# Startups

How to build responsibility charting? Rules for RACI matrix

Red Rocket TeamOct 29, 20244 min read

Building a successful business that works as a single mechanism is a task that not every entrepreneur can handle. A lot depends on how you distribute tasks and responsibilities among your employees. Just imagine that you have decided to develop a startup, and you need to develop a web application. To accomplish this task, you will need the help of an entire team where each member has their own responsibilities and tasks.

There are many techniques and documents that help you optimize the workflows within the team. If you think that you can just ignore them and rely on your intuition, this is a completely wrong approach. You can avoid many common business performance issues if you develop the right RACI matrix of roles and responsibilities. We at Red Rocket are very familiar with assigning processes to tasks because we regularly run complex software development projects ourselves. We are here to tell you more about this matrix and help you understand how to fill it out for your own case.

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What is the RACI chart in project management?

If you are a business owner or top manager, you may have already heard of the RACI chart. However, many people still don't know what it means and why this matrix is even needed. A little spoiler for you – the RACI matrix helps a team to ensure cohesive work on any project. It consists of four main components such as: Responsible – a person who is responsible for a specific task.

Accountable – a person who is obliged to check previously completed tasks and is fully responsible for the finished result.

Consulted – a person who actively interacts with the executor and can make suggestions or adjustments.

Informed – a person who takes a passive role in the project, as they don't interact with the development directly.

Simply speaking, the above words are the roles that are assigned to each project participant based on the tasks they are working on. You can read about other essential IT terms for a business owner to know.

Let's understand what is RACI chart in project management with a simple example from real life. Imagine that you are planning to organize a Halloween party with your work team. Organizing such an event for 30 people will be difficult for you alone, so you have to distribute responsibilities and tasks with other employees. You create a separate chat room in your corporate messenger and choose people to help you. For example, a few employees get tasks to find decorations, others are responsible for the buffet, and the rest have to prepare themed entertainment. This way, you can create a party that will be memorable for all the company's employees for a long time. The same principle is used for the RACI matrix, which is needed for different projects.

RACI table example

Now you realize that such a matrix is necessary for many tasks, and sometimes, we use it without even thinking about it. Actually, the RACI matrix can be considered as one of the steps for effective software product development. At Red Rocket, our team often works on developing websites, applications, or marketing strategies for clients. That's why we have a great RACI table example to help you.

Just imagine that your team has been commissioned to build a website. Sure, you can assign all the tasks and responsibilities during an online meeting. However, having a RACI table your colleagues will definitely not forget or get confused about who should do what next. As you can see in the picture above, the spreadsheet consists of three items – the positions of the employees, their assigned roles, and the specific tasks they have to do. Let's look at how such a matrix was formed.

The first task is to create a sitemap

The project manager is consulted.
The strategist is responsible for making the decision.
The designer, interface developer, and server developer are informed.

The second task is to design wireframes

The project manager and strategist are consulted.
The designer is responsible for the task.
Other participants are informed.

The third task is to create a style guide

The project manager is responsible for making the decision.
The strategist and the interface developer are consulted.
Other participants are informed.

The fourth task is to code templates

The project manager and strategist are informed.
The server developer is responsible for the task.
The designer is consulted.

This way, everyone involved in the project knows their tasks and their level of participation in the different phases of the work. The RACI table helps to prevent confusion in the distribution of tasks and improves communication within the team.

When RACI responsibility matrix is a must?

We want to point out that a RACI matrix for software development is not the same as a primary project plan. It is considered to be a supplement to the plan so that your team can better understand who performs what functions. However, you should realize that you don't need such a matrix if you are facing a small project. How do you know if a project is big or not? We have collected a number of cases when a single project implementation plan will not be enough for you:

It implies the work of several departments on a project.

Often there are cases when a project is implemented by only one project and this simplifies the relationship between employees. If the project requires the work of several departments or outsourced specialists, you will need to create a matrix of responsibilities.

The customer can make changes to the project implementation plan.

Imagine that in the middle of the journey, the customer decides to change the strategy and adds some functions that require additional performers. This is another case where you need a RACI table to successfully implement the tasks.

A large amount of work.

For example, the development of an advertising banner for marketing is not a complex process, and it is worth developing a matrix. Over such a task, one designer can cope quickly on his own. However, if you are planning to develop a mobile application, it is a complex project with a large amount of work and people involved.

In simple terms, the Responsible-Accountable-Consulted-Informed matrix is only needed for projects that are considered complex. The need to develop such a matrix may also arise in case of various force majeure events, such as a change of the main project manager.

How to define roles and responsibilities in the RACI matrix?

We have some rules for RACI that will help you quickly define roles and responsibilities in such a matrix. In this article we have already talked briefly about the four roles of the matrix. However, all of them require more detailed consideration if you want to understand this topic better.

Responsible

This depicts the individual or team obligated to accomplish the deliverable or activity. The work is supposed to be done by the responsible party. It is possible to have many workers involved in completing a particular assignment, and while this may be alright, the responsibilities should be clearly defined to prevent confusion as well as dilution.

Usually, the list of responsible persons includes direct performers of different tasks. For example, it can be a copywriter, designer or software developer. They directly interact with the task and are responsible for the result.

Accountable

They are always responsible for approving the risk management plan. Each job has one owner, the specific individual who is required to accept the work and who cares about doing it properly and knowing that another human being (the owner) has examined the deliverables and agrees that the work has been done properly. Business owners, sponsors, investors and other stakeholders in a positive outcome are usually designated for this role.

Consulted

Responsibility charting includes the following role, which is called «consulted». These are the specialists in the project’s field who offer advice when they are needed during the project implementation process. Their advice must to be granted prior to arriving at a final decision. For example, it could be experts in different areas on an outsourced basis.

Informed

Certain people should be updated on the project activity and decision making process. In that case, although it may not be in an active manner, informing them is crucial because of the need to show them the information. Persons suitable for this role may be similar or the same as those assigned to the «accountable» role. For example, this could include the business owner or stakeholders.

Final thoughts

As you may have already realized, some projects require the creation of a RACI responsibility matrix to ensure proper interconnection and communication between all company participants. This is the matrix used by global giants such as Apple, Microsoft, Google and others. This is not surprising as they run projects with a lot of work and a lot of people involved for implementation.

If you have created such a table properly, your colleagues will be able to familiarize themselves with it and stay within their responsibilities and roles. For example, a copywriter won't make adjustments to the page layout that made the design. The project manager, who is responsible for the final result, will oversee the task of appraising the work.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to create a responsibility charting for my project?

Nobody says that this table is a must when working on any project. There are many cases when you should not think about the distribution of roles. Usually, these are situations when 1-2 people are working on the project. For example, you have received an order to create a logo for a business. All you need is the work of a designer and the approve of a senior specialist. If your project is more complex and requires the involvement of more specialists, it is recommended to develop a RACI matrix.

Should I demonstrate the RACI matrix to my team?

Obviously, once the role assignment matrix is ready, you have to demonstrate it to your team. The best solution is to organize an online meeting with all the people involved, present the table, and explain the specifics of each participant's role. It is not a good idea to send such a table to a common work chat room, as it may confuse other colleagues who are not working on this project.

How many steps should the RACI table contain?

In any RACI table, there are roles, positions, and, of course, tasks. The number of steps in your matrix will depend on how many tasks you have divided the entire project into. For example, a website development project usually has 4-5 phases. The more complex the project, the more steps the roles and responsibilities chart will contain.