Sample RACI chart: Best practices and downloadable templates

Editor’s note: This article was updated by the author on 19 March 2025 to explain the different types of RACI roles, provide a step-by-step guide to creating a RACI chart, and answer FAQs.

Product work requires complex thinking and collaboration between multiple stakeholders and departments. Because of this, organizational tools like a responsibility assignment matrix — aka a RACI chart — can be helpful. RACI charts provide you with a detailed process for analyzing your specific context so that you can define a way of working and understand the responsibilities required to achieve your desired product outcome.

While originally a project management tool, this article explores how you can use RACI charts with your product team to align and manage dependencies and expectations.

What is a RACI chart?

A RACI chart, or responsibility assignment matrix, is a tool that helps you communicate and clarify the roles and responsibilities of people working together. In product management, it adds support for alignment and communication in the product development process by breaking team members into four distinct categories:

• Responsible — This team member is the one responsible for performing the task. Each task needs at least one responsible person, but can also have more
• Accountable — This team member is the one who is ultimately accountable for the outcome and success of the task or deliverable. They may either perform the task themselves (in which case they are also responsible), or they may delegate the work to someone else. You should only have one accountable team member per task
• Consulted — You can have as many consulted stakeholders as you want. These team members and stakeholders are the ones whose input is required to complete the task. They provide recommendations based on their expertise
• Informed — These team members should stay in the loop, but don’t need to be formally consulted. In the power/interest grid for stakeholder management, they would have low power and low interest

Benefits of using a RACI Chart

A RACI chart is a great tool to help you work together with your team and stakeholders. Some of the biggest benefits include:

• Clarity — RACI helps clearly define roles and responsibilities for different tasks and decisions, reducing confusion and ensuring that everyone knows what’s expected of them. This applies both within the team and outside of it towards the organization
• Accountability — By clearly defining who’s accountable for different tasks and decisions, RACI can help to ensure that everyone takes ownership of their responsibilities and is accountable for their actions. Additionally, defining clear roles and responsibilities helps avoid double work and waste
• Consistency — RACI can ensure that tasks and decisions are handled consistently across the product management process, which can improve the overall quality and effectiveness of the process
• Efficiency — By clearly defining roles and responsibilities, RACI can help to streamline the product management process and make it more efficient, ultimately saving time and resources
• Improved communication — RACI can ensure that all stakeholders are kept informed about the progress of the product management process and any changes made, which can help improve communication and reduce misunderstandings

RACI roles explained: Responsible vs. accountable

One of the most common misunderstandings with the RACI chart is the distinction between the responsible and accountable roles.

The easiest way to look at it is to consider who’s performing the task:

• The person accountable is the one who has ownership and decision-making power over the task. This should always be ONE single person
• The person responsible is the one performing the task. There can be multiple people performing the task

For example, you might be accountable for a product team’s results, while individual team members are responsible for performing said tasks.

The table below provides an overview over the two roles:

Aspect	Responsible (R)	Accountable (A)
Definition	Executes the task	Owns the task and ensures it is completed successfully
Role	Can be multiple people	Only one person
Authority	Follows direction and guidelines	Has decision-making power

Step-by-step guide to creating a RACI chart

To create your first RACI chart, follow these key steps:

1. Brainstorm all project activities and list them — If you aren’t sure where to begin, start with some industry best practices. See an example of a RACI Chart for a product team below
2. List all direct stakeholders involved in the project and add them as columns — You can also run a stakeholder mapping exercise
3. Set roles for each activity — Go through each activity and decide for each stakeholder type which one of the four roles it gets: Responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed. Remember, you cannot have multiple people accountable for one task
4. Review and finalize the chart — Revisit it with your stakeholders and make any adjustments needed
5. Save and share the chart — Save the RACI chart and share it with everyone involved for easy access

Example RACI chart for product development

You can apply the RACI chart to the different stages of the product development process. To help you get started, consider how you could use it in tandem with 4D methodology (discover, design, develop, and deliver) to showcase how responsibilities can be split between product management, UX design, development team, and product marketing.

Depending on your context, you may also include a delivery manager, who’ll take over some of your responsibilities:

Discover

As the product manager, you’re responsible for researching and understanding the target market’s needs and stakeholders. You’re also accountable for defining the project’s scope, allocating the right resources, and ensuring the research is done correctly.

The UX designer and development team are consulted for input and feedback on the user experience and technical feasibility.

Product marketing will be informed of the findings.

Design

The UX designer is responsible for the user experience, while the architect/technical lead is responsible for the technical design.

You’re accountable for ensuring that the design meets the requirements defined in the discovery stage, that the design is feasible, and that resources are allocated appropriately.

The development team will be consulted for input and feedback on the technical feasibility.

Product marketing is merely informed at this stage as well.

Develop

The development team is responsible for implementing the design and creating the product.

As the PM, you’re accountable for ensuring that the product is developed on time and within budget and for managing any issues that arise during development.

The UX designer should be consulted for input and feedback on the user experience and any issues identified.

Product marketing is informed of the progress and status.

Deliver

Product marketing is responsible for promoting and launching the product and informs of the product’s readiness for launch.

You’re responsible for product delivery to the end user or client and accountable for ensuring the product meets the requirements defined in the discovery stage, is ready to be delivered, and that any final issues get solved.

The development team is consulted for input and feedback on the technical feasibility and any issues identified.

UX design is informed about the progress and status.

Generally, the person accountable for a given stage will lead it and make the final decisions, while others are consulted and informed as appropriate.

Downloadable RACI template and customization tips

Here is a RACI chart template that you can use to define your product team’s own RACI chart. The first tab contains the RACI chart example we went through above, while the second tab contains a blank template organized around the same two main columns:

• Activities — You can organize your own RACI chart around whatever process or method your team follows — such as sprints for agile and scrum teams, the five-step design thinking process for product discovery, the five stages of the PDM lifecycle, etc.
• Roles — You may want to customize the included roles depending on how your team is organized and who’s involved. For example, you could add senior management or split the “dev team” role into frontend and backend

Make a copy of the RACI template Google Sheet by clicking file at the top left and choosing make a copy from the dropdown, or by choosing download from the dropdown and selecting the file type. Then, add your tasks and define your roles and responsibilities to customize the sheet.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Here are a few pitfalls to look for when you’re considering working with a RACI chart:

Forgetting about it and not updating it regularly

The RACI chart is a living document — it evolves with your team or product. Because of this, it’s important to revisit it every time you experience a change. Even if no changes occur, you should review it once a quarter.

Situations to review your RACI chart include when:

• A new member is joining the team
• A member is leaving the team
• There’s a new stakeholder for the product
• You change your way of working
• The product enters a new stage in the life cycle

Not utilizing its potential for transparency

The RACI chart is a handy communication tool. Creating a RACI chart and shoving it into a folder or a drawer will not help you in any way.

Since it’s a tool meant to increase alignment and transparency, you should ensure that every involved party is aware of it and has easy access. It’s also beneficial when onboarding new team members or stakeholders.

Overlapping roles

When creating or maintaining your RACI chart, pay attention to how the responsibilities are split and that there aren’t areas of overlap. You should, as a team, clearly define who holds the responsibility and avoid having it split between too many team members, as this may cause unnecessary overhead.

Unbalanced responsibilities

Delivering successful products is a marathon, not a sprint. Ensure that no team members are overloaded with too many responsible tasks. Discuss within your team and decide on a reasonable workload together, considering all their daily responsibilities. Should certain team members or roles have too many responsibilities, you must consider increasing your team or re-assign responsibilities.

For example, you may have a product manager who needs to keep an eye on the market, drive product-market fit, perform discovery activities, and support sales and marketing while also acting as the product owner for the development team.

This will lead to frustration due to the development team’s lack of a product manager, so it might be a good idea to consider bringing a dedicated product owner on board. This way, they’ll dedicate their full attention to the team, while the product manager can focus on the more strategic aspects of the product.

FAQs: Common questions about RACI charts

The following section outlines the most commonly asked questions about RACI charts:

What does RACI stand for?

RACI stands for accountable, responsible, consulted, and informed. These are all roles a person can take when working on a project.

When should I use a RACI chart?

RACI charts are helpful, especially at the beginning of a project or when you want to clarify roles between multiple stakeholders. They can also be beneficial in a complex environment where multiple teams have to work together.

Is there a RACI chart template?

Yes, you can download a Google Sheets template here.

What are the components of a RACI chart?

Each RACI chart needs to have all tasks listed, as well as all stakeholders in a matrix format. For each task and each stakeholder, one of the four RACI roles needs to be assigned.

What are common mistakes when using RACI charts?

One of the most common mistakes is assigning multiple people as accountable for one task. It’s critical to only assign one accountable individual per task. Also, don’t forget to update your chart whenever changes happen in your team.

Can a person have multiple roles in a RACI chart?

Yes, a person can have multiple roles in a RACI chart, but remember to always have just one person who has the accountable role for each task.

What are alternatives to RACI?

Alternatives include DACI charts (driver, approver, contributor, informed) or RAPID (recommend, agree, perform, input, decide) charts.

Conclusion: Align your team with RACI charts

While RACI charts originate with traditional project management practices, they’re as valuable for product management. They’re lightweight, but still hold a lot of relevant information. They also increase transparency around roles and responsibilities and ease the onboarding process of new team members.

RACI charts are invaluable tools for aligning teams and solving cross-functional dependencies. Use our template to get started on one today.

Featured image source: IconScout