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HomeIT LeadershipThe RACI matrix: Your blueprint for project success
by Bob Kantor and CIO staff
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The RACI matrix: Your blueprint for project

success
Feature
06 Nov 202311 mins
IT Governance FrameworksIT LeadershipProject Management Tools
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A RACI matrix is a simple, effective means for defining project roles and responsibilities,
providing a comprehensive chart of who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed
every step of the way.
C R E DIT : JASON GOODMAN / UNSPLASH

Having managed and rescued dozens of projects, and helped others do so, I’ve noted that there
is always one critical success factor (CSF) that has either been effectively addressed or
missed/messed up: clarity around the roles and responsibilities for each project participant and
key stakeholder. No matter how detailed and complete a project plan may be for any project,
confusion or omission of participant roles and responsibilities will cause major problems.

Enter the RACI matrix. The simplest and most effective approach I’ve seen and used to define
and document project roles and responsibilities is the RACI model. Integrating the RACI
model into an organization’s project life cycle (PLC) creates a powerful synergy that enhances
and improves project outcomes.
What is a RACI matrix?
The RACI matrix is a project role and responsibility assignment chart that maps out every task,
milestone, or key decision involved in completing a project and assigns which roles
are Responsible for each action item, which personnel are Accountable, and, where appropriate,
who needs to be Consulted or Informed. The acronym RACI stands for the four roles that
stakeholders might play in any project.

In almost 100 percent of my project rescue efforts, I have found that there is no shared
understanding of participant roles and responsibilities, nor is there explicit documentation to
support it. Establishing such a consensus by employing the RACI model almost always gets a
stuck project moving again, and enables the key stakeholders to readily deal with the other
issues that require resolution.

0 of 25 minutes, 1 secondVolume 0%
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[ Learn why IT projects still fail at an alarming rate, beware the 12 project management myths
to avoid, and find out how to pick the right project management methodology for your team. |
Get the latest project management advice by signing up for our CIO newsletters. ]

RACI matrix roles

The RACI model brings structure and clarity to describing the roles that stakeholders play
within a project. The RACI matrix clarifies responsibilities and ensures that everything the
project needs done is assigned someone to do it.

The four roles that stakeholders might play in any project include the following:

 Responsible: People or stakeholders who do the work. They must complete the task or
objective or make the decision. Several people can be jointly Responsible.

 Accountable: Person or stakeholder who is the “owner” of the work. He or she must
sign off or approve when the task, objective or decision is complete. This person must
make sure that responsibilities are assigned in the matrix for all related activities.
Success requires that there is only one person Accountable, which means that “the
buck stops there.”
  Consulted: People or stakeholders who need to give input before the work can be
done and signed-off on. These people are “in the loop” and active participants.

 Informed: People or stakeholders who need to be kept “in the picture.” They need
updates on progress or decisions, but they do not need to be formally consulted, nor
do they contribute directly to the task or decision.

How to create a RACI matrix

The simple process for creating a RACI model includes the following six steps:

1. Identify all the tasks involved in delivering the project and list them on the left-hand
side of the chart in completion order. For IT projects, this is most effectively
addressed by incorporating the PLC steps and deliverables. (This is illustrated in the
example below.)

2. Identify all the project stakeholders and list them along the top of the chart.

3. Complete the cells of the model identifying who has responsibility, accountability and
who will be consulted and informed for each task.

4. Ensure every task has at least one stakeholder Responsible for it.

5. No tasks should have more than one stakeholder Accountable. Resolve any conflicts
where there is more than one for a particular task.

6. Share, discuss and agree the RACI model with your stakeholders at the start of the
project. This includes resolving any conflicts or ambiguities.

RACI matrix example

For purposes of simplification, let’s say your project can be broken down into four discrete
tasks, undertaken by a team of application developers, along with a sponsoring project
executive, project manager, business analyst, and technical architect.

Step 1 of the process involves mapping out the project as a whole. For this, the project manager
is both accountable and responsible for the work at hand. To determine the scope and
deliverables of the project, the project manager consults with the project’s executive sponsor
and with the business analyst about the process to be overhauled as part of the project. The
technical architect and the application developers are subsequently informed of the project plan.
In Step 2, the business analyst must then delve more deeply into the process to help map out
each facet of the business process to be overhauled. The business analyst is thus responsible for
the task, with the project executive being accountable for signing off on this work. To better
understand the technical underpinnings of the current process, the business analyst will consult
with the technical architect. The project manager and application developers will then be
informed of the conclusions derived from this portion of the project.

Here is an illustration of a simplified RACI model for this example project, taking these first
two steps into account:

The subsequent third and fourth tasks involve shaping the new process, again with the business
analyst responsible for this work, and the other roles on the team following their same
responsibilities when the old process was being analyzed in Step 2. Step 4 sees the technical
architect taking over, devising a new architecture that will support the new process, signed off
by the executive sponsor, and held accountable by the project manager, who devised the scope
and deliverables in Step 1.
RACI matrix template
Templates are available for free on the web for those looking to get started with the RACI
model. These are typically geared toward Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, but can also be
available for more specialized software. Here are several popular possibilities:

 Vertex 42 Excel RACI templates

 Projectmanager.com Excel RACI templates

 Smartsheet Excel RACI templates

 ClickUp RACI templates

 Excel Downloads RACI templates

RACI vs. RASCI

RASCI is another type of responsibility assignment matrix used in project management. It
retains the four core roles of RACI — Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed —
but adds a fifth: Supportive. The Supportive role in a RASCI chart is responsible for providing
assistance to those in the Responsible role. This may involve providing additional resources,
expertise, or advice to help the Responsible party complete a particular task. Organizations that
choose RASCI often do so to ensure that personnel who may not have direct responsibility or
accountability but are nevertheless vital to the success of an activity or project are considered a
notable facet (and cost) of the project. Individuals or entities that consult on a particular phase
of a project, whether internal or external to the organization, provide an example
of Supportive resources.

RACI matrix rules and best practices

Simply creating a RACI matrix is not enough. You must ensure that the matrix maps to a
successful strategy. Here, certain rules should be followed, and conflicts and ambiguities in the
plan must be hammered out.

When building out your RACI matrix, the following three rules should be applied:

1. Every task must have at least one Responsible party.

2. To ensure clear decision-making, each task should have only one Accountable person.
 3. Every team member should have a role on each task, even if it is just to be Informed.

Resolving conflicts and ambiguities in a RACI matrix involves looking across each row and up
and down each column for the following:

Analysis for each stakeholder:

 Are there too many R’s: Does one stakeholder have too much of the project assigned
to them?

 No empty cells: Does the stakeholder need to be involved in so many of the activities?
Can Responsible be changed to Consulted, or Consulted changed to Informed? I.e.,
are there too many “cooks in this kitchen” to keep things moving? (And if so, what
does that say about the culture within which this project is being managed?)

 Buy-in: Does each stakeholder totally agree with the role that they are specified to
play in this version of the model? When such agreement is achieved, that should be
included in the project’s charter and documentation.

Analysis for each PLC step or deliverable:

 No R’s: Who is doing the work in this step and getting things done? Whose role is it
to take the initiative?

 Too many R’s: Is this another sign of too many “cooks in this kitchen” to keep things
moving?

 No A’s: Who is Accountable? There must be one ‘A’ for every step of the PLC. One
stakeholder must be Accountable for the thing happening — “the buck stops” with
this person.

 More than one A: Is there confusion on decision rights? Stakeholders with

accountability have the final say on how the work should be done and how conflicts
are resolved. Multiple A’s invite slow and contentious decision-making.

 Every box filled in: Do all the stakeholders really need to be involved? Are there
justifiable benefits in involving all the stakeholders, or is this just covering all the
bases?

 A lot of C’s: Do all the stakeholders need to be routinely Consulted, or can they be
kept Informed and raise exceptional circumstances if they feel they need to
be Consulted? Too many C’s in the loop really slows down the project.
  Are all true stakeholders included in this model: Sometimes this is more of a
challenge to ensure, as it’s an error of omission. This is often best addressed by a
steering committee or management team.

RACI matrix in project management

It is the above analyses, which are readily enabled by the use of a RACI matrix, that deliver the
real benefit of the model. It is the integration of the model with a specific PLC that ensures that
the project is structured for success. Without either component, problems with the structure of
the project management process may remain hidden until (or even while…) they cause the
project to bog down. Making the time and effort to create a customized PLC/RACI for each
significant project is an opportunity to design your project management process for project
success.

More on project management:

 Project management guide: Tips, strategies, best practices

 What is a project manager? The lead role for project success

 5 early warning signs of project failure

 12 project management myths to avoid

 16 tips for a smooth switch to agile project management

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by Bob Kantor
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With more than 25 years of corporate leadership experience and 6 years of executive
coaching expertise, Bob Kantor is the founder of Kantor Consulting Group. Through his
company's executive coaching and leadership development programs, Bob supports IT and
STEM professionals transitioning from managing technology to leading people with
innovation and confidence.
It’s rare for technology-driven organizations today to be limited by or constrained in what
they can accomplish based on their technology skills. Rather, it’s the soft skills of those in
leadership positions that typically create bottlenecks, miscommunication, re-work and
ultimately, projects that are over budget and behind schedule. These are all areas where Bob’s
programs enable clients to gain traction and get things turned around.
Bob has experience in leadership coaching for over 150 IT executives and managers at
Bloomberg, and over 60 senior IT leaders at companies like DISH Network, Chevron,
PayPal, eBay, Toyota, Aetna, Sysco, Unilever, SunTrust Bank, The Walt Disney Company
and Molina Health Care.
The opinions expressed in this blog are those of Bob Kantor and do not necessarily represent
those of IDG Communications, Inc., its parent, subsidiary or affiliated companies.
by CIO staff

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