RACI Matrix in Practice: A Complete Project Example, from Kickoff to Delivery

Every explanation of the RACI matrix has the same flaw: it defines the four letters and stops before the concrete case. Then you open an empty spreadsheet, write "responsible" in a column, and discover that the hard question was never what the R means. It's who will be the A of each row, and whether the client's answer counts or not.

This example walks through an entire project, a corporate website for a fictional company, with the matrix filled in and the reason behind each decision. For the concept, use the RACI matrix guide; for a blank spreadsheet, the RACI matrix template.

The four letters, one sentence each

• R (Responsible): does the work. There can be more than one.
• A (Accountable, the approver): decides and answers for the result if it goes wrong. Only one per row.
• C (Consulted): gives input before the decision. Communication goes both ways.
• I (Informed): is told afterward. Communication goes one way.

When the same person executes and answers for it, write A/R in the same cell.

The scenario

An agency is going to deliver the new corporate website for an electrical supplies distributor in Blumenau. The team has six roles, with names invented for the example:

• PM: Marina, the agency's project manager.
• Designer: Paulo.
• Writer: Camila.
• Dev: Rafael, developer.
• Client mkt: Juliana, from the distributor's marketing team and the project's point of contact.
• Director: Mr. Antônio, owner of the distributor and final decision maker.

The filled-in matrix

Activity	PM	Designer	Writer	Dev	Client mkt	Director
1. Briefing and scope	A/R	C	C	C	C	I
2. Site map	R	C	C	C	A	I
3. Page copy	C	C	R	I	A	I
4. Layout (design)	C	R	C	C	C	A
5. Development	A	C	I	R	I	I
6. Privacy policy	C	I	C	C	A/R	I
7. Testing	A	C	C	R	C	I
8. Final approval	R	I	I	I	C	A
9. Launch	A	I	I	R	I	I
10. Client team training	A	I	I	R	C	I

Row by row: why each letter is where it is

1. Briefing and scope

Marina is A/R: she leads the conversation and answers for what was agreed. Everyone who will execute is consulted, because a briefing without the voice of those who do the work produces impossible promises. The director is only informed, because the investment decision was already made before the kickoff. If the scope is closed with him left out, the problem shows up at final approval.

2. Site map

Marina builds the map, but Juliana approves. The client knows the products and the audience, and if she isn't the A, the map becomes a suggestion from the agency. Camila and Paulo are consulted because the map defines how many pieces of copy and how many layouts will exist.

3. Page copy

Camila writes; Juliana approves. A common mistake is putting the director as the A here, which makes every paragraph wait on a full calendar. Copy decisions live at the level of whoever knows the company's day-to-day. The developer is only informed, to know when the content arrives.

4. Layout

Paulo designs; the director approves. Here the choice is the opposite of the copy, and it's deliberate: visual identity is a brand decision, and the owner wants to see it. Juliana and Marina are consulted, because the director's approval is faster when his questions arrive already filtered. Rafael is consulted to flag what the layout complicates or makes more expensive in development.

5. Development

Rafael executes; Marina answers for it, because the deadline and scope belong to the agency. The client is merely informed: they don't approve code, they approve the result in steps 7 and 8. Giving the client the A on development is the shortest path to scope changes disguised as tweaks.

6. Privacy policy

This row belongs to Juliana, A and R, for a practical reason: the legal text is the company's responsibility, not the agency's. The agency is consulted to say where the text will appear and which forms collect data, but doesn't sign off on the content. Making this explicit in the matrix avoids the last-minute argument about who drafts the document.

7. Testing

Rafael executes and Marina answers for it. Juliana takes part as a consulted party: she's the one who notices that the "Request a quote" button is going to the wrong form.

8. Final approval

Marina leads the presentation (R); the director is the A. This row exists to show the point where the project changes owner: before it, the result belongs to the agency; after, to the client. Juliana is consulted because the director will ask for her opinion.

9. Launch

Rafael publishes; Marina answers for it. The client and the director are informed of the day and time. Here the I makes a difference, because nobody likes to find out the site changed by opening the page.

10. Training

Rafael teaches the client's team to edit the content; Marina answers for delivery of the training. Juliana is consulted on schedule and on the profile of who will be learning.

When the project changes midway

A matrix isn't written once and forgotten. Imagine that, in week 3, the director decides to add a careers page to the site. Two questions come up right away: who is the A of this new content, and who needs to be consulted? If the answer isn't in the matrix, the change becomes a hallway conversation and the deadline slips without anyone deciding it should slip.

The habit that solves it: every new activity goes into the matrix before it goes into the schedule. It takes a minute, and it records that the agency and the client agreed on who decides that. If the change alters the deadline or cost, Marina, as the A of development, is the one who takes the impact to the director.

When the person disappears

Also define a backup for each A. If Juliana goes on vacation the week the copy needs approval, the project can't stop. The matrix only gains strength when someone knows who steps in. In agency projects, an extra line in the footer, "point-of-contact backup," handles the case and costs almost nothing.

Five checks before you publish your matrix

1. Each row has exactly one A. Zero A's means nobody decides; two means each one thinks the other decides.
2. Each row has at least one R. If nobody executes, it's a decision with no work.
3. No person has C or A on everything. Whoever appears in every cell is being used as a bottleneck.
4. The C isn't a "for the record." Consulted means someone who has to answer before the decision; if the answer doesn't change anything, it's an I.
5. The matrix was shown to the people in it. A role the person doesn't know about doesn't count.

Signs your team needs a RACI

• The same "who approves this?" questions come back with every project.
• Tasks sit idle waiting on a decision each person believes belongs to someone else.
• The client approves late because the approval request went to the wrong person.
• Two people do the same work without knowing it.
• One person going on vacation leaves the project with nobody to decide.

If three of these signs sound familiar, the next kickoff is the moment. A ten-row matrix takes a half-hour meeting and avoids weeks of noise.

From the matrix to everyday work

The example above only works if the roles show up where the work happens. In practice, each row becomes a task with an assignee and, when there is an approval, an approver. In Tasskee, the Start plan already includes watchers and approvers, and the client follows progress through the client portal without taking a seat. If the action you want to structure is smaller than a project, the 5W2H with six examples is a lighter alternative. And for the report that keeps the client informed after the kickoff, see the weekly status report.