RESPONSIBILITY ASSIGNMENT MATRIX

What is RASCI?

A RASCI Chart is a key ingredient in the toolkit of any project manager. RASCI is one of the most well-known variants of
responsibility assignment matrix whose main purpose is, as the name suggests, to assign responsibilities in a project or
process, in this way ensuring that all involved are aware of what is expected of them.
RASCI is an acronym (you may have noticed already how much we love acronyms in the world of project management!
stands for:

• R: Responsible – this is the doer, the individual responsible for creating a deliverable or performing a task
• A: Accountable – this is where the buck stops aka person whose head will roll if things don’t work out as they should
• S: Support – this represents support elements, who are not responsible but will help when needed
• C: Consulted – this is someone who will either provide inputs, endorse or advise on a certain task or deliverable
• I: Informed – this is an individual who needs to needs to be kept in the loop, FYI-style.

Benefits of RASCI Charts

Having a RASCI Chart in your project allows you to:

• Clarify responsibilities: there is no room for ambiguity since all responsibilities are documented
• Remove duplication of efforts: clarity on who does what prevents team members from working on tasks that they we
supposed to work on
• Set expectations: because everyone knows what is expected of them, motivation and performance are likely to increa
• Drive ownership: by assigning responsibilities to tasks, commitment and accountability can be generated
• Accelerate decision-making: since people will know who do they need to go to for decision-making
• Communicate better: when everyone is clear on their responsibilities, you no longer need to wonder who should be
speaking to a supplier or making a decision

RASCI vs RACI

While RASCI is a renowned model, you may have also heard of its sibling RACI. RACI is equally useful as a tool; however
doesn’t contain the role of Supporters, leaving it to the Responsible to identify who to ask for support. While both mod
prove beneficial, there are advantages in using RASCI for large or complex projects involving a wider project team. Whe
crowd is brought together it is easy to get confused and even lost regarding responsibilities, thus, having the role of
Supporters in your matrix may help you bring clarity to the group.

The responsibility-assignment-matrix-family is a vast one and you will certainly find alternative models, such as the bro
RACI-VS (verifier and sign-off), the cousin PARIS (perform, accountable, control, suggest, informed), the aunty DACI (dri
approver, contributor, informed) or the grumpy old uncle CAIRO, who closely resembles RACI but has an additional
responsibility, “omitted” or “out of the loop”.

How to create a RASCI Chart

A RASCI Chart is very easy to create and that’s why you should definitely have one in your project (did I mention the gre
of benefits of having one?). The Chart combines information from your Work Breakdown Structure (your deliverables a
tasks) with information from your Organizational Breakdown Structure (the individuals or roles that are part of the proj

1. Using verbs for activities and nouns for deliverables, list in the vertical all the activities, processes or deliverables to e
you intend to assign responsibilities to, one per row
2. In the horizontal, one per column, list the roles or names of the individuals who are part of the project
3. Put the related letter of the responsibility (R, A, S, C, or I) you want to assign in the cell where activities intersect a ro
name

However, even better than building your own RASCI from scratch, is using the template we developed just for you, read
be used in the next worksheet!
1. Using verbs for activities and nouns for deliverables, list in the vertical all the activities, processes or deliverables to e
you intend to assign responsibilities to, one per row
2. In the horizontal, one per column, list the roles or names of the individuals who are part of the project
3. Put the related letter of the responsibility (R, A, S, C, or I) you want to assign in the cell where activities intersect a ro
name

However, even better than building your own RASCI from scratch, is using the template we developed just for you, read
be used in the next worksheet!

Best Practices in Using a RASCI Chart

A couple of best practices to check for when using a RASCI Chart are:

• Each activity/deliverable should have one (1) and only one accountable (A)
• Activities/deliverables can have more than one responsible (R)
• Beware of columns with no empty cells, it means there are individuals with too much work assigned to them
• Beware of columns full of Accountables (A), as you may want to delegate authority to others instead of giving that bu
(sorry, meant power!) to a single individual
• Beware of activities/deliverables with too many people to be Consulted (C) since this can slow down the work
• Present the RASCI Chart at the kick-off meeting, don’t wait until it’s too late
• Ensure that people are happy with the RASCI Chart and have agreed to it
 TRIX

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 RESPONSIBILITY ASSIGNMENT MATRIX

<Populate the matrix with the list of tasks/deliverables/processes as rows, and the name/role of project participants as
columns. Where a role meets a responsibility, assign a responsibility (R, A, S, C; I) in that cell.>

Tasks / Individuals Name1 Name2 Name3 Name4 Name5

Task 1
Task 2 R I A C S
Task 3
Task 4
Task 5
Task 6
Task 7
Task 8
Task 9
Task 10
Task 11
Task 12
Task 13
Task 14
Task 15

KEY: R: Responsible A: Accountable S: Support C: Consulted I: Informe

TRIX

ole of project participants as

ll.>

Name6 Name7

I S

C: Consulted I: Informed