RACI Matrix

DRAFT

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 kind of project. 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. The RACI matrix addresses this problem while providing a simple and effective tool for defining and documenting project roles and responsibilities. [1] The RACI matrix brings structure and clarity to describing the roles that stakeholders play within a project. [2] The overall goal of the RACI matrix, 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. [3]. A RACI matrix can be established at the beginning of a project or to get stuck projects moving again. [4] Consequently, establishing a RACI matrix makes sense at any point in time and is not constraint by any industry. Having a shared understanding of participant roles and responsibilities is a decisive success factor that ensures effective knowledge transfer within a project group.

This article focuses on the RACI matrix, a tool used in project management, to provide an overview of how and when a RACI matrix is applied efficiently to define clear roles and responsibilities in all kinds of projects. Furthermore, the article is taking considerations as well as limitations of the RACI matrix into account. Project groups can use this article to identify their team structure, roles, and responsibilities to make team operations more smoothly. Overall, all projects should introduce the RACI matrix to eliminate confusion while at the same time ensuring that all project team members understood their responsibilities.