Question

Job role definition becomes increasingly important as projects grow in size and complexity. One of the tools available to project managers is the RACI chart.

Review the following RACI Chart and address the questions:

Are there clear delegations of authority?

Are there multiple decision points within a single task/process?

Would the team have questions about who does what?

Is the Accountability level unclear?

Task	PM	Engineer	Construction Mgr	Consultant	Project Sponsor
Engineering	A	A	I	R	C
Permits	A	C	I	R	C
Site Prep	R	R	R	C	C
Procurement	A	R	C	C	C
Delivery	C	A	C	R	C
Construction	C	A	R	C	C
Electrical	A	A	R	C	C
Demolition	A	R	C	C	I
Testing	A	A	C	C	I

Answer 1

RACI Matrix is a strategic tool used by companies to distinctly allocate the roles and responsibilities to various team members involved in a project.

• R- Responsible
  • The team member responsible for the work
  • He will be involved in the decision making pertaining to the work
• A- Accountable
  • This team member has the accountability for successful completion of work
  • Can be just one person in the team, usually a project sponsor or project executive
• C- Consulted
  • The subject matter experts of the project
  • They provide information for the project
  • Two way communication exists with them
• I- Informed
  • These are the stakeholders who need to be kept informed about the status of the project
  • Usually there is just one-way communication with them

In the given RACI Chart, there is no clear delegation of authority. The accountability for the task is being shared by 2 people, which may lead to miscommunication and inefficiencies in the project.

There seems to be multiple decision points in a single task. If clear work delegation is not done, this may lead to serious confusion in the project.

The team needs to make clear division of work. A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) can be developed and work allocation can be done accordingly.

Accountability level is quite unclear in the given matrix as more than one member is responsible for the project task.