RACI diagram

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

1 Methodology
2 Example
3 Variations
4 See also

[edit] Methodology

The RACI diagram splits project tasks down to four participatory responsibility types that are then assigned to different roles in the project. These responsibilities types make up the acronym RACI.

Responsible (Those who do work to achieve the task, there can be multiple resources responsible).
Accountable (The resource ultimately accountable for the completion of the task- there must be exactly one A specified for each task)
Consulted (Those whose opinions are sought. 2 way communication)
Informed (Those that are kept up-to-date on progress. 1 way communication)

It is generally recommended that each role in the project 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 clarifing each role clear on a task by task basis.

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

[edit] Example

The following is an example of a RACI Diagram, showing how individual tasks are assigned to different roles.

So in the example the Business Owner is Accountable in communicating Business Policy and must inform the Business Program Manager and Business Process Manager.

[edit] Variations

RACI-VS or VARISC

This is an expanded version, that adds two additional roles:

Verifies (The party that checks whether the product meets the acceptance criteria set forth in the product description.

Signs off (The party that approves the V decision and authorizes 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 another expanded version, that again uses the same basic designations (displayed in a different order 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 that do have a role.

RASCI

This breaks the Responsible role into:

Responsible: this role is reponsible for the task, ensuring that it is done as per the approver.
Support: these are resources allocated to Responsible. Unlike Consult who may aid in the task, Support may be tasked with work.

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 (The person responsible for the performance of the task - there should be exactly one person with this assignment for each task)
Assists (Those who assist the responsible person in conducting the task - and may do the bulk of the work)
Consulted (Those whose opinions are sought. 2 way communication)
Informed (Those that are kept up-to-date on progress. 1 way communication)