RACI Matrix

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A responsibility matrix, of which the best known variant is the RACI Matrix, describes the level of responsibility of various roles or persons in completing tasks or deliverables that are needed for some project, process, or effort.

RACI is an acronym which stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed.  Since using an acronym makes for easier recollection, the term RACI Matrix tends to be the most commonly used name for this tool

 

Code	Stands for	This is the person who ….
R	Responsible	Is the primary Subject Matter Expert (SME) who will take responsibility for ensuring that the requirements are expressed correctly.
A	Accountable	Makes the final decision or approves the specifications.
C	Consult	Provides the requirements. These SMEs can be consulted by the business analyst or the responsible SME.
I	Inform	Is informed after the final decision is made and can include stakeholders such as designers, testers, project steering committee, etc.

 

The RACI Matrix displays deliverables or tasks along one axis and displays project roles or stakeholders along the other axis

 

Person	[Stakeholder]	[Stakeholder]	[Stakeholder]	[Stakeholder]	[Stakeholder]
Deliverable
Deliverable 1:
Deliverable 2:
Deliverable 3:

 

Ultimately, each organization varies a bit in how they define each level of participation in a task or creation of a document.  The following are some commonly accepted definitions.

Responsible –Responsible are the people who are responsible for the change or a project they are the main people who work on the deliverables. If it is a small project then one person only can be taken as responsible and accountable person

Example: In a project Responsible person can be the sponsor

In a small project or medium project there would be one person who is responsible

Accountable –Accountable is the person who is ultimately on the hook to ensure that the deliverable is completed correctly and delivered on time. The accountable person can be directing the work to responsible person at times.

Example:  In a project the process owners are the accountable people

In a project there can be 1,2 accountable people

Consulted – The consulted people are those whose advice we seek to get the work done .They can be subject matter expert . They are the people who have knowledge about the system and their opinion matters. They mainly participate in providing knowledge/ Information that is needed to achieve the deliverables

Example: SMEs, TLs

In a project there can be around <=10 SMEs

Informed –These are the people who need to be have updated information about the system. They need to track the completion of the task. However, mostly they only care about the project completion.

Example: Reviewers, End users

In a medium sized project there can be 100s of end users

“RACI matrix is prepared on As –Is State always to achieve the future To-Be State “

Benefits

1. Makes Roles and Responsibilities Clear, Reducing Confusion
2. Everyone is Accountable
3. Assess Workloads made easy
4. Team Operates More Smoothly
5. Puts Priorities on Project Resources
6. Check Your Staffing Levels
7. New Team Members are Seamlessly Incorporated
8. Identifies Those Avoiding Responsibility
9. Authority is Clearly Defined to External Vendors and Contractors
10. Communication is Easier Between Team Members
11. Reduces Overlap of responsibilities and work

Let us understand RACI with an example:

Example

In an organization if we consider Departments and tasks as a matrix then it boils down to the following

Activity/Tasks	HRMS	HR	OR
Employee Induction	A/C	R	I
Leaves	A	R	C/I
Allowance	A	R	I
Payrolls	A/C	R	C/I
Performance Appraisals	A	R	C/I

 

Here when we consider an example of a CRM based organization, we observe the following:

• If we consider Employee Induction as an activity then HRMS is Accountable and Consulted as it conducts the interviews and the training sessions, HR team is Responsible for updating the system and the Team is informed about the new team members.
• If we consider Leaves as an activity then HRMS team is Accountable for checking the availability of leaves, HR is Responsible for the leave approval, the team or the manager is consulted and the employee is informed about the leave status.
• If we consider Payrolls as an activity then HRMS is Accountable and Consulted for the pay roll calculation and creation, HR system is Responsible for updating the pay rolls and pay slips and team/ employee is consulted and informed.
• If we consider Performance Appraisals then HRMS is Accountable for proper recording of the performance, the HR is Responsible to maintain the records and the Employee or the manager is consulted and informed.