RACI Matrix

A RACI Matrix helps agile and development teams clearly define who does what on a project, eliminating confusion around roles and responsibilities. This collaborative template allows your team to assign the four key involvement levels—Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed—to every task in your workflow.

What Is a RACI Matrix?

A RACI Matrix is a responsibility assignment framework that clarifies roles and decision-making authority across your project or sprint workflows. Originally from traditional project management, it's especially valuable for agile teams dealing with complex task ownership and stakeholder involvement.

The RACI acronym stands for:

  • Responsible: The person who performs the task
  • Accountable: The person ultimately answerable for the completion of the task
  • Consulted: People whose opinions are sought before decisions or actions
  • Informed: People who are kept up-to-date on progress and outcomes

By mapping these four involvement levels to every task, your team creates a visual guide that prevents both work duplication and responsibility gaps.

Benefits & When to Use

The RACI Matrix is particularly valuable when:

  • Starting a new project with cross-functional teams
  • Clarifying ownership in complex projects with multiple stakeholders
  • Reducing confusion about who makes decisions
  • Preventing bottlenecks from unclear approvals
  • Onboarding new team members quickly
  • Transitioning between sprint phases with changing responsibilities

Development teams using this template often report fewer instances of "I thought you were handling that" and clearer escalation paths when issues arise.

How to Run a RACI Matrix Session

  1. Preparation (10 minutes)

    • Gather your entire project team and relevant stakeholders in Metro Retro
    • Have everyone choose a sticky note color and write their name

  2. Task Identification (15-20 minutes)

    • List all project tasks along the top row of the matrix
    • Consider grouping related tasks under header sections (like "Pre-sprint," "In-sprint," "Post-sprint")
    • Be specific about deliverables rather than general responsibilities

  3. Assigning RACI Roles (30-40 minutes)

    • For each task, determine who is:
      • Responsible (who will do the work)
      • Accountable (who has final approval authority)
      • Consulted (who needs to provide input)
      • Informed (who needs to know outcomes)
    • Have team members place their sticky notes in the appropriate cells
    • Remember that typically one person should be Accountable, one or more can be Responsible

  4. Review and Refinement (15 minutes)

    • Look for overloaded team members (too many Rs)
    • Ensure every task has at least one R and exactly one A
    • Check for tasks with too many Cs that might slow decision-making
    • Confirm the right stakeholders are being Informed

  5. Agreement and Documentation (10 minutes)

    • Get explicit agreement from all participants on their roles
    • Save the board as reference documentation
    • Plan how to share with stakeholders not present in the session

Tips for a Successful Session

  • Use the "spotlight" feature to highlight a single person's assignments and quickly identify overloading
  • Not every role needs to be filled for each task—some tasks may not need consultation, for example
  • For remote teams, consider having a facilitator who can help keep the discussion focused
  • If you have many tasks, break the session into logical segments (pre-sprint, in-sprint, etc.)
  • Remember that the goal is clarity, not perfection—you can always revisit the matrix as the project evolves
  • Unlock the template to add more columns if you have additional team members
  • Focus on outcomes rather than activities when defining tasks

The RACI Matrix provides immediate clarity but also serves as a living document you can reference throughout your project lifecycle to maintain accountability and smooth collaboration.

Use this template