The integration RACI: who is responsible, accountable, consulted and informed

A RACI matrix lists the activities of a programme down the side and the people or organisations involved across the top, and marks each cell with one letter: Responsible (does the work), Accountable (signs it off and answers for it), Consulted (gives input before) or Informed (is told after). For integrated communication it answers the question that most often goes unasked: when the creative agency, the media agency, PR, the in-house team and CRM all touch the same campaign, who decides?

RACI is a general project-management practice, not a marketing invention. The Project Management Institute's lexicon defines a RACI chart as a type of responsibility assignment matrix that uses responsible, accountable, consulted and informed statuses to define the involvement of stakeholders in project activities¹. A PMI exam guide notes that the PMBOK Guide gives the RACI chart as one example of a responsibility assignment matrix, with the work to be done listed as activities in the left column². Practitioners stress the single owner: PMI and the UK's Association for Project Management both describe RACI as a way to make accountability clear, with one accountable person for each activity^3, 4.

The tool matters more as marketing work spreads across more parties. The ANA has tracked the continued rise of in-house agencies alongside external ones⁵, which means most programmes now combine internal teams with several agencies, and the boundaries between them need writing down.

1. List the activities of the programme, from objectives and briefing to measurement and sign-off.
2. List the roles across the top: people or teams, not names that change.
3. Fill each cell R, A, both A and R, C, I, or nothing.
4. Check the rows one A, at least one R.
5. Check the columns is one person accountable for everything? Is an agency consulted on nothing it should shape?
6. Agree it with every agency and team, and attach it to the agency brief.

Illustrative: the fictional Ourika Roasters' launch.

• Set objectives and the business brief A marketing lead; R brand manager; C agencies; I legal.
• Develop the core creative idea A brand manager; R lead creative agency; C media and PR; I in-house content.
• Media plan and buying A brand manager; R media agency; C lead agency.
• Launch story and press A marketing lead; R PR team; C lead agency; I legal.
• Claims review A legal; R brand manager; I agencies.
• Measurement and reporting A marketing lead; R marketing operations; C media agency and PR; I everyone else.

• Two accountable people Shared accountability usually means none³.
• Everyone consulted Decisions slow to the pace of the longest diary.
• Names instead of roles The matrix breaks at the first change of staff.
• Filled in once and forgotten Revisit it when an agency joins or leaves.

• PMI's lexicon¹ and its guidance on the responsibility assignment matrix²; PMI on RACI³; the APM on why RACI matters⁴.
• The ANA on in-house agencies⁵.
• On IMC Report: organising for IMC.