What does RACI stand for?

Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed. Responsible is whoever does the work, Accountable is the one person who owns the outcome and signs it off, Consulted are people asked for input beforehand, and Informed are people told the result afterwards.

What is the difference between Responsible and Accountable?

Responsible people do the work; the Accountable person owns the result and approves it. Several people can be Responsible for a task, but only one person is Accountable, so there is always a single name to go to.

Can one person be both Responsible and Accountable?

Yes, and on small tasks it is common: the person doing the work also owns the result. Mark the cell A (or A/R) and make sure the row still has exactly one Accountable person.

Can a task have more than one Accountable person?

No. Two Accountable people means accountability is shared, which in practice means nobody owns the outcome. If two people genuinely share a deliverable, split it into two rows with one owner each.

When should you not use a RACI matrix?

On a small team where everyone already knows who does what, a RACI adds paperwork without adding clarity. It earns its keep on cross-team work, new processes, handovers and anywhere ownership disputes are slowing things down.

How is a RACI matrix different from an org chart?

An org chart shows reporting lines: who manages whom. A RACI matrix shows responsibility for specific tasks and decisions on one project, which often cuts across reporting lines.

Free template · no sign-up

RACI matrix template

A RACI matrix is a table that lists a project's tasks or decisions down the side and the people or roles across the top, and marks each cell with R, A, C or I: Responsible (does the work), Accountable (owns the outcome and signs it off), Consulted (gives input before the work is done) and Informed (is told once it is done).

Use it when responsibility is unclear: a cross-team project, a new process, a handover, or any time two people both think something is the other's job. The rule that makes it work is simple: every row has exactly one A.

The CSV is the “RACI matrix” table; it opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers.

#When to use it

When to use a RACI matrix template

A project spans teams or departments and ownership keeps falling between them.
Decisions stall because nobody knows who has the final say.
People complain about being left out of decisions, or about too many meetings.
A process is being handed to a new team or a new hire.

#The template

The RACI matrix template

Fill in the blanks and replace the example rows with your own. Everything below is what the copy and download buttons give you.

RACI matrix

R = Responsible, A = Accountable, C = Consulted, I = Informed. Exactly one A per row; at least one R.

Task or decision	Sponsor	Project lead	Designer	Engineer	QA	Client
Approve project scope	A	R	C	C	I	C
Write requirements	I	A	C	C	C	C
Produce designs	I	A	R	C	I	C
Build the solution	I	A	C	R	C	I
Test before release	I	A	I	C	R	I
Accept the deliverable	C	R	I	I	I	A
Approve a change to scope or budget	A	R	C	C	I	C
Send weekly status	I	A	I	I	I	I

Role key

R — Responsible: does the work. Several people can share an R.
A — Accountable: owns the outcome, approves the work and answers for it. One per row, never more.
C — Consulted: asked for input before the work or decision is done. Two-way.
I — Informed: told about the result after it happens. One-way.

Checks before you share it

Every row has exactly one A.
Every row has at least one R (the A can also be the R).
No column is all A's and R's — that person is a bottleneck.
No column is empty — that person may not need to be on the project.
The C's are few enough that consulting them does not stall the work.

#How to fill it in

How to fill it in

01
List the tasks and decisions
Write the project's main deliverables and the decisions that need an owner down the first column. Decisions matter as much as tasks; they are where ownership is most often unclear.
02
List the roles across the top
Use roles or named people. Named people are clearer on a small team; roles survive staff changes on a long project.
03
Put one A on every row
Ask "who will answer for this if it goes wrong?" That person is Accountable. If two names come up, the row needs splitting or a decision from the sponsor.
04
Mark who does the work
Add an R for each person who actually does the work. The Accountable person may also be Responsible on small tasks.
05
Add C and I sparingly
Consult the people whose input changes the outcome; inform the people who need to know the result. Every C is a conversation that can delay the work.
06
Run the checks and agree it
Read each row and column against the checks above, then walk the team through it so everyone accepts their letters before work starts.

Common mistakes

Two A's on one row, which means nobody is accountable.
Consulting everyone, which turns every task into a meeting.
Filling the matrix in alone and never agreeing it with the people named in it.
Letting it go stale when people join, leave or change roles.

#In Kavanah

Put the R and the A where the work is

A RACI matrix is only useful if people can see it while they work. In Kavanah, ownership lives on the task and the project, and the AI agent can see it too.

Owners on the task itself

A task can have one assignee or several, and a project can be made private to its members, each set as Lead, Member or Viewer, so who owns the work is recorded where the work is.

Learn more

Approvals for the A

For the agent's own actions, the workspace decides which kinds of action run on their own and which wait for a person to approve them, so the human stays accountable for consequential steps.

Learn more

Informed without a meeting

Status reports from the agent can go to named teammates as an in-app message, by email, or both, so the I's in the matrix hear about results without another meeting.

Learn more

Skills-aware assignment

Record what each person is good at, with a proficiency level, and Kavanah recommends (and can optionally auto-assign) new tasks to the best-matched teammate.

Learn more

#Questions