RACI matrix: what it is and how to build one.

The RACI matrix, also called a responsibility assignment matrix, is a table that crosses a project's or process's activities with the people involved and marks each person's role in each activity. The acronym covers four roles: R for Responsible (who does the work), A for Accountable (who answers for the result and decides), C for Consulted (who weighs in beforehand), and I for Informed (who needs to know afterward).

It exists to prevent three scenarios every team knows: the activity nobody did because everyone thought it belonged to someone else, the activity two people did at the same time, and the decision made by someone without the authority to make it. This guide defines each letter precisely, shows the rules of the matrix, teaches you to build one step by step, explains the variations (RASCI and others), gives an annotated example, and shows how to reflect RACI in day-to-day work in Tasskee. To go straight to the spreadsheet, use the RACI matrix template.

What each letter means

R and A: the difference that confuses people most

The R does; the A answers. If the email campaign goes out with an error, whoever wrote and sent it is the R, but whoever answers for it, and should have checked it beforehand, is the A. "Responsible" and "accountable" are easy to mix up, and the key is that accountable means the person who answers for the result.

In practice: the R knows how to do it, the A decides whether it's good enough. In small activities, the same person can be both R and A (writes and approves). In activities that involve money, risk, or the company's image, it's healthy for them to be different people.

C and I: the difference is direction

The consulted person takes part beforehand, and the conversation goes back and forth: legal reviews the contract, finance confirms whether there's budget. The informed person receives the news afterward or during progress, without needing to respond: the client, who is told the delivery date, or the leadership, who gets the weekly summary. Marking someone as C when it should have been I makes the project stop and wait for an opinion nobody needed.

The rules that make the matrix work

1. A single A per activity. This is the most important rule. With two approvers, each waits for the other to decide and nobody answers for the result.
2. At least one R per activity. An activity without an executor is just an intention.
3. R and A can coincide when the activity is small and low-risk. Be explicit: write "A/R" in the cell.
4. Few Cs. Every consulted person is a wait. Consult whoever really changes the decision, not whoever likes to be kept in the loop.
5. I is not decoration. Informing also takes work: someone has to send the information. Notify only who needs it and define the channel and frequency.
6. Roles assigned to named people or functions. "Leadership" or "the team" is not a role. If the matrix is by function (project manager, analyst), keep a list nearby of who fills each one.
7. The matrix is per activity, not per person. The same person can be A on one activity, C on another, and I on a third.
8. One person shouldn't be overloaded with Rs. If a person's column has R on almost every row, the bottleneck is built into the design.

How to build a RACI matrix, step by step

1. List the activities. Use the project's list of deliverables or stages. For large projects, start from the WBS (work breakdown structure). A list of 10 to 25 rows is a good size: any more, and you should split it by phase.
2. List the people or functions. They go in the columns. Include external people (client, vendor) too, if they take part in decisions.
3. Fill in the A first. For each row, decide who answers. This is the hard conversation and the most valuable one: often you discover that nobody had that authority.
4. Fill in the R. Who does the work. Check each person's workload.
5. Define the Cs. Who needs to weigh in beforehand and at what point.
6. Define the Is. Who needs to be told, through what channel, and when.
7. Validate with the people involved. A matrix made only by the manager becomes an order, not an agreement. Show it to the team and adjust.
8. Check the rules. Every row with exactly one A and at least one R; no overloaded column; no row without informed people when a client or leadership is involved.
9. Publish and review. The matrix needs to be visible to everyone and reviewed when people join or leave the project, or when the scope changes.

Variations: RASCI and other acronyms

RACI is the foundation, and some organizations adapt it. The best-known variations:

• RASCI. Adds the S, for Support: who helps the responsible person carry out the work, without answering for the deliverable. It's useful when there's a main executor and others who assist with parts of the work.
• RACI-VS. Adds the V (Verifier, who checks quality) and the S (Signatory, who formally signs off or approves). It's used more in contexts with quality control and formal signatures.
• RAPID, DACI, and others. Similar families, aimed at decision-making rather than execution. In general, they name who recommends, who decides, and who executes.

The rule for choosing: use the simplest variation that solves your problem. If RACI already answers "who does it, who approves, who weighs in, who's told," adding letters only makes it harder to read. The support S helps when the people providing support don't show up anywhere and nobody knows they worked on it. The rest, only when your industry or company requires it. The matrix may not even be the right tool: to list actions with an owner, a deadline, and a cost, 5W2H is usually more direct.

Annotated example: launching a Black Friday campaign

Situation: an online store in Florianópolis, with 12 people, is going to launch its Black Friday campaign. The participants are Marina (director), Paulo (marketing), Camila (design), Diego (IT), Renata (customer service), and Bruno (finance).

How to read this matrix

• Every row has a single A. Marina approves discounts and budget (decisions about money and margin); Paulo answers for the assets and the send; Diego, for the website setup; Renata, for customer service.
• Whoever does the work isn't always whoever approves. On the "define discounts" row, Bruno calculates (R) and Marina decides (A). Camila designs (R), and Paulo approves (A).
• The Cs are where the decision changes. Bruno is consulted on setting up the offers, because the price shown on the site has to respect the approved margin.
• Renata shows up as I on almost everything. She needs to know what was announced before customers start asking. That's information, not consultation.
• Marina doesn't execute anything. The director is A or I. If she showed up with several Rs, it would be a sign of a bottleneck.

One point of attention: Paulo is A/R on the send and C on two other rows. In larger campaigns, that pile-up becomes a bottleneck, and the right move would be to share the execution (R) with another person in marketing.

Signs your team needs a RACI matrix

• The same questions come back every week: "who approves this?", "who tells the client?"
• Deliverables slip because they're waiting for a response nobody knew was theirs.
• Two people do the same thing, or nobody does.
• Decisions get redone because whoever decided didn't have the authority.
• The project involves several departments, and each thinks the other one owns it.
• Someone goes on vacation or leaves the company and nobody knows what they did.
• The client calls different people and gets different answers.
• The status meeting has turned into a session of figuring out "whose is this?"

If three or four of these sound familiar, a one-page matrix solves more than one more meeting. On the other hand, if the team has three people and everyone knows what they do, you don't need one: the cost of maintaining the matrix outweighs the benefit.

Common mistakes when using RACI

1. Two As on the same row. It splits accountability and, in practice, cancels it. If there are two approvers, break the activity in two.
2. No A. The activity has executors, but nobody answers for the result.
3. Everyone is C. Consulting everyone paralyzes the work. Consult whoever has information or authority on the point.
4. Using I as a consolation prize. The informed person has to receive something. If nobody notifies them, they're not informed.
5. A matrix that's too big. Past 25 rows or 8 columns, it becomes unreadable. Split by phase or by team.
6. Roles by job title, not by person. "Manager" works when there's only one. When there are three managers, the matrix needs names.
7. A matrix made and shelved. RACI needs to be where the work happens. If it lives in a file, nobody checks it.
8. Forgetting the externals. Clients, accountants, and vendors also have roles: they're often the A on an approval or the C on a requirement.
9. Confusing RACI with hierarchy. The A on an activity isn't necessarily everyone's boss. An analyst can be the A on an activity where the director is only I.

How to reflect RACI in Tasskee

A spreadsheet matrix shows the design, but it doesn't stop the work from taking another path. In Tasskee, the RACI roles become fields on the task itself, so they stay visible to everyone day to day. A practical mapping:

The step by step:

1. Create the tasks for the matrix's activities on the project board, in list view or schedule. For a project with several workstreams, use workstreams to group by area.
2. Set the assignee on each task: that's the R.
3. Add the approver: the row's single A. Watchers and approvers are available from the Start plan.
4. Add the watchers: those are the Is, who follow progress without needing to do the work.
5. Bring in the consulted people through comments: the opinion is recorded on the task, with date and author, and doesn't get lost in a side conversation.
6. Use the "In approval" stage: a task that's in approval requires the approver's decision. That's the matrix's A in action: the task doesn't close without a decision from whoever answers for it.

For the client who needs to approve deliverables, the guest portal lets them follow the project, comment, and approve without taking up a seat on the plan. If you need the matrix to be enforced by profile, permission profiles (from the Start plan) control what each person can see and do.

One last habit is worth keeping: review the matrix along with the planning of each phase. When someone joins or leaves the project, the change of assignee or approver should happen on the task the same day. To list the actions of an improvement with an owner, a deadline, and a cost, combine RACI with a 5W2H plan; and if you want to see another example of the matrix in action, read the RACI matrix example on the blog.