RACI Chart, Project initiation, part 8
A RACI chart can be an extremely effective way to define project roles, give direction to each team member and stakeholder, and ensure work gets done efficiently.
Responsible:
Individuals who are assigned the “responsible” role for a task are the ones who are actually doing the work to complete the task.
A couple of questions to ask yourself when determining which person or people should be placed in the responsible role for a given task are:
- What department does the work fall under?
- Who will perform the work?
Accountable:
The “accountable” person is responsible for making sure the task gets done. It is important to have only one individual accountable for each task. This helps clarify ownership of the task. The accountable person ultimately has the authority to approve the deliverable of the responsible party.
In order to determine who should be tagged as the accountable team member, consider:
- Who will delegate the task to be completed?
- Who will review the work to determine if the task is complete?
Consulted:
Team members or stakeholders who are placed in the “consulted” role have useful information to help complete the task.
Here are a few ways you can help identify who is appropriate for the role:
- Who will the task impact?
- Who will have input or feedback for the responsible person to help the work be completed?
- Who are the subject matter experts (SMEs) for the task?
Informed:
Individuals who are identified as needing to be “informed” need to know the final decisions that were made and when a task is completed.
Team members or stakeholders here will not be asked for feedback, so it is key to make sure people who are in this group only require status updates and do not need to provide any direct feedback for the completion of the effort.
Key questions to ask yourself in order to ensure that you have appropriately captured individuals in the “informed” role are:
- Who cares about this task’s completion?
- Who will be affected by the outcome?
