How to Run a RACI Matrix Session to Clarify Team Roles
Most project problems aren't technica, they're accountability problems. Two people think they own the same decision, or nobody does. Someone gets consulted after the fact instead of before. A stakeholder finds out about a change when it's too late to respond. The RACI matrix exists to prevent all of that by assigning one of four roles to every person for every task: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, or Informed. When the whole matrix is visible on a wall, gaps and overlaps surface in the session rather than mid-project.
Watch the matrix build from an empty grid. Roles across the top, Tasks down the side and then fill in one letter block at a time until every cell is assigned.
Switch-Its makes every assignment a physical placement
With Switch-Its magnetic dry-erase blocks, each R, A, C, and I is a separate block placed into the grid cell by cell. Every assignment is a deliberate act the team can see, question, and swap without redrawing the whole matrix.
Define the roles and tasks before filling cells
The grid goes up first, four tasks down the left, four roles across the top.The RACI legend sits beside it showing which letter means what. The matrix is empty and the conversation about who owns what hasn't started yet, which is exactly the right order.
Start with accountability
The Project Manager column fills first: A in every row. Accountability is the easiest column because there should only ever be one per task. Placing the blocks makes it visible if that rule is being broken anywhere in the matrix.
Every cell assigned, every role clear
The completed matrix shows the full picture at once, who does the work, who owns the outcome, who advises, who stays informed. Every assignment is a block that can be swapped if the team disagrees, without redrawing the grid.
The RACI matrix is most useful when it's built collaboratively in a room rather than filled in by one person. A physical version on the wall makes that conversation easier because every placement is visible and every swap is immediate. It connects directly to the broader case for visible planning in Put the Plan on the Wall.