Brief on “RACI Concept”Brief on “RACI Concept”

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Responsible  •This Position/Person who holds the “R” is the one who will make sure that the work gets done.•If nothing happens, he is accountable for FAILURE OF ACTION. •If you have an “R” for a piece of work, you should ask yourself questions like,

•When will I have time to do this work?•What kinds of resources will it take? •When is it due?” •What is the implication on project, time schedule and cost?

What is RACI

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Accountable • This position/person is ultimately responsible for ensuring completion of a function, activity or decision, but may delegate responsibility to another person (May be from other department also, with their consent). •Only one position should be accountable for every action or decision•The “A” role holds the AUTHORITY in the system, and must approve a decision or determine if a particular task has been done well. •They are accountable for the quality of the work or the quality of the decisions that are taken. However, best practices adopted in the similar industries (best across globe) to be reviewed before taking final decision.•If nothing happens, he is accountable for FAILURES OF JUDGMENT. •He shall be worrying about whether or not he made the right choice, hired the right person, delegated a task to the right resource etc. Can any alternate be planned to reduce cost and time (where ever possible)?

What is RACI

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Consulted 

• This position/person is involved prior to a decision or action taking place. (should be a integral part till final decision is made)

•A person is given a “C” role if they have a particular knowledge or expertise to CONTRIBUTE to the decision or the task

•He must be included BEFORE the decision is made.

•Giving a CC in e-mail may mean he is consulted for opinion.

•He is accountable for the quality of the advice he gives.

•If nothing happens, he is accountable for FAILURES OF EXPERTISE. •He shall be worrying if he gave someone the right counsel.

What is RACI

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Informed • This position/person is told of an outcome of an activity or decision afterwards

•This role is the least participative, because “I’s” get informed after the fact.

•But even “I’s” are accountable because they need to actively absorb the information that’s coming at them.

•If an email blast goes out or something is communicated at a staff meeting, it’s not appropriate for an I to say “Nobody told me about that.”

•Thinking carefully about who “needs to know” about actions and decisions is very important before informing anyone.

•Sometimes Informed persons actually need to execute and perform

•They share some accountability for FAILURES OF COMMUNICATION.

•Marking CC in mail may mean Consulted or Communicated or both?

What is RACI

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Points to be considered before making RACI Matrix:•For Long term/ regular activities Focus on the position, not on the individual currently occupying the position and put the designation/ position in the RACI Matrix•For Short term/ special tasks focus on the person and put name of the person in the RACI Matrix.•Ensure the level of detail is appropriate to the positions on the RACI. We should have cascading RACIs from the senior team down to the individual contributor level •The RACI should be revisited and tested regularly as business conditions change •The first RACI will be an iterative process, and may not 100% accurate at first. Further refinement is encouraged

RACI Guidelines

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Points to be considered before making RACI Matrix:•Place accountability (A) and responsibility (R) at the lowest feasible level •There can be only one accountability (A) per activity •For Every Activity there shall be one R & A. There may not be C&I•Minimize the number of Consults (C) and Informs (I)

•Avoid listing mundane activities like 'attend meetings’

RACI Guidelines

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Precautions to be taken when RACI is made involving Cross Functional Team and Top Management:

1.Take consent of the other departmental head/ Person whom R or A is assigned, before putting the names of the persons from their department or get the RACI Matrix vetted/ agreed by the other departmental heads.2.In case of dispute the matter to be referred to the higher authority, whom both the departments are reporting.3.In some cases the R & A can be with same persons. Few typical examples are as below:

•Profitability of a Business Unit – BU Head / CEO•Cost of Procurement – Head of Procurement•Selling Price per unit of product sold – Head of Marketing•Recruitment Cost – Head of HR

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Precautions to be taken when RACI is made involving Cross Functional Team and Top Management:•In some cases the R can be with 2 or 3 persons, but you can try to get it to one “R” by breaking the activity to sub-activities. Few typical examples are given below:

•Safety will be responsibility of Safety Officer and Concerned HOD,. To bring clarity you can break to 2 sub-activities like

•Developing Safety related SOPs – “R” is with Safety Officer, “C’ may be with HOD

•Implementing Safety SOP – “R” is with HOD

•Monitoring Safety Practices – “R” is with Safety Officer.

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