By: Megan Huffman
Photo by fauxels
Working with large and/or complex projects can get confusing and can quickly become overwhelming. You might have a stellar team, solid project schedule, and a thorough project charter to back you up, however, if anyone is unclear about assignments and involvement then it might be difficult to keep the team focused and able to meet deadlines. Bob Kantor, a management consultant and executive coach, has rescued dozens of projects and states:
"In almost 100 percent of these rescue efforts, I have found that there is no shared understanding of participant roles and responsibilities, nor is there explicit documentation to support it."
The solution? The RACI Matrix.
What is that? A RACI Matrix is a simple yet effective tool to define roles, document key decisions, and visually map out tasks and milestones to improve the chances of a successful project journey.
What does it mean? The acronym, RACI, identifies the four roles that stakeholders play in a project.
Responsible - Who is assigned to complete the task or deliverable? Who must make the decision? Can be more than one person.
Accountable - Who has the final decision-making authority? Who is accountable for completion? Can only be one person.
Consulted - Who is the advisor, stakeholder, and/or expert? Who is consulted before a decision or action?
Informed - Who is informed after a decision is made or an action is taken?
Still not convinced? Kantor advises that "the RACI model almost always gets a stuck project moving again, and enables the key stakeholders to readily deal with the other issues that require resolution." Integrating a tailored RACI template with your project management process ensures that your project is designed for success from the get-go.
Download our free RACI Matrix template below:
Feel free to reach out to info@cobblestoneconsulting.com with any
questions or if you'd like help filling out any of our templates!
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