RACI Matrix Builder

Frequently asked questions

The questions people actually ask about this document.

What does RACI stand for?

Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed. Each column is a person or a role, each row is a task or deliverable, and each cell records how that person relates to that piece of work.

What is the difference between Responsible and Accountable?

Responsible is whoever does the work. Accountable is the single person who answers for the result and has the authority to approve it. The distinction only earns its keep if the accountable person can genuinely say no.

Can one person be both Responsible and Accountable?

Yes, and on small teams they usually are. A cell marked A/R means the same person owns the outcome and does the work. What is never allowed is two different people being accountable for the same task.

How many people should be Accountable for one task?

Exactly one. Accountable means a single point of decision, so two accountable people means no disagreement can be settled without escalating it, which is precisely the failure a RACI exists to prevent.

What is the difference between RACI, RASCI, DACI and RAPID?

RACI is the general-purpose version. RASCI adds Support for people who actively help the responsible person rather than merely being consulted. DACI (Driver, Approver, Contributor, Informed) is built for a one-off decision rather than ongoing work. RAPID (Recommend, Agree, Perform, Input, Decide), developed by Bain & Company, separates who decides from who carries it out.

How detailed should the rows be?

One row per deliverable or decision, not per activity. If a row ends up with exactly the same letters as the row above it, merge them. If a row seems to need two accountable people, it is really two rows.

When is a RACI matrix the wrong tool?

When the work is genuinely collaborative and roles shift week to week, a matrix freezes something that should stay fluid. It is also the wrong shape for a single decision made once. DACI or RAPID fit that better.

How do you stop it going stale?

Attach it to the document it describes (the project plan, the runbook, the charter) and review it whenever you review that document. A matrix nobody revisits goes wrong quietly, which is worse than not having one.

• Software releaseSix rows covering a release from scope to announcement, across five roles. The accountable owner changes three times along the way, which is the whole reason for filling one in.
• Marketing campaignA campaign from brief to reporting, with legal review treated as a role rather than an afterthought. Five roles, six rows.
• Hiring processOne requisition from approval to offer, across the hiring manager, the recruiter, the panel, HR and finance. Headcount approval sits with finance, which is where it usually sits in practice.
• Construction projectDesign through handover, with the client holding approval on the drawings and on the final sign-off. Five roles, six rows, close to how a small works package actually runs.
• Event planningAn event from venue booking to budget reconciliation, across five roles. Finance owns the last row, which is the row most plans forget.
• Compliance auditAn audit cycle from scope to remediation sign-off, with the executive sponsor accountable for accepting residual risk. Five roles, six rows.

Guides

• How to build a RACI matrixA working method for building a responsibility assignment matrix: what each letter actually means, how to size the rows, the two rules that make it useful, and the four ways it usually fails.9 min read

Blog

• RACI, DACI or RAPID: which one your team actually needsThree responsibility frameworks, three different problems. What each one was designed to fix, where each one fails, and a short test for choosing between them.11 min read

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