RACI diagram

A RACI diagram, or RACI matrix, is used to describe the roles and responsibilities of various teams or people in delivering a project or operating a process. It is especially useful in clarifying roles and responsibilities in cross-functional/departmental projects and processes.

RACI may be pronounced "racy" or "rack-y".

Methodology

The RACI diagram splits tasks into four participatory responsibility types, which are then assigned to different roles in the project or process. These responsibilities types make up the acronym "RACI".

*Responsible - Those who do work to achieve the task. There can be multiple resources responsible.
*Accountable - (Also Approver) The resource ultimately answerable for the correct and thorough completion of the task. There must be only one A specified for each task.
*Consulted - Those whose opinions are sought. Two-way communication.
*Informed - Those who are kept up-to-date on progress. One-way communication.

Very often the role specified as "accountable" is also specified "responsible." Outside of this exception, it is generally recommended that each role in the project or process for each task receive at most one of the participatory role types. Although some companies and organizations do allow, for example, double participatory types, this generally implies that the roles have not yet been truly resolved and so impedes the value of the RACI approach in clarifying each role on each task.

There are a number of variations to this scheme, some adding additional roles, another changing the R and A definitions; see below under "Variations".

Variations

RACI-VS or VARISC

This is an expanded version which adds two additional roles:

*Verifies - Those who check whether the product meets the acceptance criteria set forth in the product description.

*Signs off - Those who approve the V decision and authorize the product hand-off. It seems to make sense that the S for each terminal element should be the party with A for its successor.

CAIRO or RACIO

This is an expanded version which uses the same basic designations (reordered, in the case of CAIRO) with the addition of O (Out of the Loop, or omitted), designating individuals or groups who are specifically not part of the task. Specifying that a resource has no role or responsibility can be as beneficial to a task's completion as specifying those who do have a role.

RASCI or RASIC

This breaks the Responsible role into:

*Responsible - Resources allocated to Responsible. Unlike Consult, who may aid in the task, Support may be tasked with work.

*Support -Those who are responsible for the task, ensuring that it is done as per the approver.

RACI (alternative scheme)

There is an alternative coding, less widely published but used by some practitioners and process mapping software, which modifies the application of the R and A codes of the original scheme. The overall methodology remains the same but this alternative avoids potential confusion of the terms "accountable" and "responsible" — understood by management professionals but not always so clearly differentiated by others:

*Responsible - Those responsible for the performance of the task. There should be exactly one person with this assignment for each task.
*Assists - Those who assist completion of the task.
*Consulted - Those whose opinions are sought. Two-way communication.
*Informed - Those who are kept up-to-date on progress. One-way communication.

RACI (alternative for decisions)

This alternative is focused only on documenting who has the authority to make which decisions. May be suitable for use within a small work group.

* responsible to Recommend an answer to the decision.
* authorized to Approve an answer to the decision.
*Consulted - Those whose opinions are sought. Two-way communication.
*Informed - Those who are informed after the decision is made. One-way communication.

See also

* Responsibility assignment matrix
* RASIC