Using a RACI Matrix
What is a RACI Matrix?
A RACI Matrix is a form of Responsibility Assignment Chart where each letter stands for a particular role in a project or task.
It serves as a start to the project where the team can clearly define how the team will be interacting with elements of the project and for outsiders to have an easy way to navigate to people who have domain knowledge afterwards.
In practicing this exercise it will also encourage you to think about the scope of your project and potentially include other resources who you might have missed initially.
Each letter stands for
Responsible: Person(s) who is in charge of completing the task
Accountable: Person who is ultimately affected by the task and reviews for completion
Consultant: Person(s) who are asked about their expertise regarding the problem
Informed: Person(s) who are kept up to date on progress of the project
These are the most commonly used role types though there are different versions of RACI matrices with different or additional role types.
How to Use:
Here is a fairly robust example of how a RACI matrix would be used. This setup is more likely a directory for all RACI exercises after they are completed by each team individually.
And here we have a more scaled down version that a team might use in practice at a more granular level.
While in the above example everyone is assigned a role, this may not be the case for every project.
There will always be a Responsible and an Accountable but Consulted and Informed could be omitted if unnecessary. Also, someone could take on multiple roles, it’s ultimately subjective to the project. Additionally, there are different versions of this matrix that capture other role types and nuances.
Ultimately, try to find the best fit for the project. This exercise is to help have a clear guideline as to where team members stand on a project, not a scrum assignment that they have to stick to. Clarity, auditability, and streamlined communication is the goal of this activity.
-Matthew Ramirez