RACI is an acronym for the four roles that stakeholders hold in a project:
- Responsible
- Accountable
- Consulted
- Informed
Each task, milestone, and significant decision has a RACI assignment, as does the project overall. For example, Team 1 may be the responsible party for phase one, and Team 2 is responsible for Phase 2, with individual RACI assignments within the teams. The overall project manager often plays the Consulted role for the entire effort.
The RACI matrix works so well because there is a shared understanding of who has which role and what the role entails regarding responsibility for an assignment and communication. There’s explicit documentation supporting the duties of each role. Eliminating confusion about the responsibility hierarchy allows your teams to focus on their tasks.