Any business or even the smallest project requires a leader that will be responsible for decision-making. High-quality project management is key to the success of your plan. When it comes to making decisions, it is convenient and highly effective to have a certain model to follow. Without a proper plan, your team will be disorganized and ineffective. This is why the RACI method is so widely used.
RACI is a special chard used for project management. This is one of the proven methods that will allow you to achieve your goals effectively and steadily. In this article, you will learn about the RACI method, its importance for businesses and project leaders, as well as its implementation into your workflow.
The Meaning of the RACI Method
RACI is an abbreviation that includes four crucial components of skillful and effective project management: responsible, accountable, consulted, and, last but not least, informed. Here are these four things deciphered:
- R – a project leader or one of the employees working on a project that holds responsibility for the task completion;
- A – a worker in control of the final decision-making and successful finalization of a goal or the full project;
- C – an employee with specific and unique knowledge that can advise the team working on a project;
- I – someone outside the direct development, such as a customer or a chief executive, that you need to inform about the progress and decisions made.
When incorporating this model of operation, it becomes possible to make decisions quickly and effectively. This happens because having a direct scheme to follow helps with putting away all the misunderstandings and disagreements to start working. When all team members know their specific role in the project, they tend to stop interfering with the objectives outside of their control or question someone else’s authority. When everyone knows what they are doing, they can work on their respective objectives and move forward.
As the business expands, some more projects and tasks require making important decisions. To make the most favorable decision, it is necessary to find balance. Some people might think that a perfect decision is the one made by the popular vote. The others consider having one person with the power to make all the decisions based on their professional judgment the best solution. But in reality, it is a mixture of both. When working under the RACI scheme, all the voices can be heard, while a person in charge has to make the final judgment.
Incorporating RACI Charts in Business Management
With RACI, it is simple to create a special chart that will display the activities and responsibilities divided between employees. For example, we have one specific activity. There should be four people that will be responsible for one of the RACI components. Whether this is a worker that will be responsible for the output or a person that will consult other employees, only one role should be assigned to a person. However, this concerns each task or deliverable separately. For example, one worker can be accountable for one activity and consult for another one.
The Importance of RACI Planning
The key objective of the RACI management method is to make the roles of each worker within a project clear and accessible. Thanks to this simple scheme, team members become more confident as they know exactly what they need to do and what the expectations are. With RACI, it is possible to deal with all the relations that are involved in the project throughout its life.
About RAPID Method
There is another strategy that can be used for making decisions within a business. This is also an abbreviation that packs different actions. Each of them signifies the roles that separate employees or groups of workers will take:
- Recommend – this can be a person or group of people that are in charge of delivering useful information regarding the project. They provide crucial data and offer a preferred decision;
- Agree – for these workers or a single employee, it is necessary to agree with the decision made at the initial stage. Both people from the first team and the workers that need to agree with them have to collaborate to find a solution that will satisfy them equally. As soon as both teams or employees come to an agreement regarding a solution, it can move forward. In addition, people from the Agree team can prohibit a recommendation proposed by the first team;
- Perform – this group is necessary for implementing the decision made over the first two stages. While the previous teams think, this one has to put those thoughts to work. Employees on this team can also have some other responsibilities, such as recommend, like in the first team, or inform, which comes next;
- Inform – people on this team need to gather the relevant data and inform the other workers about certain things, such as the time necessary for the implementation of a certain idea, etc. Analysts are great for this position;
- Decide – this is the final role, and it can be occupied by only one worker. The only objective of this employee is to make the final decision based on all the previous stages. It is crucial that a single person is making the decision so there are no quarrels and misunderstandings.
Looking at the name of this method, people might think that it was made for swift decision-making. However, this is not the speedy method you are looking for if you need to make it quick. It is called RAPID to memorize it easily.
It is also worth mentioning that the roles and stages of this method can be shifted around if needed. It is advised to start with recommendations though. And after that, you can change the order of the stages as you want. The time required for decision-making can also vary based on the project and specific requirements.
Choosing the RACI Method
In many cases, it is recommended to stick with the RACI method. It is more suitable for numerous projects as it is simple and approachable, whereas incorporating the RAPID methodology might be excessive.
The RACI scheme is perfect for defining the roles of each person involved in the project. It also helps with staying on track and making sure that all the requirements are met. One of the key objectives of this method is to create smooth and efficient communication between all parties. For businesses of any scale, it is often more beneficial to incorporate this model for a variety of projects that require making reliable decisions.
