Responsibility Charting

Large Group Facilitated Learning Toolkit

Module 1
! Introduction to responsibility charting
What is responsibility charting?
A technique that confronts and deals with
ambiguity or conflict among roles in complex
organizations.

An [illustrative] way of recording and analyzing:

! Organizational structures
! Departmental relationships
! Environment
! Strategic alternatives,
! Executive job content
! Functional responsibilities
! Authority
! Decision-making processes.
Korey (1988)




Responsibility charting is also known as
! Linear Responsibility Charting
! An easy-to-apply analytical technique to:
! Clarify and refine functional organizational structures and
problems which seem to defy systematization
! Simplify the intricate processes of decision making where
organizational requirements and inter-relationships are
especially complex.
! Management Responsibility Matrix
! A way to analyze processes by exposing existing and
potential problems and spotlighting differences quickly.
! A way to highlight objectively the organizational
responsibilities and to resolve any conflicts.
! A way to guide and define the administration of the
organizational activities.
! RACI Responsible, Accountable, Consult, Inform
! A tool used for identifying roles and responsibilities
during a change process
An example of a linear responsibility chart
Different Models
! RACI (ARCI)
Responsible, Accountable, Consulted,
Informed
! RACI-VS
Verifier, Signatory (VS)
! RASCI
RACI + Support (S)
! CAIRO
RACI + Out of Loop (O)
! DACI
Drivers, Approver, Contributors,
Informed
! RAPID
Recommend, Agree, Perform, Input,
Decide
Example of a basic responsibility chart using the RACI
model
Module 2
! Objectives and Benefits
The business case: why do we need it?
! Complex Organizations require
richer range of relationships among
actors and decisions.
! Managers are subjected to rapidly
changing and increasingly complex
organizational settings that often
result in unclear lines of responsibility.
! New ideas flounder due to ambiguity
around role involvement and decision
making
! Reduces duplication of work,
overlapping work, and overlapping
authority
! Increases productivity
! Instills commitment and motivation
! Realigns tasks in times of expansion/
contraction
! Eliminates unnecessary overhead
quickly
Benefits to Responsibility Charting
! Build and design organization structure to meet the business' objectives.
! Illustrates relationships between team members.
! Address uneven distribution of responsibility or workload
! Clarify goals, roles and responsibilities
! Instill personal accountability
! Opens up the opportunity to resolve conflicts and discussions
! Improve communication relative to workflow
! Ensures important/relevant processes are not overlooked
Module 3
! Implementation
OD interventions: when should we use it?
Environmental triggers
! Interpersonal and group change processes at
the senior or middle level
! Merged or acquired functional units
! Reorganized departments
! Newly formed teams
! Duplication of work or overlapping authority
! Communication or teamwork is lacking

Individual triggers
! Reduced accountability and lack of
initiative?
! Feelings of being wrongly excluded
from decisions or unplanned
duplication of effort?
! Ineffective implementation of new
idea?
! Increased resistance to change?


Reducing role stress

Role ambiguity and historical tensions are potent sources of stress in the work environment, associated with a
variety of negative attitudinal health and behavioral outcomes.
Thus, role clarification interventions can be used as stress control strategies.
Phase 1: definition of tasks and roles
STEP 3
Identify each person's
responsibility with
respect to the activity
STEP 2
List the people involved
- Who is directly involved?
- Which managers and committees
apply controls?
- Are there any other players (non
decision-makers)?

STEP 1
List activities or
tasks
Phase 2: Developing the matrix
! There can only be one person
Accountable per activity.
! Make effort to have only one Responsible
person per activity.
! A Responsible person and an Accountable
person must be assigned to every row.
! Place Accountability and Responsibility at
the lowest level possible.
! It is common to create the matrix for key
stakeholders only.
Microsoft offers a downloadable RACI template for free at
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ctndirectdownload.aspx?
AssetID=TC103987164&Application=XL&Version=15&Res
ult=14
Actor 1 Actor 2 Actor 3 Actor 4
Activity or
Decision 1
Activity or
Decision 2
Activity or
Decision 3
Activity or
Decision 4
Activity or
Decision 4
Activity or
Decision 5
Focus on high-impact
activities first
Avoid obvious /ambiguous
tasks
Between 10 25 activities is
sufficient
Each activity/decision should
begin with an action verb

List people or
roles relevant
to listed
decisions/tasks
Rules of thumb
! Operational setting:
! Develop responsibility charts based on how
processes and associated tasks are carried
out, not according to the status and
authority of the people who are listed
against the process.

! Project management setting:
! Use the tool to form project teams and
delegate tasks. Use it as a reference point
to check if things get done or don't happen.
! Assign responsibility for each task to only one
person.
! Avoid having too many people with an approval-
veto function on any single item. This will slow
down task completion or will negate it altogether
! The support functions specific demands must be
clarified and clearly assigned
! Be prepared for discussion:
! A person may want to exercise a veto on an item,
but not really need it
! A person may not want to support responsibility
on an item, but should have it
! Two people each want responsibility on a
particular item, but only one can have it
Responsibility Charting FAQ
Advice from Learning Group Consultants
THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY &
THE CHART IS NEVER THE PROJECT

! Clients can prematurely believe they've figured out roles, and quickly
begin to ignore the chart when real work happens. Steve

! It is part of my facilitation of the discussions that take place with the
client, that they learn the types of discussions and issues that need to
be addressed during an initiative, which go beyond what is in the chart.
- Jill

! Use it as a device, or intervention, to engage people in a conversation
about who does what, when, and why and then reach agreements on
that for action. - Marty

! Part of the work is to ascertain hand off "requirements" what
various parties need to get the work done or if the cart was
overturned, how to rebuild trust. - Dave

! It is important to get them to discuss historically or predicted
contentious issues and boundaries, as they understand what the chart
is really describing. Steve

! One way I can sometimes tell if this approach is being taken seriously
is if in cross-functional designs is when parties need to go off-line and
negotiate. This is a signal they are taking it serious, and the content is
serious enough to crosscheck with others. - Dave
ITS ABOUT CREATING A TRUE DIALOGUE

! Get them out of their "heads" and speak truth as to what the column
labels really mean when the tough issues come up. Gain clarity about
what defines the beginning, key checkpoints, and end. Key "tasks" are
then fed into the Responsibility Chart *after* functional work is laid
out in a beginning plan. - Steve

! When a chart or framework is explicitly used, it is "attended to" too
superficially. Much of the content is actually addressed at the start of
any initiative when we discuss who needs to be involved, why, when
and how. Considering roles and integration of work right at the start,
the purpose and work of the chart is seamlessly integrated into
discussions, decisions, and how everyone works together. - Jill

! The items mapped should be at a manageable number, and not too
many, for an effective conversation. Ample time should be taken to get
agreement on these pieces up front or the exercise tends to fall apart
in practice. Marty

! Be aware that it can quickly become the tail wagging the dogso
look for ways to assess what is going on in the room and help address
as needed. Dave

! Following the exercise, revisiting how role interactions are working
with the team over time (even more than checking the validity of the
matrix) can reinforce key themes and takeaways and further build the
team and learning. Marty
References
1. Hamilton, T.M. (1968). Clarifying Responsibility Relationships. California Management
Review, 10(3), 41-52
2. Mcadam, Rodney & McIntyre, Seamus (1997) A business process improvement
methodology which incorporates learning organization concepts. Total Quality
Management, 8:2-3, 221-225
3. http://www.institute.nhs.uk/quality_and_service_improvement_tools/
quality_and_service_improvement_tools/project_management_-
_responsibility_charting.html
4. http://www.qihub.scot.nhs.uk/knowledge-centre/quality-improvement-tools/
responsibility-charting.aspx
5. http://books.google.com/books?
id=iFhzlR_Vs4AC&pg=PA132&lpg=PA132&dq=responsibility+charting
+intervention&source=bl&ots=S7EtwjpDgD&sig=ua1phaG9B1DA3EmMfKrnHcW75
4U&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0QBwU_CbKJLYoATrpoHYBQ&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAjgK#v=o
nepage&q=responsibility%20charting%20intervention&f=false
6. http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/tools/responsibility-charting/
7. http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Oli-Per/Organizational-
Development.html#b
8. http://www.edrawsoft.com/why-use-orgchart.php