COEPD – Center of Excellence for Professional Development Happy Learning
A RACI matrix is a chart it is type of responsibility assignments matrix in project management. It is a simple lists document where all stakeholder can be characterized as level of involvement in project
RACI Matrix/Chart- Responsible Accountable Consulted Inform
Each activity in a RACI matrix should be analysed to determine the role each stakeholder plays for activity to be completed.
It is used by the program manager in clarifying roles and responsibilities in cross functional team, projects and processes. It increase the project success factor.
Responsible –
The marked “R” is called as responsible. In this the person is responsible who does the work to complete the given task and, in each task, there is one responsible person assigned to avoid confusion and under performing
There can be more than one and they actually perform the task
Accountable –
This is the person who is ultimately accountable for the work being done in satisfactory manner. Essentially the accountable person must sign off the work responsible person produces. There should be only one accountable
Consulted –
These people whose input is used to complete the task. Individual to be consulted prior to a final decision or action to be taken it is a two-way communication
Informed
These are the person who needs to be informed after the decision or action taken. Those people who are informed as to status of the task it is a one way communication
Benefits –
- Provide clarity over who is to do what
- Helps you to avoid the blame game
- Avoid confusion
- Increase productivity through well-defined accountability
- Reduce duplication of efforts
- Eliminate misunderstanding, encourage teamwork
- Lead to success
- Provide single point of responsibility
- Flexible
How to create RACI matrix
- List all the task and deliverables
- Identify all project stakeholders
- Determine responsibility
- Assign stakeholder to each task
- Assign overall stakeholder
- Ensure all stakeholder should know their responsibility
- Make sure that every task has one and only one accountable person
Why RACI matrix?
- Simple to understand visual model
- Setting up clear expectation
- Decision making / approval process delays
- Workload distribution
- Helps to save time
When to use RACI matrix
At the onset of project during the planning phase and when assembling the project team
During the project
- When the process is stall due to role confusion
- When authority has not been established
- When decision is not being made
- When activities and efforts are being duplicated
For example, I know in creating the project that I’m responsible party because I’m doing the work my PM is accountable for assigning and reviewing the work and they likely have consulted and informed others around them
What problem did we face when trying to use RACI
- It takes time to determine and assign roles
- Some employees resist being assigned as specific role as they would rather not have a specific accountability
- Some stakeholder may feel excluded if assigned to certain roles
