RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed.

The RACI Chart’s purpose is to make sure every task gets performed by the person responsible, and there is an accountable decision maker for that task who will be called out if the task does not get done. Then there are those who must be consulted and those who must be informed. Consulted refers to those who must be asked before proceeding with a task. Informed are those individuals who should be told that the task has been completed.

A RACI Chart maps tasks against roles. A role is the entire collection of tasks that an individual in that role must perform.

The tasks are the rows in a RACI Chart matrix, and the columns are roles which are the names of the individuals that may be assigned one or more tasks.

Every organization, regardless of its size, should use RACI Charts. Every Lean Six Sigma project should have a RACI chart.

The short video from RACI.com at the end of this post does an excellent job of introducing the elements of the RACI Chart, its use, and some of the dos and don’ts.

Let’s cover some of its important points:

  • Accountability cannot be delegated to someone else, but the accountable decision maker can assign responsibilities to others.
  • To build a chart, first identify all the tasks required.
  • Next, identify all the roles. Who should be doing the tasks?
  • Then, assign the four RACI codes through a collaborative process.
  • Analyze the results. Are there gaps or overlaps?
  • Finally, make sure the roles are being done as assigned, and the RACI is being followed.

Things to Look For in your RACI Analysis

  • There should only be one A per task. Only one person should be accountable.
  • Is there no A for a task? Someone must be accountable.
  • Are there no R’s for a task? The task won’t get done!
  • Are there too many R’s, C’s, and I’s for a task? With too many people involved, the task may not get completed.
  • Too many R’s for a task? Do you need that many roles to carry out that task?
  • Too many C’s for a task? Too many consulted roles could lead to “paralysis by analysis.”
  • Are there no C’s and I’s on your chart? This could point to a lack of communication.

You can view the video below.