What is a RACI matrix, and how do you make one?

What R, A, C and I mean

• R, Responsible: the person or role who does the work. There can be more than one, but if there are many, name a lead.
• A, Accountable: the one person who owns the result, makes the final decision and signs it off. Exactly one per row. The A can also be the R on small tasks.
• C, Consulted: people whose input is needed before the work is finished. This is two-way: they are asked and they answer.
• I, Informed: people who are told about progress or the decision after it happens. This is one-way.

The point of RACI is to remove the two most common sources of project friction: work nobody thinks they own, and decisions several people think they own. It is most useful when work crosses departments or companies, such as a client, a contractor and an internal team.

RACI matrix example: a product launch

Rows are deliverables from the project's work breakdown structure; columns are roles, not names, so the matrix survives staff changes.

Deliverable	Sponsor	Project manager	Product lead	Marketing lead	Sales lead	Legal
Launch plan and budget	A	R	C	C	C	I
Product feature freeze	I	C	A/R	I	C
Pricing	A	I	C	C	R	C
Launch messaging and website	I	I	C	A/R	C	C
Terms and conditions	I	I	C		C	A/R
Sales training		I	R	C	A
Go or no-go decision	A	R	C	C	C	C
Weekly status report	I	A/R	C	C	C

Read it by row to see who does what, and by column to see each role's load. Here the product lead is Responsible or Accountable on two rows and Consulted on six, which is realistic. A column full of Rs would signal an overloaded person.

How to make a RACI matrix in six steps

1. List the deliverables and key decisions. Use the WBS work packages or main milestones. Ten to twenty rows is a good size; hundreds of rows will never be read.
2. List the roles. Include external parties (client, contractor, regulator) if they do work or approve it.
3. Assign the A first. For each row, ask "who will be blamed or thanked for this result?" Exactly one role.
4. Assign the R. Who actually produces it? At least one role per row.
5. Add C and I with restraint. Every C adds a review step and time. Ask whether their input really changes the result. If not, make them an I, or leave the cell empty.
6. Review with everyone named and publish it. The matrix only works if people have agreed to their letters. Store it where the team can find it, and revisit it when roles change.

Five checks that catch most RACI problems

Check	What it means	Fix
A row with no A	Nobody owns the result	Name one accountable role
A row with two or more As	Decisions will stall or conflict	Keep one A; make the others C
A row with no R	Nobody will do the work	Assign a responsible role
A column with no empty cells	That role is involved in everything and will become a bottleneck	Change some Cs to Is or blanks
A column with only Is	The role may not need to be on the matrix	Move it to the communication plan

RACI variants

Some teams add a fifth letter. RASCI adds S for Support: people who help the R but do not own the work. RACI-VS adds verifier and signatory roles for regulated work. DACI (Driver, Approver, Contributors, Informed) is used for single decisions rather than ongoing deliverables. These variants are useful when the plain four letters keep causing debate, but more letters also mean more to explain. For most projects, plain RACI is enough.

Using the RACI matrix day to day

A RACI matrix earns its keep in three moments. At kickoff, walk through it row by row so everyone hears their letters in front of the others; disagreements surface now, when they are cheap. During delivery, when someone asks "who approves this?", the answer is the A on that row, not whoever is most senior in the room. And when roles change (a new supplier, a reorganisation, someone leaving), update the matrix the same week.

The Consulted and Informed columns also feed your communication plan. Everyone marked I on a deliverable should receive the status report or the decision note that covers it. Everyone marked C should be invited to the review before sign-off, with enough time to respond. If a C regularly misses reviews, either the timing is wrong or they should really be an I.

Common RACI mistakes

• Confusing R and A. The R does the work; the A answers for it. On a small task one role can be both, but write it as A/R so it is deliberate.
• Making the sponsor accountable for everything. Push accountability down to the lowest role that can genuinely decide.
• Consulting everyone. Long C lists turn into slow approval chains.
• Using names instead of roles. When someone leaves, the matrix breaks.
• Building it and filing it. If nobody checks it when a dispute starts, it was not worth making.

How to do this in Critova

Critova does not have a dedicated RACI grid, so keep the matrix as a spreadsheet in the project's files and make the plan reflect it. Set the R as the assignee on each task, add the project team with their roles, and use comments to bring in the people who are Consulted. Give sponsors and other Informed people free viewer seats so they can read dashboards and the printable status report without asking. Risk owners in the risk register follow the same logic: one accountable owner per risk, as the risk management guide explains. Start from one of the project templates to get a team and task structure quickly.