RACI Matrix

Abstract

Successful project organizations are the result of careful planning and collaboration of project team members. Having clear roles and responsibilities is a crucial success factor for any project. The RACI matrix addresses this problem while providing a simple and effective tool for defining and documenting project roles and responsibilities (https://www.cio.com/article/2395825/project-management-how-to-design-a-successful-raci-project-plan.html). However, project planning, monitoring or guidance will have little effect if the team members are not aware of the project management expectations. Therefore, role definitions, responsibilities and accountabilities must be determined to increase productivity, gain better results and better communication with fewer misunderstandings and disruptions. Project organizations need to manage different types of responsibilities in relation to their activities during project planning, monitoring or guidance. The RACI matrix brings structure and clarity to describing the roles that stakeholders play within a project (https://www.cio.com/article/2395825/project-management-how-to-design-a-successful-raci-project-plan.html). The overall goal of RACI, is to map out every task, milestone or key decision involved in completing a project and assigns which project individuals as well as stakeholders are responsible, accountable, consult and inform statuses for different project activities (https://edward-designer.com/web/raci-vs-ram-for-pmp-exam/). The acronym RACI stands for the four roles that shareholders might play in any project: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed. A RACI matrix can be established at the commencement of a project but also to get stuck projects moving again. Having a shared understanding of participant roles and responsibilities is a crucial success factor to ensure effective knowledge transfer within a project group. This article focuses on the people perspective as an aspect of project management and provides an overview of how and when a RACI matrix is going to help a project to define clear roles and responsibilities. Considerations and limitations are also mentioned. Project members can use this article to identify their team structure, roles, responsibilities and to make project communication even more efficient. The RACI matrix can be used in all kinds of projects in which roles and responsibilities needs to be defined. There is no industry limitation.