RACI matrix: who does it, who owns it, who is asked

A RACI matrix says who does each task, who owns the result, who is asked first and who is told afterwards. It removes the question "whose job was that?"

These are the eight planning threads the Krong course is built around. The highlighted ones are covered here. What are the planning threads?

The four letters

• R, Responsible: does the work. There can be several.
• A, Accountable: owns the result and signs it off. Exactly one.
• C, Consulted: gives input before the work is done. Two-way.
• I, Informed: hears the outcome afterwards. One-way.

An excerpt from Caldera Freight

The full matrix has 19 teams and 35 tasks. Here are three rows and five of the columns.

The Project Manager is accountable for all three tasks. A different team is responsible each time.

Checks that catch problems

• Every row has one A and at least one R.
• No column is full of Rs. That team is overloaded.
• No column is empty. That team may not belong in the plan.
• Too many Cs slow the work. Ask only people who can change the answer.

Why it is an integrated planning tool

The matrix is built on the same task IDs as the schedule. So it can answer questions the schedule cannot. Which team is responsible for most critical tasks? Who owns the work behind the biggest risk? Who must be told when a task slips?

It also feeds the task file you send to other tools. Sen writes the R team into the Responsible field and the A team into the Accountable field, so your Asana, monday.com or Jira board starts with owners filled in.

How Sen helps

Sen seeds the RACI from your work breakdown, and you edit any cell. Teams, not individuals, are assigned, which keeps the plan stable when people change roles. Sen allows only one A on each task. If you try to give a second team the A, it tells you which team holds it and asks you to change that one first. Team names run down the page, so a full matrix fits on a normal screen.

Questions people ask

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