RACI

It's a great thing to do up front, but can also help identify reasons why a process is not working mid-stream. The idea is that in order to get something done, you need to understand which people need to work together to make it happen, and what all of their roles are.

RACI is an abbreviation that stands for:

R = Responsible - the person who actually owns the project, task, or work. An example would be the Project Manager.

A = Accountable - the person who will sign off on the work and judging its completion and how it meets quality standards. This could be the Project Sponsor or whomever has final sign-off authority.

C = Consulted - the person who has the ability or knowledge needed to complete the work. These can be Stakeholders, Subject matter experts, or anyone else who is key to completing the work.

I = Informed - people who must be kept informed of the work, but not necessarily consulted.

• Note: some organisations call it RASCI, with the addition of the 'S' for either Support or Stakeholder.

1. Identify all of the processes, activities involved and list them down the left side of the chart. So each row is a separate activity.
2. Identify all of the roles on the project (mapping them to people if appropriate) and list them along the top of the chart. So each column is a different role/person.
3. Identify who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed by filling in the cells for each activity.
4. Identify issues with the current roles. There should only be one "R" for each activity, but no activity should be missing an "R". More than one "R" is called an overlap. A missing "R" is considered a gap in responsibility.
5. Resolve issues with gaps and overlaps. Overlaps are typically resolved by taking a closer look at the process or activity itself and selecting a logical high-level owner. Often one of the "R"s is someone responsible for a subprocess or just a part of the overall activity. Gaps are usually less difficult to resolve. You just select the appropriate person to be responsible for the process or task.
6. Perform a final cross-check to ensure that changes did not impact other RACI assignments.
7. Make sure that all parties involved in the matrix agree on the final RACI.

27 Free RACI Matrix Templates Google Sheets

Reference

1. No Excuses: A Business Process Approach to Managing Operational Risk. Dennis I. Dickstein, Robert H. Flast. John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

1. PMBOK® Guide – Sixth Edition (2017). 317.