What is the RACI matrix and how is it implemented? It is a fact that complex projects make teams unable to perform their tasks properly. You might have a great plan with the right vision and a great team to push it forward. But if the tasks and responsibilities are not completely clear in the performance of tasks – or even participation – confusion, disorganization, and even lack of motivation will be created in your project team. With the correct use of the RACI matrix, these obstacles can be easily removed.
The RACI matrix should exist to make your work life easier as a project manager, but it is acceptable that at the beginning of the project, it may seem like one of the most difficult tasks that no one will easily accept to use. But after getting to know it more, it will surely become one of the priorities of every project manager.
What is the RACI matrix?
In simple terms, this matrix is a tool that defines the roles and responsibilities against the tasks in a project. This concept is an abbreviation of the following four words:
- Responsible
- Accountable
- Consulted
- Informed
RACI maps tasks and deliverables based on your project roles. Finally, decision-making and responsibilities are assigned to each role using the above terms. But in what sense are each of these four aspects used?
1. Responsible
They are responsible for doing things or making decisions. It may sometimes be more than one person, but try to keep the number of people involved to a minimum.
Can you have more than one official in RACI?
If possible, try to have only one person responsible for a specific task or deliverable in your responsibility assignment matrix. However, sometimes, the person in charge needs the support of another person to do this or they may need someone to delegate some of their tasks to them. In this case, you can choose more than one person as responsible.
2. Respondent: Duty holder
Accountable people do not do the work but are responsible for ensuring that it is completed. Ideally, this person should be an accountable person rather than a group to avoid confusion about who actually owns the task.
3. Counselor: Help
This person, role, or group provides useful information to complete the task or deliverable. It is obvious that there will be mutual communication between officials and consultants. This person is often a subject matter expert.
4. Informed: To be aware
This person or group’s information is kept up-to-date on the task or deliverable. They are not asked to give feedback or review the work, but they can be influenced by the outcome.
What is the RACI matrix used for?
RACI matrix should be used for planning, before dividing roles and responsibilities. So that when it’s time to complete a task or get feedback on deliverables, everyone knows in advance who was responsible for what. The RACI matrix should be referenced and used to track responsibility and accountability and advise and inform team members about tasks and deliverables.
Why should we care about the RACI matrix?
In the following, we will consider some of the advantages of the RACI matrix to check how much it will be beneficial for a project manager to pay attention to this issue.
1. Simplify communication
Having a RACI matrix in a project can be useful for returning to the project life cycle. Instead of involving every person in every decision, you can streamline communication, involve the right people at the right time, define roles, and speed up decision-making.
2. Avoiding wastage of labor
You know that when you try to include the opinion of many people in a task, you will face a strange nightmare. It may be better to combine these comments and this is exactly where RACI can come in handy. The important thing about differentiating between a consultant and a know-it-all is that you can separate people who are effective at giving feedback and those who are just getting up-to-date information on work progress.
3. Avoid overtime and accumulation of tasks
We all know that a project manager takes on a lot of responsibility every now and then and often covers multiple roles on a project. The RACI matrix can be a useful tool to help delegate and avoid wasting the project manager’s time. It also helps to reduce the points of failure, where all the knowledge and responsibility of a task is held by one person, the accumulation of tasks will be created and the focus on the work will be less.
4. Set expectations
By applying the RACI matrix to your project, you can create many efficiencies. When you consider RACI at the beginning of a project, it can be easier to set the expectations of those who are managing or responsible for the work ahead. People involved in the project should be able to see clearly where they should be involved and with which tasks they should be involved.
When should we use the RACI matrix?
If you have faced the question in your mind, “Is the RACI matrix useful in all projects?” The short answer is no. Complexity and excessive processing for some small and quick projects can slow down work and create obstacles to achieving goals.
Check Also:
Task management compared to project management; Which is better for you?
