Responsible

​​The “R” in RACI stands for responsible.  This one confused me for a bit, since it seemed to be very similar to “accountable”, but really this is the person who will do the Thing.  You may even have multiple people Doing the Thing, but at least one person has to be clearly identified as the Thing Doer.  The Responsible person may also be Accountable, but doesn’t have to be.  For example, an Executive may be the Accountable party, while a developer is responsible.

When assigning someone to the R in the chart, remember to clarify what exactly that entails.  Does this person have to commit code a certain way?  Submit a form?  Deploy a customization in a specific system?  Knowing that someone is responsible doesn’t really help if they don’t understand what that means.  I find this is true for all aspects of a RACI, but if the Responsible party doesn’t have clarity relating to what they’re supposed to do, nothing will get done.

Personally I try to keep the number of “R”’s small for any given task.  While this isn’t always possible, I find it helps streamline things a bit since there’s less parties involved.  It also ties in to “Everyone thought Someone would do it, but Nobody did”.

For me, the Responsible party should also be providing updates on how they’re doing (and is something I clarify when I assign an “R” in my chart).  This may take the form of updating a ticket, or sending a quick email out with some bullet points.  Generally I use this input to develop my own reporting, but having the R resource send it proactively helps to keep information flowing more easily (and I don’t have to go chase anyone down).