What is RACI and when should you use it?

In today’s world of increasing remote / hybrid working, values such as ‘trust’, ‘autonomy’ and ‘empowerment’ are no longer simple aspirations.  They are absolute imperatives. As a result, so is ‘accountability’.

The days of a Manager driving delivery and making reactive decisions quickly through a team that occupied a single office or building are all but over in most sectors. 

While traditional ‘management’ styles (telling) have gradually been replaced by a wider commitment to ‘leadership’ (inspiring and supporting), when in a single location the safety net of being able to slip into a more direct and decisive management style was always there if and when things weren’t going to plan. 

Today, regardless of the advancements in online communication, slipping back to that more direct style is risky.  Not least because non-verbal communication accounts for 93% of communication (Dr Mehrabian’s ‘Elements of Communication’), meaning manager style ‘direct’ written communication on Slack, Teams and alike can often be misinterpreted, consequently impacting relationships and trust.

So, how do you ensure high levels of alignment, prioritisation and on-time delivery when leading a more distributed team without slipping into reactive, direct management?

Growing business = growing complexity

Business is all about people.  Always has been, always will be (even with the advancement of AI). 

It all comes down to a teams’ ability to communicate.  To align to a strategy, a culture and a set of priorities.  To take accountability for their part in the bigger picture, and to deliver outcomes to the right standard, on time.

As businesses grow in size, so does complexity and the chance that things slow down and / or problems occur.  This is because there are more degrees of communication going on between more people, and with each degree of communication comes the risk of an error (the opportunity to drive progress too).

To manage this complexity, businesses are used to implementing organisation structure or hierarchy (creating teams within teams) and utilising communication and planning tactics such as meetings and action lists / ticket systems. 

But as teams continue to grow, the risk that the ‘value add’ per team member starts to decline remains a constant threat (think unproductive meetings, poor time management, conflict between teams and people, people not taking accountability, etc.).

And it’s accountability that’s the key thing here.  As Verne Harnish, author of the excellent book ‘Scaling Up: Mastering the Rockefeller Habits’ puts it:

“If more than one person is accountable, then no one is accountable”.

While multiple people may play a part in the delivery of something, without a single person to take overall accountability, there is an ever present risk that the goal posts start to move. That the interpretation of what the priorities are and ‘what good looks like’ in terms of delivery become clouded and confusing.  That people spend more time debating than doing.  That critical deadlines are missed and, worse case, customers and shareholders are let down.

To counter this threat, it’s time to go back to basics.  It’s time for RACI.

Responsible.  Accountable.  Consulted. Informed.

Originally called ‘Linear Responsibility Charting’, what is now termed the ‘RACI matrix’ was conceived 70+ years back by a Dutch consultant called Ernst Hijams before being developed by a Leethan, Simpson Ltd, a Canadian consulting firm.

The concept is pretty straightforward.  For every item of work, there will be a group of people (mostly internal but sometimes external too) who have some degree of involvement.  There will also be a group of people who have zero involvement (though they should not be neglected in more general communication updates on progress).

It found real favour in the world of project management where timelines and the logical ordering of various items of work relied on having a robust plan and framework for managing who was doing what, and when.  However, in this increasingly modern world where change and cross-functional working are ever presents, and in particular where people are physically located in different places, it is radidly becoming vital in everyday work.

They key to RACI is to determine what each person’s level of involvement is and, consequently, how progress on that particular item of work will be a) controlled / governed and b) communicated.

If we’re going to be pedantic about things, it should actually be called ‘ARCI’ as accountability has to come first.

Defining each of the four roles within RACI:

1. Responsible:  This is the person or people who are actually doing the work / task.  Increasingly in business terms (as opposed to isolated projects) it’s multiple people.  Importantly, there may be some degree of dependence in the order in which things need to get done, so targets for specific tasks need to be clear.

2. Accountable:  This is the person (not people) that holds overall ownership for the piece of work (whether it be an ongoing part of the business or a project).  They’re the person who needs to ensure that everyone who is responsible for tasks is clear on what needs to be completed, by when and to what standard.  They’re also the person that company Boards / Executive teams will look to for updates and, if things aren’t going to plan, solutions.

3. Consulted:  This person or people are not actually playing an active role in this particular piece of work (they may be responsible or accountable for other pieces of work), but they have a level of interest in or knowledge / experience of it.  They may be internal (i.e. a colleague) or external (e.g., a customer, an advisor or a shareholder) and should be involved in both the thinking / design of a piece of work or project (to maximise the benefit of their inputs and also to engage them) and also the progress against an agreed plan (to build this into their own plans).

4. Informed: Finally, there is usually a group of people, both internal and external, who have no real direct involvement but would benefit from being communicated to / with.  This is good for broadening awareness of what’s going on across the business, and also to promote shared learning.

Vitally, both the accountable person and responsible person / people should have clear objective metrics against them, something that allows you to collectively assess with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response, whether the work has ben completed.

When should you use RACI?

There is so much activity involved in running a business it’s often easier just to let people get on with things, trusting that alignment, pace and high standards will come naturally.  This, especially in the early days of a start-up, may be the case.  But inevitably the issue of complexity will impact things at some stage.  Therefore, the sooner RACI is adopted in your business, the better. Not as a means to direct every tiny bit of what your team do, but more as a clear checkpoint so everyone’s on the same page.

There are three main ways of utilising RACI:

1. Strategy: For all strategic initiatives and objectives, utilise RACI to ensure the day to day delivery is not allowed to supersede strategic progress.

2. Projects: For business projects e.g.; product development or people initiatives, RACI is very much at home.

3. Day to day delivery: For the core ‘bread and butter’ parts of the business, RACI is a great way to pair critical KPIs / metrics with singularly accountable people, and to ensure everyone who is responsible feels the importance of owning their part consistently.  This allows you as a leader to cast an eye on over your KPI dashboard once a day or week and then address questions to the accountable person rather than diving in yourself. (Not that we suggest you do this, but a certain Jeff Bezos is notorious for addressing concerns to accountable people with an email containing a single ‘?’ … they certainly knew a response was required! The key point is he knows exactly who to approach because the accountability is clear).

For each, ensure a RACI matrix, similar to below, is completed, shared and signed up to by everyone involved.  That way, as and when things slip, you’re able to address things quickly.  Additionally, when things are going well, you know exactly who is to be recognised and rewarded.

 At beating hearts we support numerous businesses and their leadership teams to optimise performance and accelerate growth through the deliberate alignment of strategy and people, with focus on accountability being a critical factor in driving sustainable success. To find out more, contact us for to arrange a call.