We were with a leadership team last week who needed to align various groups of people within their organization. What we collectively identified was a very common challenge – a lack of clarity in who is responsible for what. This created a tug of war between the groups for resources, authority and control.
Lack of crystal clear clarity is a very common occurrence. When people are unclear about their responsibilities or decision making authority it creates conflict and confusion. It reduces productivity and engagement.
The RACI is a matrix that resolves this lack of clarity. It is a chart that captures all the activities or decision making authorities in an organization mapped against all the people. Where activities and roles intersect, someone is assigned responsible, accountable, consulted or informed for that activity or decision.
Benefits of a RACI –
- shared understanding of people’s roles and responsibilities,
- strong communication between people with the Informed and Consulted roles
- differences are uncovered and resolved through a cross-functional, collaborative activity (completing the RACI!)
The RACI answers two key questions:
- what needs to be done?
- who must do it?
Resources for you:
- Here is a RACI template
- Here is a great video that walks through the elements of a RACI. You will see how quickly and easily you can create clarity.
- Here is a detailed description of Role and Responsibility Charting.
There is a happy ending coming to our story. The leadership team is implementing the RACI and creating clarity so their groups work together productively and peaceably. And they all will live happily ever after… (ok, that’s a bit of a stretch. But RACI is a transformative tool!)
