RACI chart template

Fill in the template

RACI CHART

Task or decision
Responsible (does the work)
Accountable (owns the result)
Consulted (asked before)
Informed (told after)

1.
   Task or decision: ______________________
   Responsible (does the work): ______________________
   Accountable (owns the result): ______________________
   Consulted (asked before): ______________________
   Informed (told after): ______________________

2.
   Task or decision: ______________________
   Responsible (does the work): ______________________
   Accountable (owns the result): ______________________
   Consulted (asked before): ______________________
   Informed (told after): ______________________

3.
   Task or decision: ______________________
   Responsible (does the work): ______________________
   Accountable (owns the result): ______________________
   Consulted (asked before): ______________________
   Informed (told after): ______________________

4.
   Task or decision: ______________________
   Responsible (does the work): ______________________
   Accountable (owns the result): ______________________
   Consulted (asked before): ______________________
   Informed (told after): ______________________

5.
   Task or decision: ______________________
   Responsible (does the work): ______________________
   Accountable (owns the result): ______________________
   Consulted (asked before): ______________________
   Informed (told after): ______________________

Get the editable version: this template as an Excel file with a worked example, in the Change Toolkit. Or learn to use it on your own change in the course Leading Change with Evidence.

How to use it well

These steps are practice suggestions, not tested findings.

Start from decisions, not job titles. List the ten or so decisions and tasks where confusion is likely, such as who approves a new schedule or who tells customers. A chart of every task in the project is long, and long charts stop being read.

One name in Accountable. The usual guidance is one accountable individual per task, with more than one Responsible person allowed (Atlassian, n.d.). If you cannot pick one name, the task is probably two tasks.

Keep Consulted short. Every name in Consulted is someone the work waits for. Ask whether each one needs to be asked before, or only told after.

Check it with the people named. Send each person the lines with their name on them and ask whether they agree. A chart that people learn about after the fact describes what the author hoped, not who will act.

Revisit it at reviews. Roles drift once a change is under way. At each review, ask which lines changed hands in practice and update the chart.

What the research says

No study in the Evidence Library behind this site tests a RACI chart, so treat this template as a practical tool. The letters follow common practitioner definitions: the Responsible person completes the work, the Accountable person ensures it is completed, Consulted people are the knowledge holders asked for advice, and Informed people need to be kept up to date (Atlassian, n.d.).

What research does address is the problem the chart is meant to solve: people not knowing what is expected of them.

Role ambiguity goes with lower performance. A meta-analysis of 169 samples (35,265 employees) found that each of seven work stressors was negatively related to job performance, and role ambiguity and situational constraints had the strongest negative relationships (Gilboa et al., 2008, rated Medium in the Evidence Library after a full-text read). The authors note that most of the pooled studies were cross-sectional, which makes it impossible to say which way the effect runs. People who are struggling may also report more ambiguity.

Overload goes with lower performance more among managers. In the same meta-analysis, the negative link between role overload and performance was stronger among managers than among nonmanagers (Gilboa et al., 2008). A chart that piles every Accountable line onto the same two managers is worth a second look.

None of this shows that drawing a chart reduces ambiguity. It shows why the question the chart asks is worth asking.

How it maps to the Unfrozen Loop

1. Week 0
   Before you start
2. 1
   Surface both ways
3. 2
   Make sense together, top included
4. 3
   Start it close to the work

   Part 3 asks the manager to lead the rollout with the team. A RACI line that names a manager as Accountable for a rollout step is that commitment written down.

5. 4
   Review on a rhythm, then hold the pace

   Bring the chart to each review and ask which lines changed hands in practice. A fix from the review can start as a new name in the Accountable column.

6. 5
   The middle’s own weather
7. Ring
   Safe to speak, and speaking changes something

Highlighted parts are the ones this idea speaks to. The mapping is my reading, not a tested finding. See the whole Loop and the evidence for each part.