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RACI Matrix
A RACI Matrix is a responsibility assignment framework that clarifies roles and decision-making authority in projects and processes.
RACI Acronym
- Responsible: Who does the work (can be multiple people)
- Accountable: Who makes the final decision and owns the outcome (only one person per task)
- Consulted: Who provides input before work is done (two-way communication)
- Informed: Who is kept updated about progress (one-way communication)
Key Rules
- One Accountable per task: Only one person can be Accountable for each task
- Clear responsibility: Every task must have at least one Responsible person
- Avoid RACI confusion: Don’t assign multiple roles to the same person for the same task unnecessarily
Purpose
RACI matrices help:
- Clarify decision-making authority
- Prevent confusion about roles and responsibilities
- Avoid bottlenecks by identifying who needs to be consulted
- Ensure accountability with clear ownership
- Improve communication by defining who needs to know what
Related Concepts
- [[Engineering Strategy]]
- [[Decision Document Framework by Arnav Kumar]] — responsibility assignment in decision documents
- [[Architecture Decision Records]] — documenting who makes decisions
Linked References
- [[Broken Ownership Archetypes]]
Six patterns of broken ownership that occur when Knowledge, Mandate, or Responsibility are missing.
- [[Ownership Trio]]
True ownership requires three interdependent components: Knowledge, Mandate, and Responsibility.
- [[Decision Document Framework by Arnav Kumar]]
Arnav Kumar’s framework for writing comprehensive decision documents to get faster approvals.