale, Inforyde created a living document called Reglas del Juego (Rules of the Game). This text outlines shared expectations, working agreements, and a classification system for infractions that range from minor to very serious. Importantly, this framework is not imposed from above, but updated and revised through openconversation. It is used as a reference during onboarding, decision-making, and even conflict resolution.
Infractions are reviewed by the relevant team along with the Culture team, not by a supervisor. This reinforces a culture of peer accountability and psychological safety, in line with RDHY's principle of internal discipline without hierarchical enforcement.
Transparency is also built into the company’s financial operations. All salaries follow a six-tier public pay scale. Monthly reports show how each project is performing in terms of hours, billing, and margin. Employees understand not only their own salary costs but also how their work contributes to broader financial outcomes. When someoneproposes a raise or a shift in pay tier, they must show its projected impact on team margins, client rates, and payroll taxes. Some employees even opted to place themselves in lower pay bands than they were eligible for, in order to maintain budget flexibility or create room for growth. This level of openness reflects RDHY’s principle of letting everyone act like a business owner.
To maintain cultural alignment, the team created a short quiz called Saber dónde estás ("Know Where You Are"), sent out every few months. It includes questions about how to request vacation, who approves training, or how to access documents. It’s not a test of memory but a way to keep shared processes visible and alive, particularly for newer employees who are still adjusting to the company's unique approach.
Of course, even in this structure, tension and conflict still surface. There was an instance when a promotion decision sparked disagreement, revealing gaps in clarity and fairness. Instead of bypassing the rules, the team used themoment to revise them. New criteria were defined, and a multi-year development and training plan was launched to support progression within and across teams. As Ana described it, "When an exception appears, we ask ourselves what needs to change so that it's no longer an exception." This reflexive learning cycle embodies RDHY's call for continuous evolution from the edges.
Today, Inforyde is also preparing for the future. A dedicated product team is building the company's first SaaS platform,a strategic shift that will complement its project-based work with recurring revenue. Meanwhile, cross-functional teams have undertaken a “propósito evolutivo” (evolving purpose) exercise to better articulate the company's long-term direction. Instead of writing a fixed mission statement, they surfaced shared priorities and themes that continue to guide their work. This approach reflects RDHY's belief that strategy should emerge from distributed insight, not top-down planning.
Despite all the structural innovations, Ana returns to a simple truth: "The biggest change has been the efforteveryone’s made to grow into this. We all grew up with hierarchy: in school, in families, in previous jobs. But here, people are learning to lead themselves."
That growth shows up in the smallest of moments. When a national power outage swept across Spain this year, the first messages in the company chat weren’t about delays or delivery. They were check-ins. “Is everyone safe? Does anyone need anything?”
For Ana, that is the essence of Inforyde. Not a method. Not a structure. But a way of being together, where care is the foundation and no one waits for permission to do what is right.
