RACI – Responsibility Charting

Have you ever had a situation where you (or someone you were dealing with) had no idea you were responsible for something?  It happens more often than you’d think.  Join the Wily Manager guys this week as they talk through how to use a RACI chart to address role confusion.

Monday’s Tip:   Push accountability as deep into the organization as possible.  When assigning responsibilities to people, put the accountability at the lowest possible level on a traditional organizational hierarchy

Tuesday’s Tip:    There can only be one person accountable.  Many people may be responsible for making certain parts of a task or process come together, but ultimately one person needs to be accountable.  When everyone is accountable, no one is accountable.

Wednesday’s Tip:   Minimize the number of people you “consult”.  In some cases, you may need broad consultation for a process or project.  In most cases, you want to minimize the number of people you check with before continuing.

Thursday’s Tip:   Review your responsibility charts both horizontally and vertically.  If there are holes horizontally, it means that a process step or action is not assigned to anyone.  Holes vertically mean that people or positions may be being under-utilized.

Friday’s Tip:   Remember it’s an iterative process.  Don’t try to get all your responsibility charts right the first time out.  You will need to come back and visit this a few times.