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RACI Chart Template

Put the tasks down the side and the people across the top, then click a cell to mark R, A, C or I. The chart checks that every task has one accountable owner and someone doing the work, and prints in landscape with the legend.

What R, A, C and I mean

  • Responsible

    Does the work. A task can have more than one R, and it needs at least one.

  • Accountable

    The one person who answers for the result, signs it off and hands out the work. Exactly one A per task.

  • Consulted

    Asked for input before or during the work: an expert, legal, finance. Two-way conversation.

  • Informed

    Told about progress or the result, usually when it is done. One-way update, no sign-off.

These are the standard definitions of the responsibility assignment matrix; PMI's PMBOK Guide uses the RACI chart as its example of one.

The checks this chart runs

  • One A per task

    Two accountable people means nobody is. If two managers both sign off, pick the one who answers for it and make the other a C.

  • At least one R

    A task with an owner but nobody doing the work stalls. If the accountable person also does it, give the R to whoever does the hands-on part, or split the task.

  • Read the load

    The summary counts each person's letters. Someone with A on half the tasks is a bottleneck; someone with only I may not need to be on the chart at all.

  • Keep the C column short

    Every C is a conversation before the work moves. Consult the people whose input changes the result, and inform the rest.

How to make a RACI chart in the kickoff meeting

Use this as a RACI chart generator in the room, with the people who will do the work:

  1. Start from the preset closest to your project (a sales deal, a product launch, a customer event or a new hire) or clear it and type your own.
  2. List the deliverables, not every small step: eight to fifteen rows are usually enough for one project.
  3. Put roles or names across the top. Use names when the team is fixed, roles when people will change.
  4. Go task by task and agree the A first, then the R, then who is consulted and informed.
  5. Fix every warning before the meeting ends, print the chart or save it as a PDF, and send it with the meeting notes.

More on running the kickoff and the follow-up: the project kickoff meeting agenda, the account plan template, the action items template, the decision log template.

Who owns what is agreed out loud. Keep what was said.

The letters on a RACI chart are usually settled in the kickoff meeting. Record that meeting in ParrotNotes and get the transcript, a summary and the action items with their owners, so the chart matches what everyone agreed. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.

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