Build a RACI matrix from a project's task list that assigns exactly one accountable party per task.
Project Management
Project Roles, Responsibilities and RACI Matrix Design
A focused course on defining project roles and designing RACI matrices that remove ambiguity about who decides, who acts and who is simply informed.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
Ambiguity about who is responsible for what is one of the most common and most avoidable causes of project delay: two people each assume the other is making a decision, a deliverable has no clear owner, or a stakeholder who should only be informed instead blocks progress by inserting themselves into approvals. This course is built entirely around removing that ambiguity by defining project roles and constructing a responsibility assignment matrix, most commonly using the RACI structure of responsible, accountable, consulted and informed. Sessions work through building a RACI matrix from an actual project task list, resolving the disputes that surface once people see it in writing, and the harder cases, such as matrix organisations, multiple accountable parties and external suppliers, where a simple RACI needs adapting. Keeping a role matrix current as a project moves through its life cycle gets equal attention, along with using it during meetings and approvals rather than filing it away after a single workshop. Graduates of the course take away a completed matrix for their own project and a method for resolving the accountability disputes a matrix alone cannot settle.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Distinguish responsible, accountable, consulted and informed roles in cases where the difference is unclear.
Resolve a dispute where two people both believe they are accountable for the same decision.
Adapt a RACI matrix for a matrix organisation where staff report to more than one manager.
Extend a role matrix to cover external suppliers and contractors without diluting accountability.
Use a RACI matrix in meetings and approvals rather than treating it as a one-off document.
Update a role matrix as a project moves between phases with different governance needs.
Who Should Attend
Project managers setting up governance and accountability structures for a new project.
Programme and portfolio staff standardising role clarity across multiple projects.
Team leads in matrix organisations where staff report to more than one manager.
Business analysts documenting decision rights as part of process or project design.
Project management office staff developing a RACI standard for their organisation.
Consultants who must clarify roles quickly when joining an unfamiliar project team.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Establishing Clear Roles and Accountability
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Understanding Responsibility, Accountability and Authority
- Distinguish being responsible for doing work from being accountable for its outcome.
- Identify where a project currently relies on informal or assumed role clarity.
- Map formal authority against actual influence for key roles on a project.
- Recognise the specific delays and disputes that ambiguous roles tend to produce.
Session 2Structuring the RACI Framework
- Define the responsible, accountable, consulted and informed categories in practical, project-specific terms.
- Apply the rule of exactly one accountable party per task to avoid diluted ownership.
- Decide which project activities are detailed enough to need their own RACI line.
- Distinguish a RACI matrix from related tools such as a stakeholder map or governance chart.
02Building a Working RACI Matrix
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Constructing the Matrix from a Task List
- Break a project schedule down into the task or decision granularity a RACI matrix needs.
- Populate a RACI matrix in a workshop setting that surfaces disagreement rather than hiding it.
- Check a completed matrix for tasks with no accountable party or with more than one.
- Validate a draft matrix with the people it assigns before treating it as final.
Session 2Resolving Role Disputes and Overlaps
- Mediate a dispute where two people believe they hold the same accountability.
- Identify roles that are consulted so often they are functioning as an undeclared approver.
- Reduce the number of people consulted on a decision when it is slowing approval unnecessarily.
- Reassign accountability when it has drifted informally away from the person named in the matrix.
03Adapting RACI to Complex Structures
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1RACI in Matrix Organisations
- Design a role matrix that accounts for staff who report to both a functional and project manager.
- Resolve conflicting instructions a team member receives from two different accountable parties.
- Align a project RACI with functional performance management so incentives do not contradict it.
- Communicate a matrix organisation's role structure clearly enough for new team members to follow.
Session 2Extending Roles to Suppliers and External Parties
- Include supplier and contractor roles in a RACI matrix without blurring contractual accountability.
- Align an internal RACI matrix with the governance structure set out in a supplier contract.
- Clarify approval rights when a deliverable depends on both internal and external sign-off.
- Manage the role gap that appears when a supplier's point of contact changes mid-project.
04Keeping Role Clarity Alive Through Delivery
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Using the Matrix in Day-to-Day Delivery
- Reference the RACI matrix directly when chairing a meeting to confirm who should decide.
- Use the matrix to challenge a decision made by someone who was only meant to be consulted.
- Onboard a new team member quickly using the existing role matrix rather than informal explanation.
- Spot when actual working behaviour has quietly diverged from the documented matrix.
Session 2Updating Roles as the Project Evolves
- Review and update the RACI matrix at each major phase or stage gate of the project.
- Adjust accountability when a role changes hands partway through the project.
- Retire RACI lines for completed activities so the matrix stays a usable working document.
- Capture lessons about role design for use when setting up the next project's governance.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
Complete your registration
We will contact you within one business day to confirm.
Ready to start?
Reserve your seat and start building the skill.