RACI Matrix — How to Create One That Teams Actually Follow

What is a RACI matrix?

RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed. A RACI matrix maps deliverables or decisions against roles to clarify who does what. It answers a question that causes more project failures than almost anything else: "Who is supposed to make this decision?"

• Responsible (R): The person who does the work. There can be more than one R per task.
• Accountable (A): The person who must answer for the outcome. There must be exactly one A per task — never zero, never two.
• Consulted (C): People whose input is sought before the task is completed. Two-way communication.
• Informed (I): People who are told about the outcome after the fact. One-way communication.

The five rules of a useful RACI

• One A per row. Every deliverable or decision has exactly one Accountable person. If you cannot agree on who it is, you have found your first project risk.
• At least one R per row. If nobody is Responsible, nobody will do it.
• No one person can be R on everything. If one role has R against every row, that person is the bottleneck. Redesign the process or expand the team.
• C means their input can change the output. If you would not change the deliverable based on their input, change C to I.
• Keep I to the minimum necessary. People who are I on everything stop reading updates. Reserve I for those who genuinely need to know.

How to run a RACI workshop

The most common mistake is creating the RACI alone and presenting it for approval. The RACI should be created with the people who will live by it. Here is a simple facilitation approach.

Step 1: List all deliverables and key decisions in the left column of a spreadsheet. Aim for 10-20 items — enough to be meaningful, few enough to be manageable.

Step 2: List all roles across the top row. Use roles, not individual names. If one person holds two roles, give them two columns.

Step 3: For each row, ask "Who is Accountable?" Fill in A first. Resolve any disputes before moving on.

Step 4: For each row, ask "Who does the work?" Fill in R. Sometimes A and R are the same person — that is fine.

Step 5: For each row, ask "Whose input do we need before this is done?" Fill in C.

Step 6: For each row, ask "Who needs to know when this is done?" Fill in I.

Step 7: Review the columns. If one role has C or I against every row, they are over-consulted. If one role has nothing at all, they should not be in the RACI.

Making the RACI stick

The most beautifully constructed RACI will be ignored if it lives in a shared drive nobody opens. To make it stick: print it and put it on the project room wall. Review it at the first sign of a decision-making dispute. Update it when roles change. Reference it explicitly in meeting invites ("this decision requires the Accountable person to be present").