What Is a RACI Chart? Roles on a Project

A RACI chart is a role grid. Each row is a task, a deliverable or a decision. Each column is a person or a role. The letters in the cells say how that person is involved: they do the work, they own the result, they are asked first, or they only need to know. Teams use it when a project has crossed the line from "I will handle it" to "several people could all think someone else is handling it."

This page is the definition and a template. If you are still deciding whether the work is a task list or a project, read task management vs project management first. The ClickUp hub is the map if you want the chart to live in the same place as the tasks.

What is a RACI chart?

Read a RACI chart in one pass, left to right.

1. The rows are the work. Use decisions and deliverables, not every tiny subtask. "Homepage copy approved" is a row. "Fix a comma" is not.
2. The columns are people or roles. Roles survive a vacation better than first names. "Design lead" still means something if the person changes.
3. The letters are the involvement. One cell, one letter. A blank cell means that person is not involved, which is useful information.
4. One A per row. That is the rule that makes the chart worth drawing. The rest of the letters can repeat. The A cannot.

A chart with every cell filled in is usually too fine. A chart that only covers the decisions people argue about is the one teams keep.

What do the four roles mean?

Responsible can be more than one person when the work is genuinely shared, such as two writers drafting sections. Accountable stays one person. If you cannot name that person, the row is not ready.

Consulted is a two-way conversation that happens before the decision. Informed is a one-way update after it. Mixing those up is why status meetings grow. People marked I do not need a seat in the review. People marked C do, and they need the draft early enough to change it.

RACI template you can copy

Use a short project as the test. A website launch is enough. Replace the names with your roles.

In the design row, design is both Responsible and Accountable: they do the work and they own the file. Marketing is Consulted because the brief can change the layout. Engineering is Consulted because the design has to be buildable. The founder is Informed, not in the review, unless the launch decision row says otherwise.

That split is the point. The founder does not need to approve the type size. The founder does need to own the launch decision. A chart that marks the founder A on every row is an org chart in disguise, and it will not be maintained.

RACI rules that keep the chart useful

• One Accountable. Two A's mean nobody answers. Write the second person as C or I.
• Consulted is short. Two or three names. A row that consults the whole company is a meeting.
• Informed is not a courtesy copy of everything. Tell them the outcome that affects their work.
• Roles, then names. "Client approver" lasts longer than a person's name on a contract.
• Review the chart when the work changes phase. A launch chart is wrong for a support queue.
• Do not RACI the chores. A weekly chart of 80 rows will be abandoned in a week. Cover the decisions and the handoffs.

Asana's strength in our data is clear ownership, timelines and portfolios, which matches the A column more than the writing. Notion's strength is a page or database you can share as the chart itself. Neither product has a special "RACI button" in our tool data. The chart is a table you keep current.

Where should the chart live?

Put the chart where the task already is. A separate slide deck goes stale the day the owner changes.

Three places work with the tools we review:

ClickUp lists custom fields, custom statuses and docs in the same workspace, so a task can carry an Accountable field and a link to the full chart. That is a setup, not a built-in RACI product. If your team is small, one assignee field is enough and a four-letter grid is extra process. Read how to choose project management software if you do not have a home for the work yet.

Agencies often need the chart because the client, the account lead and the specialist can all believe they own the same approval. ClickUp for agencies is the use-case page for that shape of work. The best collaboration software list is the wider set if the problem is "where does the conversation live," not only "who is accountable."

Common RACI mistakes

• Using RACI to avoid a decision. Filling letters is not the same as naming the person who can say yes.
• Marking everyone Consulted. That is a meeting invite, not a role.
• Leaving the client off the approval row. If the client can reject the work, they are A or C on that row, not I.
• Updating the chart and not the task. The assignee on the task is what people follow on Monday. The chart has to match it.
• Building the chart after the argument. Draw it when you staff the project, then look at it when a handoff fails.

A useful RACI chart fits on one screen, has one A per row, and matches the assignee on the live task. If you want that task, the doc and the owner in one workspace, start with ClickUp and keep the grid small.