RACI diagram

A RACI diagram is used to describe the roles and responsibilities of various teams or people in producing project terminal elements.

It is an acronym formed from the four participatory roles that it describes:
*Responsible (Those that get the job done, the resources)
*Accountable (Those that take the credit for success or responsibility for failure, the 'terminal element manager' -- there must be exactly one A specified for each terminal element)
*Consulted (Those whose opinions are sought)
*Informed (Those that are kept up-to-date on progress)

There is an expanded version, RACI-VS that adds two roles:
*Verifies (The party that checks whether the product meets the acceptance criteria set forth in the product description.
*Signs off (The party that approves the V decision and authorizes the product hand off. It seems to make sense that the S for each terminal element should be the party with A for its successor)An alternate version, CAIRO, uses the same basic designations (displayed in a different order) with the addition of O (Out of the Loop). Designating individuals or groups without an active role in a project can be as, if not more, beneficial as the other designations. See also:
* Responsibility assignment matrix