Encyclopedia of Leadership

An alternative is to list the key people or groups and their RASCI, as shown in this example.

TIPS

✔ Assign responsibilities only to individuals or true teams (i.e., teams with clear joint

accountabilities). [☛13.3 Accountability]

✔ Place responsibility at the lowest feasible level. (Senior management is always ulti-

mately responsible.) [☛9.2 Situational Leadership]

✔ It may be helpful to use this tool in conjunction with tool ☛5.7 Stakeholder Groups.

HOW TO USE THIS LEADERSHIP TOOL

“Responsibility charting clarifies behavior that is required to implement change tasks,

actions, or decisions. It helps reduce ambiguity, wasted energy, and adverse emotional reac-

tions between individuals or groups whose interrelationships are affected by change.”

—Richard Beckhard and Reubin Harris, ORGANIZATIONAL

TRANSITIONS: MANAGING COMPLEX CHANGE

A common frustration and cause of inefficiency in workgroups and teams is a lack of clear roles

and responsibilities. A RASCI chart can be a huge help in these situations.

The RASCI chart is best used when:

✔ A new workgroup or a new project is being started.

✔ Many people are involved in any project.

✔ A number of new people have joined a project, or the roles of people have changed.

✔ A plan is complex.

✔ There is conflict or confusion in an existing team or workgroup (e.g., “Who has the

ball?”).

Follow these steps to use the RASCI chart:

1. Get commitment for using the RASCI charting process by showing group members a
   relevant example (perhaps the example provided here).


2. Define or clarify how the RASCI chart will be used. (Needless to say, this is only possi-
   ble if the goal of the overall project is clear.) [☛11.1 Process Cycle]

SECTION 10 TOOLS FORLEADINGTEAMS ANDGROUPS 333

Actions

Identify all the users needing

training.

Identify the general training

objectives.

Identify specific users needing

specialized training.

[additional steps]

Set up training schedules.

By when

June 30

June 30

July 31

Sept. 31

Pat

R

Chris

R

Kelly

A

Lee

Training

vendor

S

S

S

S

Steering

committee

I

I

Others

HR

Training-C

Software

Vendor-C

Corporate

Service-C