The Responsibility Assignment Matrix, also known as the RACI Matrix, is considered one of the best ways to track roles and responsibilities within a project. In general to save time project managers use a RACI matrix template.
I believe that it is important for anyone in the IT profession because it creates the opportunity for what I believe is the best way to ensure great success and participation within a project. Delegating tasks as well as bringing everyone on board with the decision making process creates a significant difference in the long run.
Recently I spoke about how I used RACI matrix at my current position in a startup to help me with stakeholder management. Where I held a roles and responsibilities session where the output was a RACI chart.
For example we need user guides. Ideally we would have a technical content creator or product marketer than can could oversee this piece of work.
We had no such person but the task had to be done. Instead it would fall to the Product Owner, Designer, Team Lead and Digital Lead. It was just not clear who was ultimately responsible for the success of delivering this output.
The session helped us a lot.
We ensured every task had at least one stakeholder Responsible for it.
No tasks had more than one stakeholder Accountable.
What Is The RACI Matrix stand for?
The term RACI which is formulated by stakeholders who will hold one of the following responsibilities:
- Responsible: People who actually do the work
- Accountable: People who are interested in the end result
- Consulted: People who can help with the work
- Informed: People who are interested in the end result and how the work is progressing.
In the PMP exam approach for the RACI Matrix, sometimes you will find that one person may hold multiple roles in the project. For example, the person that is assigned for an Accountable task may find themselves completing a Responsible task as well.
Having a RACI Matrix is beneficial because it allows for an organized method of communication, it creates a limitation so that there aren’t too many people working on a project, and it established a clear expectation for everyone involved. Having a team involved creates for better precision and team members will feel as though they have an increased ownership with assignments. This type of connection towards the project leads to a higher level of commitment and participation
Creating a RACI Matrix Template can bring on a variety of questions like:
- Why do you need to use a template?
- Who is responsible for creating and managing?
- When should you use a template in agile environment?
We’re here to answer those questions and give the right tools to being able to create the best possible template.
5 RACI Matrix Rules
When adhering to these RACI Matrix Rules, you will find yourself having more ease with assigning tasks and making sure that everyone is on the same page.
There are a few guidelines to consider when making a RACI Matrix Template.
- Identify all of the tasks that are needed to be completed
- Identify all of the project participants
- Identify who has responsibility, accountability as well as who will be consulted and informed for the necessary tasks
- Make sure that every task has someone who is responsible for it
- Discuss tasks with everyone within the project to ensure agreement
3 Steps on How to Create a RACI Template
Tasks within any project are defined into multiple steps. When creating the template it is important to specify each step, its task and who holds the responsibility for Project.
Step 1 – Identify Roles
First it is important to identify the roles that are needed within the specific task. If there isn’t a limit to budget, specify as many as necessary for completion.
Step 2 – List Stakeholders
In the next step, list every stakeholder across the top of the RACI table.
Step 3 – Specify Roles
After the stakeholders are listed, fill the cells to determine who has responsibility, accountability, as well as who will be consulted and informed for this task. It is important that every task has at least one stakeholder who is responsible for it. Make sure that you do not have more than one stakeholder accountable as well.
Here is a RACI Example from PM Training that will best give you an idea of how it is formatted. Referencing this RACI Example is one of many other templates that can be utilized when making your own.
Choosing Right Template
It is important to utilize the right platform for your team when it comes to making the right template for your RACI Matrix
| Platform | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Google Slides | Real Time Editing ease for collaboration | Limited themes Requires Learning CurveGoogle DocsReal Time Editing ease for collaborationLimited Themes Chart Formation difficulty |
| Word | Ease of transferring files between platformsDecent for chart creation | Formatting Difficulty Collaboration Difficulty |
| Excel | Traditional for Chart CreationVarious Options/Tools for Chart Creation | Messy when using between multiple people Create bottleneck in creation |
| Best For Preserving formatCan be Interactive with Excel and Word | Only Ideal as a final format Not ideal for collaboration | |
| Software Solution | If you use Miro, Lucidchart, Monday already you can use ready made templates These look great and are very easy to make out of the box | These have free trials but they are paid tools |
27 RACI Matrix Templates Google Sheets
Utilizing Google creates the opportunity for multiple people to access and make adjustments to the template as necessary. It is free to use and allows for collaboration to occur in real time. This is perfect when wanting group involvement.
This is why we have migrated the following from the free excel templates listed below on other websites.
RACI Templates in PowerPoint
RACI Templates in Excel
Excel has pioneered itself as being one of the best platforms to use for creating charts of any kind. With this in mind, it comes with a plethora of options and the ability to properly create rules for each part of the chart. The downfall of using excel is that it can get messy with utilizing and sending files between team members as it is not a format built for live editing. Files can get missing pretty easily and it also can create a form of a bottleneck.
- TemplateLab – 21 Free RACI Templates
- Word Templates – 12+ Free RACI Templates
- Stakeholdermap.com RACI Template
- RACI Chart RACI Template
- Software Advice RACI Template
- UIT Stanford RACI Diagram
- Tactical Project Manager RACI Template
- Sample Templates RACI
- Project Management RACI Chart Template
- Sinnaps RACI Matrix Template
- Hubspot RACI Chart Template
- Knowledge Hills Six Sigma RACI Matrix Template
- PMO RACI Chart
RACI Templates in PDF
This is the best platform for your charts if you are needing to send documents to members and want to preserve its format. PDFs have the option to be interactive and can be imported into platforms like Excel and Word. It is best served as a final document as it is not ideal to use when you’re wanting to send to others as a means of having things changed.
RACI Templates in Word
There are some similarities between using Word and Google Docs. It has the option of creating charts and it can transfer between platforms like Excel and PDF. Word is a traditional platform that is standard for a lot of people to have on their computer. The challenges that occurs with Word is that it comes with difficulty to format. It also creates a bottle neck with files as you cannot edit in real time
RACI Template Online Software / Tools
Couple of options when it comes to software. My recommendation is don’t overthink it. If you are using these tools already they can create some really advanced graphics and have capacity to have a digital RACI matrix session with stakehodlers.
- Miro
- LucidChart – registration needed, free trial
- Ayoa – registration needed
- Sinnaps – registration needed
- Creately – registration needed
- Monday – registration needed
- Plan Hammer – registration needed
Conclusion on using RACI Matrix
We hope that we were able to answer all of your questions about RACI Matrixes in this tutorial. We find it a very useful tool to help align stakeholders and ensure everybody knows what is expected of them.
If you are more a video person, RACI 101 have a ne excellent explainer video below to help you further understand all things RACI matrix’s:
Delegating tasks as well as bringing everyone on board with the decision making process creates a significant difference in the long run. We hope that you enjoyed it! Share what your thoughts about are in the comments!
