The RACI chart in project management helps project managers define roles and responsibilities for teams or individuals to ensure work gets done efficiently. So, in this article, we’ll explain the definition of the RACI chart, how to create a RACI chart, why RACI roles are important in project management, and more details regarding the RACI chart.
Table of Contents
Definition of RACI Chart
A RACI chart helps project managers define roles and responsibilities for teams or individuals to ensure work gets done efficiently. Using this chart they create clear roles and give direction to each team member. So, a RACI diagram or RACI chart is to clarify each person’s role in your project. RACI stands for:
- Responsible
- Accountable
- Consulted
- Informed
Let’s discuss these elements of the RACI chart one by one.
Responsible
The teams or individuals are responsible for developing and completing the project tasks or deliverables. The responsible parties are typically hands-on team members who directly contribute toward the project’s completion. The following are some examples of responsible parties are:
- Project managers
- Developers
- Business analysts
- Graphic designers
Pro tip! Every project task needs at least one responsible person because it’s best practice to try to limit the number of team members assigned to a task’s responsible role. But in some causes, you may have more than one. Therefore, here are some questions to ask yourself when determining which person or people should be placed in the responsible role for a giver project task are.
- What project department does the work fall under
- Who will perform the project work?
These questions will help you evaluate the people on your team to determine the role that matches them. Important💡 It’s better to list roles rather than names, if some people take on more than one role.
Accountable
The “accountable” person plays a crucial role throughout the project and must be responsible for ensuring the project tasks get done within the triple constraints. On the other hand, an accountable person ensures accountability to project deadlines and accountability to project completion.
However, it’s important to have only one individual accountable role for each task because it helps clarify ownership of the task. Furthermore, this person has the authority to approve the project deliverable of the responsible party. The following are some examples of accountable parties are:
- Product owners
- Business owners
- Sponsors
- Key stakeholders
Here are some questions to ask yourself when determining which person or people should be placed in the accountable role for your project. On the other hand, understanding this will help you ensure that there is no confusion on who the ownership belongs to.
- Who will delegate the project task to be completed?
- Who will review the work to determine if the project task is completed?
Consulted
Team members or stakeholders, who are placed in the consulted role have helpful information to complete the project task. Furthermore, consulted individuals’ opinions and feedback are crucial because that information is essential to consider every situation of the project’s phases. Moreover, there is no maximum or minimum number of people, who can be assigned a consulted role, but each person must have a reason for being there. The following are some examples of consulted parties are:
- Subject matter experts
- Decision makers
- Legal experts
- Compliance consultancy
- Cybersecurity and information security experts
As a project manager, when selecting these people you can ask these questions yourself to identify who is appropriate for this role.
- Who will the project task impact?
- Who is the appropriate subject matter expert person for the task?
- Who will have the right input or feedback for the responsible person to help the work be done?
Remember that this consulted role will be in frequent, two-way communication with the responsible party. Then, it is key to ensure that the right people are in this role to help accomplish the project tasks correctly and efficiently.
Informed
Informed parties are those that need to stay in the loop of communication throughout the project. Furthermore, they are identified as needing to be informed need to know the final decisions are taken, and when a project task is completed. It is common to have many people assigned to this role and for some team members to be informed on most tasks.
Stakeholders or team members here will not be asked for feedback, which is key to ensuring parties in this group only require status updates. Furthermore, you do not need to provide direct feedback to complete the effort. Here are some examples of informed parties are:
- External stakeholders
- Business owners
- Project committee members
Here are some questions to ask yourself to ensure that you have appropriately identified individuals in the informed role are,
- Who cares about the project’s task completion?
- Who will be affected by the project outcomes or deliverables?
As a project manager, it is time to determine who needs to be informed about the task.
Why are RACI Roles Important in Project Management?
Project management can be a complex process. Therefore, by listing all stakeholders and assigning a level of involvement for each task, the RACI chart helps project teams communicate clearly and keep the right people in the loop throughout the project.
How Does a RACI Chart Help Project Managers?
Many project managers use the RACI chart to keep track of their team members’ roles and relay those responsibilities to the larger team. Using this chart will help you define clear roles and responsibilities for individual team members across the various phases of the project. On the other hand, defining roles and responsibilities will help you reduce confusion, enhance accountability, and improve communication and collaboration among team members.
Who Creates the RACI Chart in Project Management?
The RACI chart – sometimes called the RACI matrix, RACI model, or RACI diagram – is created by the project manager at the beginning of the project as a key part of establishing the initial human resources planning phase. That’s why?🤷♀️ Miscommunication can be a threat to any project. So, the RACI chart is a great tool for teams dealing with any type of project, from simple to large projects.
How to Create a RACI Chart for a Project?
As a project manager, if you’re looking to implement an RACI chart as a part of your team’s project planning phase, the following steps will help you create an efficient RACI matrix.
- Plan before taking action – Clearly understand your project and its demands before defining any further steps by communicating with key stakeholders and decision-makers.
- Determine the project scope – To do that, create a list of key activities and deliverables from the director of program management or other leadership in your project.
- Determine who the involved parties are – In this step, determine who is needed to be a part of the project.
- Outline each project role – In this step, determine the roles, responsible job titles, and appropriate persons for each project activity and deliverable.
- Gather as a group – In this step, conduct a review session with appropriate key team members for alignment. If you haven’t hosted a kickoff meeting with the entire team and key stakeholders to unveil the matrix, identify questions, and more.
Example of a RACI Chart
As shown above, a RACI chart helps project managers break down what roles individuals will play as work is carried out and to what extent they will be involved in the project overall. The vertical axis represents each task and the horizontal axis represents each person on the project. Each square of the chart represents an individual, a task, and that individual’s role within the project, either responsible, accountable, consulted, or informed. In this situation, for example, the head of finance is accountable for ensuring the project stays within budget, makes a profit, and approves the financial analysis work on the task.
FAQ
Common Mistakes When Creating a RACI Chart
Failure to plan – Creating a RACI matrix should not be your first step in project planning. Having a fully assembled team and a general idea of a task list and project plans is a great place to start before preparing a chart.
Not communicating with the team members – A RACI chart helps organize tasks and responsibilities and helps introduce each project team member. Therefore, host a kickoff meeting with the first before creating a RACI chart.
Working with a large team – A RACI chart is not best for a large team because it will be hard to understand and complex.
RACI Chart Pros and Cons
The RACI chart Pros
- The RACI chart helps engage project participants throughout the project👍
- The RACI chart allows project managers to make the project’s planning more organized, efficient, and detailed👍
- The RACI chart identifies improvement opportunities👍
- Improve better communication and provide better collaboration among team members👍
- Group accountability👍
The RACI chart Cons
- The RACI chart is not aligned with the agile methodology👎
- Limits on task details and project scope👎
- Limitations of role scope👎
Conclusion
The RACI chart is a simple but powerful tool because it can help the project team define roles and responsibilities, enhance communication, and set expectations. Using a RACI chart will help teams minimize confusion, avoid duplication, and work more effectively and efficiently.
