In Project management, the most essential step is to properly divide and delegate the tasks to each and every team member. Division of labor is the prime role of any project manager and therefore, the identification of each person’s roles and responsibilities should be dealt with in the start of any project. This way, each team member can adjust with the amount and quality of work that is to be expected of them during the course of the project.
Why matrix in project management:
In more than one situation, people end up struggling against each other for performing the same task and hence much of the time is wasted in understanding the repercussions of not having a more organized approach towards dividing the tasks. Furthermore, this way no one can take accountability for the task and if anything has been done incorrectly, the firm would have lost a lot of time and secondly, there would no one person to blame for the loss. Moreover, there might also exist an understanding gap in when should the team members own up to the task and use their own judgment and when they should consult with project manager. Therefore, role defining job makes the job easier for everyone involved in a project.
Simple Demonstration of the RACI model:
The RACI model is a simple demonstration of the all roles somewhat described above. It takes away the ambiguity over who is responsible for what task etc. The RACI matrix acronym therefore stands for:
Responsible:
This person is responsible for achieving a task, getting the work done or a decision made. He/she will be the task leader of sorts and will handle all the associated details with making sure a deliverable is made by the deadline.
Accountable:
This person is accountable for how a task has been completed and thus needs to be thorough with all the details and as well as get the work d
one correctly. He/she might as well be the project sponsor or a project executive and he/she approves the work of the person who has been assigned as responsible (R).
Consulted :
This person or a team of experts are responsible for providing all sorts of information that is needed in the course of a project and thus serves to be not restricted to one person. Instead a whole team can work as experts in the different subjects being handled by the project. There exists two-way communication with them.
Informed :
This person is continuously kept informed of all the progress of a project and they usually are the ones who have stakes in how a project turns out to be or its outcomes. There exists one-way communication with them.
“This template provides 15 variations of matrix charts to add to your presentation. Create grids from 2×2 to 4×4, and also in various colors. “
Role and responsibility of RACI matrix in project management template:
Therefore, the RACI matrix template helps in assigning roles and responsibilities to the team members and through which everyone can communicate with each other on various aspects of the projects. It can be conveniently created in 6-simple steps of:
1. Identifying the Project tasks that are involved as the deliverable of the project and listing them on the left-side of the chart in the order that they need to be completed in.
2. Identifying all the roles involved in the project and listing them along the top of the chart.
3. Completing the individual cells by identifying who has what role in the completion of a particular deliverable: Responsible (R), Accountable (A), Consulted (C), Informed (I)
4. After assigning all the roles, ensure that each task has a role Responsible and a role Accountable for it.
5. Make sure that no tasks have more than one person who is accountable for it and in case there are, negotiate and resolve any conflicts that it might result in.
6. Share this RACI matrix with all the stakeholders of the project before the project starts!