What does RACI stand for?

RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed. Responsible is the person who does the work. Accountable is the one who owns it and signs off, and there should be only one per task. Consulted people give input before the work is finalized. Informed people are kept up to date on progress. Each cell in the matrix holds one of these letters.

What is the difference between Responsible and Accountable?

Responsible is the person doing the hands-on work on a task. Accountable is the person who owns the outcome, makes the final call, and answers for it. A task can have several Responsible people, but it should have exactly one Accountable, so there's no confusion about who has the final say. Often the same person is both.

What is the golden rule of a RACI matrix?

The golden rule is one Accountable person per task. If two people are accountable for the same thing, neither truly is, and decisions stall. Responsible, Consulted, and Informed can each have several people, but accountability has to sit with a single name, so everyone knows who owns the result and who to go to.

What is the difference between RACI and DACI?

RACI is task-centric: it maps who's Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed for each task in a project. DACI is decision-centric: Driver, Approver, Contributor, Informed, used to clarify who drives and who approves a specific decision. Use RACI to run execution across many tasks. Use DACI when the goal is making one important decision well.

When should you use a RACI matrix?

Use a RACI matrix on cross-functional projects where several people or teams touch the same work and ownership is fuzzy. It earns its place when a project has many tasks, multiple approvers, or a matrixed org. For a small team sitting together on one task, it's overkill. The bigger and more tangled the project, the more it helps.

TemplatesPrioritization & matricesRACI Matrix

RACI Matrix

A RACI matrix is a grid that maps who's Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed for each task in a project. One letter per person, per task. This template opens with the four roles defined, a filled web-redesign example, and a blank grid of roles against tasks. Project managers and team leads use it to settle who does the work, who signs off, and who just needs a heads-up before a cross-functional project starts.

Use this template

The four RACI roles defined, a worked web-redesign example, and a blank role-by-task grid.

What's included

The four RACI roles, defined. Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed, each with a one-line description on the board.
A filled example. A Web Redesign RACI matrix with Product manager, Designer, Engineer, and Product marketing mapped across real tasks.
A blank RACI template. An [Initiative Name] grid with Role 1 to Role 4 columns and Task 1 to Task 4 rows to fill in.
R, A, C, I cell markers. Drop a letter into each cell to set a person's level of involvement on each task.
Editable roles and tasks. Rename the columns and rows, add more, or recolor to match your project.

Why use a RACI matrix?

End the 'who owns this?' confusion. Every task gets one Accountable name, so nothing slips through the cracks.
Cut people into the right conversations. Consulted and Informed make it clear who gives input and who just needs updates.
Speed up cross-functional work. A shared grid replaces a dozen 'am I supposed to do this?' Slack threads.
Spot overload and gaps. A column stacked with R's flags someone doing too much; an empty row flags an unowned task.
Onboard fast. A new team member reads one grid and knows their part.

How to use this template

Open the template. It lands with the four roles defined, a worked example, and a blank grid.
List your tasks. Put each deliverable or activity in its own row down the left.
Add the people. Give each person or role a column across the top.
Assign one letter per cell. Mark who's Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, or Informed for each task, keeping exactly one Accountable per row.
Check the balance. Scan for tasks with no Accountable, or a person buried in R's, and adjust.
Share with the team. Invite everyone to review and comment before the work kicks off.

Start your RACI matrix

RACI vs DACI

RACI maps four roles against tasks: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed. It's built for running execution, knowing who does and who owns each piece of work. DACI maps a different four, Driver, Approver, Contributor, and Informed, against decisions rather than tasks. Reach for RACI to coordinate who does what across a project. Reach for DACI when the real challenge is making a single big decision quickly and well.

Frequently asked questions

RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed. Responsible is the person who does the work. Accountable is the one who owns it and signs off, and there should be only one per task. Consulted people give input before the work is finalized. Informed people are kept up to date on progress. Each cell in the matrix holds one of these letters.
Responsible is the person doing the hands-on work on a task. Accountable is the person who owns the outcome, makes the final call, and answers for it. A task can have several Responsible people, but it should have exactly one Accountable, so there's no confusion about who has the final say. Often the same person is both.
The golden rule is one Accountable person per task. If two people are accountable for the same thing, neither truly is, and decisions stall. Responsible, Consulted, and Informed can each have several people, but accountability has to sit with a single name, so everyone knows who owns the result and who to go to.

RACI is task-centric: it maps who's Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed for each task in a project. DACI is decision-centric: Driver, Approver, Contributor, Informed, used to clarify who drives and who approves a specific decision. Use RACI to run execution across many tasks. Use DACI when the goal is making one important decision well.
Use a RACI matrix on cross-functional projects where several people or teams touch the same work and ownership is fuzzy. It earns its place when a project has many tasks, multiple approvers, or a matrixed org. For a small team sitting together on one task, it's overkill. The bigger and more tangled the project, the more it helps.