The RACI Model¶

1. Definition¶

The RACI model (also known as a Responsibility Assignment Matrix) is a project management tool used to clarify roles and responsibilities for specific tasks, milestones, or decisions within a project. Its primary goal is to eliminate confusion regarding “who does what.”

2. The Acronym Decoded¶

RACI stands for the four roles stakeholders can play in any given task:

R – Responsible (The Doer)
- Who: The person(s) who actually performs the work to complete the task.
- Note: There must be at least one “R” for every task. There can be multiple “R”s if the workload is shared.
A – Accountable (The Owner)
- Who: The person ultimately answerable for the correct and thorough completion of the task. They have veto power and provide final sign-off.
- Golden Rule: There must be exactly one “A” per task. Having more than one creates confusion about who makes the final decision.
C – Consulted (The Advisor)
- Who: Subject matter experts who provide input before the work is done or signed off.
- Communication: Two-way communication. Their feedback is required.
I – Informed (The Recipient)
- Who: Those who need to be kept up-to-date on progress or notified when a task is completed.
- Communication: One-way communication (FYI). They do not influence the task details, they just need to know the outcome.

3. When to Use It¶

Project Kickoff: To set clear expectations from day one.
Process Improvement: When a process is broken or tasks are slipping through the cracks.
Role Confusion: When team members ask, “I thought you were doing that?”
Resource Allocation: To ensure no single person is overloaded with work.

4. Analysis: How to Read the Matrix¶

Once you populate a grid (Tasks on the Y-axis, People on the X-axis), look for these common issues:

Horizontal Analysis (Looking at a specific Task)

No R: Nothing will get done.
No A: No one is making decisions; the project will stall.
Multiple A’s: Recipe for conflict and power struggles.
Too many C’s: “Analysis paralysis.” The task will be delayed by too many opinions.

Vertical Analysis (Looking at a specific Person) * Too many R’s: The person is a bottleneck and risks burnout. * No R’s or A’s: Is this person necessary for the project? * Too many A’s: This person is likely micromanaging or is a single point of failure.

5. Practical Example: Publishing a Company Blog Post¶

Task	Copywriter	Marketing Manager	Legal Team	Web Developer	All Staff
Draft Content	R	A	I	-	-
Review Compliance	C	A	R	-	-
Final Sign-off	I	A	C	I	-
Publish to Site	I	C	-	R/A	-
Notify Company	-	R	-	-	I

In this example, the Marketing Manager is Accountable for most steps, but the Legal Team is Responsible for the specific work of reviewing compliance.

6. Summary of Benefits¶

Eliminates Blame Culture: Everyone knows what they signed up for.
Streamlines Communication: You know exactly who to talk to (C) and who to just CC on an email (I).
Prevents Overload: Visually highlights if one person is doing too much.
Ensures Completion: Guarantees every task has an owner (A) and a worker (R).

Annexes¶

Relationship with RBAC ¶

RACI defines the Process; RBAC enforces the Permissions.

While they both deal with “who does what,” they exist in different domains. RACI is a management tool used to define human workflows, whereas RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) is a technical security model used to grant software permissions.

1. Conceptual Comparison¶

Feature	RACI (Responsibility Assignment Matrix)	RBAC (Role-Based Access Control)
Domain	Project Management & HR	IT Security & Systems Administration
Focus	Responsibility: Who should do the work?	Permission: Who can access the system?
Enforcement	Social: Enforced by managers and culture.	System: Enforced by code and software rules.
Flexibility	Fluid: Can change per project or task.	Rigid: Defined by strict security policies.
Output	A chart or matrix document.	A set of digital keys or access rights.

2. How They Connect: RACI informs RBAC¶

Ideally, you should not design an RBAC system without first understanding the RACI model of the organization. The RACI matrix acts as the set of business requirements that tells the IT team how to configure the RBAC settings.

The Mapping Flow:

Management creates a RACI chart to decide who is responsible for a financial report.
IT Security looks at that chart to determine which “Role” needs “Write” access to the finance folder in the server.

3. Mapping RACI Roles to RBAC Permissions¶

Here is how the four RACI categories typically translate into IT permissions:

R (Responsible): Needs Read/Write/Edit permissions. They need to get into the system to do the actual work.
A (Accountable): Needs Approve/Publish/Delete permissions. They usually hold higher-level administrative rights for that specific scope to finalize the task.
C (Consulted): Needs Read/Comment permissions. They need to see the draft to offer advice, but they shouldn’t necessarily be able to overwrite the core data.
I (Informed): Needs Read-Only permissions (or no system access at all, just email notifications). They should not be able to alter anything.

4. Practical Example: Human Resources System¶

The Scenario: Hiring a new employee.

Step 1: The RACI (The Business Rule)

Recruiter: R (Responsible) for drafting the offer letter.
HR Director: A (Accountable) for approving the salary.
Hiring Manager: C (Consulted) on the details.

Step 2: The RBAC (The Technical Setup)

Role: Recruiter $\rightarrow$ Permission: Create Draft, Permission: Edit Document.
Role: HR_Director $\rightarrow$ Permission: Finalize Offer, Permission: Trigger Payroll Onboarding.
Role: Hiring_Manager $\rightarrow$ Permission: View Draft, Permission: Add Comments (No edit rights).

Summary¶

If you are building an IT system, RACI is the “Why” and “Who,” while RBAC is the “How.” You use the RACI matrix to ensure your RBAC configuration allows people to do their jobs (Availability) while preventing unauthorized changes (Integrity).

Page last modified: 2025-12-06 08:07:04