10
Designating Roles, Responsibilities, and Authority
When you’re working on a major change initiative, it can feel really daunting to involve all the right people in all the right ways. You want to give everyone who’s affected by the change an opportunity to provide input. And your stakeholders may be eager—really eager—to have their say. But how do you make sure that in your effort to be inclusive, you don’t end up with a free-for-all? Now that you’ve conducted your stakeholder analysis and have identified everyone who will be affected by the change, how do you make sure you don’t get stuck in “analysis paralysis,” where you keep receiving input and never make a decision about how to proceed? How can you make it clear who—among all the stakeholders you’ve identified—can provide input, and who actually has the responsibility and authority to decide what to do?
In this chapter, we’ll look at one final tool for involving the right people in the right way: the RACI matrix. We’ll see how the RACI matrix can help you and your organization clearly designate and communicate the roles, responsibilities, and decision-making authority of different people who are working on and affected by your change initiative. It is a hard-side tool because it helps you define and clarify who is assigned to perform the actual work of the change project. But the tool also helps you address the soft, people side of change, because it helps you communicate to everyone touched by the change that you are thinking about them and that they have a role to play as the project unfolds.
Think back to the JCo acquisition case you read in chapter 5. In that case, Luis was wise to recommend taking a broad and inclusive approach as organizational leaders decided whom to involve in the company’s acquisition integration efforts. But Sheila, the company’s head of business development, was also right to be concerned about including so many people in the project. After all, the change involved multiple decisions and tasks that needed to occur simultaneously. The more people the two companies involved, the more difficult it would be to coordinate all those moving parts, and the longer it would take to make decisions about things that had to happen fast. Sheila probably imagined that things would become unwieldy, and she wanted to avoid that at all costs. Luis recognized this too. Most likely that’s why he recommended that they construct a RACI matrix.
What Is a RACI Matrix?
According to Bob Kantor, founder of Kantor Consulting Group, “A RACI matrix is the simplest, most effective means for defining and documenting project roles and responsibilities” (Kantor 2018). It’s a tool that helps you clearly convey who is responsible, who is accountable, who needs to be consulted, and who needs to be kept informed for each major task and decision that needs to be completed. Kantor explains that a RACI matrix can help you build wide participation in your project, and simultaneously provide clarity about decision making. The tool can also help you avoid miscommunication about who is working on what. It can even help you identify potential stakeholders who are at risk of overwork.
At its core, a RACI matrix identifies who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed for each major task or key decision.
Responsible
Who is actually going to complete the task? Who gets to make the decision? For each task or decision, at least one party must be responsible for completing the work—otherwise, it won’t get done! Likewise, you can’t have too many stakeholders assigned responsibility for completing a task or making a decision, or things will become unwieldy.
Accountable
Who gets to approve the work that has been completed? Who gets to say yes or no to a decision that’s been made? Think of the accountable party as the place where the buck stops. For most tasks and decisions, there should be only one person who is ultimately accountable.
Consulted
Who should provide input on how the task is performed or the decision is made? Those who are consulted may have specific knowledge or expertise that you need to tap into before completing the work. Or they may have a significant vested interest in the change and may have considerable influence over whether the change is successfully adopted. These are people who expect to have a say, and who should be consulted.
Informed
Who can you just keep abreast of what is happening? Who needs to be in the know, but doesn’t expect to be involved in planning the task or making the decision? These are the people you can inform about the task or decision.
How to Use a RACI Matrix
To construct a RACI matrix for a change initiative you are supporting, you can follow these easy steps:
• Create a spreadsheet with a row for each major task or decision and a column for each stakeholder or stakeholder group. Use your project plan (see chapter 4) and stakeholder analysis (see chapter 9) as input to this spreadsheet.
• Fill in the spreadsheet cells, indicating R for stakeholders who are responsible for the task or decision, A for those who are accountable, C for those who need to be consulted, and I for those who need to be informed.
• Review the spreadsheet to ensure you’ve assigned at least one stakeholder responsibility for completing each task, and that no single stakeholder has been assigned too many responsibilities or too much decision-making authority. Likewise, make sure you’ve assigned an accountable party for each task.
• Share your draft RACI matrix, resolve any conflicts, and revise and make updates as needed.
Table 10-1. JCo Acquisition RACI Matrix
Let’s take a look at a RACI matrix that Luis, in the JCo acquisition case, might create as his project proceeds (Table 10-1).
Luis starts by creating a spreadsheet that includes a row for each major task and decision the two companies need to complete during the acquisition integration project. In this partial example, we’ve just listed a few tasks, like “Analyze JCo financial system requirements” and “Deliver financial systems training.” Luis and the core project team will document all the major tasks and decisions on the spreadsheet as their planning evolves.
Next, Luis adds a column on the spreadsheet for each stakeholder involved in the project, such as the project sponsors, including Wilab’s and JCo’s CEOs; members of the core project team, like JCo’s IT leader; and external parties such as Wilab’s and JCo’s clients. The example shown in Table 10-1 isn’t complete by any means. As Luis and his team conduct their stakeholder analysis, they will be sure to add a column in the RACI matrix for each stakeholder they identify.
Luis then fills in the spreadsheet cells, indicating R in each cell where the listed stakeholder is responsible for completing the task or making the decision, A in the cells where a stakeholder is accountable for the task or decision, C to indicate when a stakeholder will be consulted or provide input on the task or decision, and I in places where stakeholders will simply be informed of the task or decision. For example, in Table 10-1, we see that the change management team will be responsible for delivering financial systems training, JCo’s IT leader will be consulted on that delivery, and JCo’s CFO will ultimately be accountable for ensuring that the training is delivered to her staff. Again, the RACI matrix presented in Table 10-1 is incomplete. Luis’s core project team and change management team, with lots of input from Wilab and JCo leadership and stakeholders, will ultimately create a draft RACI matrix that conveys their thoughts about who will play what role and have what kind of responsibility on the project.
Involving Stakeholders
Once you have created your RACI matrix, use it, along with your stakeholder analysis, to plan how you will involve each stakeholder at the appropriate level.
• For each stakeholder you’ve identified as having responsibility for a task or decision, make sure you communicate with them about what you expect them to deliver and by when. Before finalizing project plans, secure their agreement on the role you need them to play. Use the RACI matrix to remind those who are responsible about the work they need to perform (that hopefully they have agreed to!) for your project to proceed.
• Secure authorization from those assigned the accountable role before committing resources to a task or widely communicating a decision. Refer to the RACI matrix and make sure the accountable party associated with a task or decision agrees with the planned action before you proceed.
• For each stakeholder identified as having a consulting role, think about the methods you will use to gather their input and feedback. For some stakeholders, it will make sense to gather their input via one-on-one meetings. For others, you may want to invite them to participate, or have a co-worker represent them, on the core project team, transition-monitoring team, or red team. As project plans and decisions are made, refer to the RACI matrix to make sure you have gathered input from everyone who needs to be consulted before your plan or decision is finalized.
• As you develop communication plans, review your RACI matrix to make sure you create plans for each stakeholder group you need to keep informed. Use the RACI matrix to remind you about whom you need to keep up-to-date about what. We’ll explore this again in chapter 12, when we’ll talk in depth about creating communication plans.
Addressing the Soft Side With the RACI Matrix
The RACI matrix is a well-proven project management tool that can help you manage the hard side of change. It helps you make sure that someone is assigned to work on each project-related task and that someone is charged with making each key project decision. But when the tool is used most effectively, it also can help you convey to those affected by a change that you are thinking about them, that their involvement matters, and that you want and need them to play a role in the change initiative.
Here are some tips for maintaining focus on the soft, people side of change as you create a RACI matrix for your change initiative.
• When assigning consulting responsibility to stakeholders, think broadly. Where possible, assign consulting responsibility to stakeholder groups who could lose the most because of the change—those whose jobs are changing considerably who will need to work hard to rebuild their level of job competency; employees who will experience a marked increase in work volume, either on a temporary or permanent basis; and stakeholders who might lose their job status because of the change. Sometimes employees will resist a change, not because they disagree with what’s planned, but because they resent not having the opportunity to provide input. Refer back to your stakeholder analysis. Which stakeholders have you determined will be most significantly affected by the change? Should you and your team consult with them and gather their input before project decisions are made?
• Be clear with stakeholders who are assigned consulting responsibility that you are asking for their input, but that they don’t have decision-making authority. Be honest with those who are assigned consulting responsibility that you will provide them with numerous opportunities to share their ideas, and that you will consider their input when making decisions. But let them know that other stakeholder views and other business needs will be factored into the decision as well, and that someone else has ultimate authority to make the decision. Let consulting parties know that you will share decisions with them as soon as is reasonably possible.
• Review your draft RACI matrix with stakeholders who have been assigned responsible, accountable, and consulting roles. To avoid ruffling feathers, be sure to let them know that the initial RACI matrix is just a draft, that it likely contains mistakes, and that you absolutely need their input before final roles and responsibilities are assigned. You may need to engage in multiple conversations to resolve disagreements, but it’s worth it to hammer out issues up front until you reach agreement. Negotiating and relitigating roles and responsibilities while a project is ongoing can lead to delays and hard feelings. Work on resolving conflicts and gaining agreement on the major roles and responsibilities represented in the RACI matrix before officially launching and widely communicating the news about your project.
About to Begin?
To introduce the RACI matrix to your organization, start by creating one for a project you are working on. It doesn’t matter if the initiative is already under way; just practice creating the tool. Share your draft RACI matrix with the stakeholders you have identified and ask for their feedback. Did you accurately capture the role, responsibilities, and decision-making authority they expect to have on your project? And review your draft RACI matrix to identify any gaps. Are there tasks or decisions for which no one is assigned responsibility? You can fix that now, even though your project in already in progress. Are there stakeholders whom you should have assigned a consulting role? Is it too late now to ask for their input? Once you have gained practice creating a RACI matrix for your projects, volunteer to help create them for other change initiatives that are getting under way in your organization. The project team may welcome your effort.
Before we move on to the next section, let’s reflect for a moment on the tools we’ve addressed in section 2. We explored the core project team, change management team, transition-monitoring team, red team, stakeholder analysis, and RACI matrix—six approaches and tools you can use to involve the right people in the right way as your change initiative proceeds. At this point, you may wonder if setting up those four teams plus preparing a stakeholder analysis and RACI matrix are worth all the effort. You’ve got a lot of work to do. Can’t you skip a few steps? Well, let’s consider.
Do you need to establish a formal core project team for every change initiative? Maybe not, but you do need to make sure that some person or group is responsible for planning the initiative and providing oversight as your project moves through its various phases. A core project team can help you do that. And do you always need to create a change management team? Again, no, but someone needs to perform the change management function. For your change to succeed, someone needs to identify all the stakeholders who will be affected by the change and make sure their needs and concerns are considered as decisions are made. And someone needs to make sure employees understand, support, and have the skills needed to implement the change.
How about the transition-monitoring team? Well, depending on the complexity and scope of the change you’re working on, you may or may not need to set them up as a formal team. But you do need some vehicle for gathering feedback from stakeholder groups affected by your change, for testing out draft plans and communications before you finalize them, and for reinforcing communications on the ground. And the red team? We already said that it’s overkill to obtain an independent critique of each and every action and decision you make. But it’s still an excellent discipline to pause and take a step back every now and then to critically evaluate decisions before you execute them. And it’s even better to have an independent pair of eyes, like you’ll find on the red team, to provide that critical assessment.
Do you need to perform a stakeholder analysis on every change initiative? Yes, you do! For your change initiative to succeed, you really do need to think about who will be affected by the change and how, and you do need to find ways to appropriately engage them. Stakeholder analysis, whether it’s represented in a formal chart or spreadsheet, or just captured in handwritten notes on a piece of scrap paper, can make the difference between project success and failure. And finally, do you need to create a formal RACI matrix? No, but you do need to clarify roles, responsibilities, and decision-making authority before your project launches. A RACI matrix provides just the tool you might need to make things clear so you can avoid costly delays and misunderstandings.
The bottom line: You may decide to fully implement the core project team, change management team, transition-monitoring team, red team, stakeholder analysis, and RACI matrix. Or you may decide to use these tools in a more abbreviated form. Just remember that for your change to succeed, you need to involve the right people in the right way. These tools and approaches, however you choose to deploy them, can help you achieve that goal.
Of course, you also need to make sure the people affected by your change initiative understand what’s changing, feel motivated to adopt the change, and have the knowledge and skills needed to adopt it. In section 3, we’ll see how that’s done.
Learn more. Check out:
For a template and an instructional video, take a look at raci.com.
Kantor, B. 2018. “The RACI Matrix: Your Blueprint for Project Success.” CIO, January 30.