How to Make a RACI Chart for a Project (With Example) https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/how-to-make-a-raci-chart-for-a-pr...

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT

How to Make a RACI Chart for a

Project (with Example)
By Peter Landau   |   Aug 9, 2021

Clearly de�ne project roles and assignments with a RACI Chart. Try
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assign, track and manage work as a team.

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The better team members know their roles and responsibilities,

the better a project is going to run. Therefore, communicating
role distinctions early on in the project is crucial. But how can a
project manager make those de�nitions clear and obvious to the
team?

To do that, project managers use a responsibility assignment

matrix. This project management tool is known by several names,
such as RACI chart, RACI matrix or RACI template. It’s an ef�cient
way to make sure everyone is on the same page and understands
what they have to do. The last thing you want when you’re

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But before we dive into what a RACI matrix is and how to create
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one, let’s see what the RACI acronym means.
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What Does RACI Stand For?

RACI stands for responsible, accountable, consulted and informed.
Each letter is a category that is used on the RACI matrix to de�ne
team members’ roles in a project.

What Is a RACI Chart?

As explained above, a RACI chart is a way to assign diverse levels of
responsibility and roles to team members who work on individual
tasks and are involved with creating deliverables in a project.

The RACI matrix is a simple visual tool that takes each task in a
project and assigns the roles and responsibilities attached to it.
This makes it clear who is doing what in the project and avoids any
confusion, which can slow down production and eat into costs.

Related: Free RACI Matrix Template for Excel

Let’s take a closer look at what RACI stands for the signi�cance of
each of those categories in the responsibility assignment matrix.

Responsible
Each task must have at least one responsible team member who is
the one who does the work to complete the task. There can be,
however, more than one responsible party assigned on the RACI
matrix.

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This team member is in charge of delegating work and is the one

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who approves deliverables before they can be deemed complete.
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Sometimes the responsible team member is also the accountable

one on the RACI chart. But every task must have one accountable
person attached to it, and it’s not always the project manager.

Consulted
This team member will review a deliverable, providing feedback
that puts the deliverable in context to the whole project or just
within its own expectations.

Informed
These are the team members who must know what’s happening
with the execution of tasks, but are not wedded to them with the
same level of responsibility as those listed above. They can be given
a general report on progress, rather than having to dip into the
weeds with them.

Project management software with reporting tools makes it easy

to keep stakeholders informed. ProjectManager, for instance, has a
real-time dashboard that gives you a high-level look at your project
and task progress. It’s perfect for fast, accurate reporting. Try it free
today.

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RACI Chart Example

Now that we’ve learned about the responsible, accountable,
consulted and informed roles and their responsibilities, let’s look at
a RACI matrix example.

The RACI template below was created for a home renovation

construction project. It shows the project tasks on the left column,
while the team members are shown at the top row. We can see
that the RACI model allows to assign each person a different role
for each task.

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An example of a RACI chart

Let’s focus on the homeowner roles and responsibilities. We can

see that he’s responsible for reviewing the plans and doing a �nal
review, accountable for estimating the budget, and informed
about the permits, the site preparation, and the exterior and
interior work.

Now we’re ready to learn how to create a RACI matrix.

How to Create a RACI Chart

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using a RACI chart. But it is really helpful when managing

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To fully �esh out the process of making a RACI chart, let’s create a
project. We’ll use the same project scenario that we used for our
RACI matrix example. Let’s say you’re building an addition to your
home, these three steps will outline how you create a RACI matrix.

Step One: Identify Roles

Across the top of your RACI chart template list all the people
involved in the project. This would include the client or
homeowner who is having the construction done. Then there is the
architect, who is responsible for drawing up the plans. The project
manager is overseeing the whole project from start to �nish.
There’s a contractor, who, with their team, is responsible for the
actual build. There are likely to be many more subcontractors, such
as electricians, roofers, et al., but we’ll keep our RACI model simple.

Step Two: List Tasks and Milestones

Next, you want to have a thorough list of all the tasks, including
milestones, and any decision-making process that would be
needed to be listed far-left column. This includes tasks like
reviewing the plans by the architect, estimating the budget,
getting permits, preparing the site and doing any excavation that
might be necessary. You might have to lay a foundation, add plinth
beam and slab, masonry, �ooring or roo�ng, doors and windows,
electrical and plumbing, �xtures, etc.

Step Three: Assign Each Task to a Role and

Responsibility
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(Accountable), C (Consulted) or I (Informed), depending onFREE

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relation to the tasks on the left column. For example, the architect
would be the responsible team member for delivering the
completed project plan, while the project manager would be
accountable for making sure that plan is compliant with any
regulatory issues. The client or homeowner would be consulted, to
make sure the plans meet with their speci�cations, but for much
of the actual build would only be informed of the progress.

RACI Matrix Template

Now that you understand how RACI charts work, and the process
to make them, you can use our RACI chart template to help you
get started.

ProjectManager’s RACI Chart Template for Excel.

When to Use a RACI Matrix

The more structure, direction and clear de�nition you can give
your project team, the better suited they will be to get their work
done on time and without wasting valuable resources. A RACI

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the rest of the team do.

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The responsibility assignment matrix avoids redundancy or having

team members work against each other. Tasks, roles and
responsibilities are made clear, so there are no misunderstandings
about who is doing what. This will also imbue your team with a
sense of responsibility for their work and know when it is their job
or when they need to seek another’s guidance.

An added bonus, is these de�nitions remove much of the

personality issues and of�ce politics that get in the way of
productivity. You’ve given your team a RACI framework, so they
know where they stand and where other team members stand.
Teams are happier this way, and it streamlines communications.
Team members can look back at the RACI chart at any time during
the project and know who is responsible for what, instead of
having to pull everyone away from what they’re doing.

How ProjectManager Helps with Accountability

Basically, a RACI chart is a tool to de�ne accountability for the
project team. This is a key step in project management. But once
the roles and responsibilities have been determined, you want to
have a way to facilitate those roles and responsibilities throughout
the life cycle of the project.

ProjectManager is the project management tool that you need to

keep your team members accountable. For one thing, we make it
easy to upload your task list and create a project. From there, the
project manager can assign each of the tasks on your RACI chart

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storage, so add as many relevant documents and images

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ProjectManager.com has Gantt charts, task lists and kanban—so everyone can work
how they want.

Team members can also use the task to communicate and

collaborate with other people assigned to the task or @ the project
manager, who is then noti�ed by email and brought into the
conversation.

Go Beyond RACI Charts

With ProjectManager you can achieve much more than by only
using RACI charts and other static documents. Everyone on the
team can keep track of their own tasks on the “my work” section.
Their tasks are listed and can be checked off as completed. The
project and due date is also listed. Just click on an individual task
and get even more details. Team members can add their own to-

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Project managers can keep up on the team’s progress withFREE

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real-time dashboard, which follows six project metrics that are
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updated instantly when team members update their work. For

more in-depth analysis, ProjectManager has one-click reporting
that provides detailed data on task progress, costs and workload,
among others.

ProjectManager.com’s dashboard tracks project progress in real time.

There’s a workload page that allows project managers to make

sure that no one team member is under- or over-allocated.
ProjectManager goes beyond a responsibility assignment matrix
and helps you better manage your teams, make data-driven
decisions and optimize your project resources in real-time.

ProjectManager is a cloud-based project management software

that takes the roles and responsibilities de�ned on your RACI chart
and turns them into a dynamic tool to manage teams and
workload. Project managers get transparency into the project to

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team members accountable and productive by taking thisFREE

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