It’s hard to track who is doing what in a project. The larger and more complex the project, the more confusion there is. A RACI chart, which stands for responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed, is needed. It is a matrix that shows “who is doing what.”
Join us as we provide a comprehensive understanding of this tool. We explain a RACI matrix and its importance and highlight real-world examples of its use so you can confidently apply it to your projects.
Ready to build your project management knowledge? Let’s begin with the basics.
A RACI chart, also known as the RACI matrix, is a popular visual project management tool that brings clarity to team roles. It's designed to ensure proper communication and smooth workflows, helping you stay organized and on track. This chart is commonly used to define four team roles: responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed.
However, the tool’s applications go beyond understanding which teammate is responsible for what. This strategic tool can help identify and eliminate bottlenecks and facilitate smooth communication within your team.
A RACI diagram may look like the following, with each task split amongst team members so there’s no confusion as to their role and what information needs to be shared with each.
| Task | Project manager | Developer | UX designer | Strategist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Create website sitemap | C | I | A | R |
| Design pages | C | R | R | I |
| Code | I | R | C | I |
The R, A, C, and I letters basically stand for:
Here’s what each definition stands for:
Let's talk about the 'Responsible' role. This is the person who's doing the heavy lifting, rolling up their sleeves, and getting the job done. For instance, in a project to create a newsletter, the writer is the one responsible for making it happen. Others might contribute to the strategy, but the writer is the one doing the writing.
Every task should have at least one person responsible for it.
The person accountable is the one who is responsible for delegating tasks and then doing the final checks before deeming them officially complete. They are supposed to provide directions to the responsible party and set deadlines.
The responsible and accountable roles could overlap in some tasks—one person could be doing both. But there’s a difference. The responsible party is more task—and action-oriented, while the accountable party is outcome-oriented.
| Responsible | Accountable |
|---|---|
| Task-oriented | Outcome-oriented |
| Focuses on execution | Have final "yay" or "nay" say on completion |
| Multiple people could be "responsible" | Assigned to one person |
The person designated as “Consulted” on a team project provides feedback. The consulted person is often outside the main project team but still has a stake in the project’s completion and success because it could impact their future work. An example could be a member of another team or department that will be affected by the project outcome.
The consulted party is usually spoken to at the beginning of a task or project to get input on their needs and expectations. They are again asked to step and provide oversight/feedback throughout the work and then once again at the completion of a task.
But remember that not every task or milestone needs a consulted party. It’s good practice to account for all stakeholders while creating a RACI matrix. A project manager should consider all possible stakeholders and include as many consulted parties as appropriate. However, you should limit this to only necessary input. For example, one consulted party per affected team is generally considered best practice to avoid clogging the process with too much input.
Examples of roles that are typically designated as consulted parties are content editor, quality manager, security specialist, compliance manager, or sales manager.
Informed folks need to be kept up-to-date on a project’s progress. However, they shouldn’t be consulted or weighed down with every tiny task detail and information. They need to know what’s going on because it could affect their work, but they’re not decision-makers.
The involved parties usually consist of teammates from other departments whose work is tied to the project's outcomes. Examples of informed parties include company directors, senior leadership, board members, clients, and the customer support team.
A real-life example of an informed party could be the sales team in a project to launch a social media campaign. The marketing team is responsible for the launch and execution. The sales team (informed) needs to be aware of the campaign messaging to avoid conflicting promotions but would only need to be involved in some copywriting and design decisions.
When you use a RACI matrix, you minimize members' questions such as “Why weren’t we informed?” or vice versa, “Why were we informed?”
It’s ideal to use RACI matrices for any project, simple or complex. It’s relatively quick to design and execute. However, RACI charts best serve the following scenarios:
This in-one-glance dynamic chart is a treasure trove of information. Consistent usage of the chart will give your organization the following advantages:
A RACI matrix eliminates role confusion because it identifies everyone’s role. It precisely identifies which resource has ownership over each task. Companies can avoid multiple employees completing the same job because one manager assumes the job is idle. With a RACI, you know who is doing the legwork, who needs to be informed, and who has the decision-making authority.
Also, a RACI chart sets expectations from the get-go. There is no doubt or surprise mid-process that throws a team off. For example, a development team knows from day one that marketing has to be informed of product changes so it can develop an appropriate launch campaign that accurately reflects the product.
If tasks are held up because the wrong person is being consulted or waiting for approval, a RACI chart can help streamline the process. By identifying the person who is Accountable for each task, you know exactly who to go to for a final decision.
Also, there could be instances where multiple decision-makers exist, even in one project. For instance, Manager A has the authority to approve the pay grade for engineers, but then Manager B has the say over whether certain materials can be purchased.
With a RACI chart, you can quickly identify which decision-maker the team member needs to approach for approval.
A RACI matrix eliminates communication overload or gaps because it specifies who needs to be updated about what and who a person should reach out to in case of questions. This structure provides clarity while preventing confusion and wasted time. It also eliminates micro-management. The easy-to-read nature of the RACI matrix fosters communication and collaboration without going overboard.
For instance, by knowing who has to be “Consulted” for a task, people don’t update the wrong people. It also reduces the risks of people feeling “left out” because they weren’t informed about something they should have been.
Conflicts often arise when people need clarification on who's responsible for what. A RACI chart eliminates this by clearly defining who is Responsible (does the work) and who is Accountable (owns the final product). This prevents duplicate efforts and ensures everyone is on the same page.
Also, with a RACI chart, there’s a designed process for resolving disagreements or conflicts about roles and responsibilities. Project managers can refer back to the assigned roles, and the discussion can focus on solutions rather than assigning blame.
Suppose there was a conflict about a new product video that missed the launch deadline. By referring to the RACI chart, the Accountable party can identify who was Responsible for the role and question them directly about what happened. Next, the manager can reach out to the Consulted party to look at potential alternatives. The entire conflict management approach is proactive and focused on execution rather than the blame game.
If your project requires hiring many new members, the RACI chart can help you onboard them quickly. First of all, the chart gives a visual representation of the onboarding process, which makes it easy to identify bottlenecks.
It also clearly defines everyone’s roles and responsibilities and provides a reporting structure. For instance, if your project requires the onboarding of new writers, the RACI chart will let writers know what their responsibilities are and whom they need to inform once they are ready with their drafts. It will also provide information about who writers need to contact about processing their payroll or accessing the company’s technology stack. The RACI chart facilitates seamless communication and information exchange between hiring authorities, new employees, human resources, IT teams, and finance teams.
Sold by the benefits of a RACI chart? Use our simple steps to design a chart for your next project.
To start building a RACI chart, you first need to understand the project scope and then list the project phases, milestones, and applicable tasks. Be as detailed as possible about this stage, as it will prevent confusion and chaos down the line.
In the visual representation, all the tasks are typically listed on the left column.
Now list all the people involved in the project. In addition to the person assigned to a task, include all stakeholders, internal and external, who might need to be consulted and/or informed. You can list people using their names or designations (project manager, designer, etc).
The resources are listed at the top, horizontally, in the visual diagram.
In this stage, you will assign a designation for each task. You will review each task and annotate an R, A, C, or I to indicate each person's role and influence.
Once the chart is ready to go, communicate its details with all stakeholders. Let them know how they fit into the picture. This clean communication sets expectations, fosters ownership, and prevents confusion.
There are some ways to ensure that the implementation of RACI charts goes smoothly in your organization:
Do you still have lingering questions about RACI charts? We cover commonly asked questions below:
Yes, you can have more than one person responsible for a task, but it’s not advisable. As the saying goes, “Too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the recipe” applies when you have more than one person responsible for a task. It creates ambiguity and confusion between employees. It’s better to break down the task and assign segments to multiple people.
The primary purpose of a RACI chart is to increase clarity about each person's roles and responsibilities. It makes it easier to track “who is doing what.”
A project manager should create a RACI chart before a project begins. RACI matrices are advisable when complex projects, multiple decision-makers, and overlapping work occur.
