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Establishing individual roles and responsibilities is a critical component of any project manager’s job. Not only does it give the project team members a better understanding of what’s expected from them, but it makes it easy for project stakeholders to track progress and measure success.

But, this process is easier said than done. When overseeing projects with dozens or even hundreds of team members, it’s impossible to keep track of all of this information without some sort of chart or spreadsheet — and that’s exactly where the DACI and RACI models begin to shine.

What is the DACI Model?

The DACI model is a decision-making framework that establishes authority over the various elements of a project. With a DACI matrix, project participants are assigned one of four letters to determine their impact on key decisions.

• D: The driver is the one who is responsible for making the final decision regarding a particular course of action.
• A: Next in the chain of authority is the approver, who is responsible for approving decisions that pertain to the project.
• C: These individuals are responsible for contributing to a decision. However, they don’t have the authority to influence the final decision in any way.
• I: Individuals with the least amount of authority are the informed participants. While they need to be informed of the final decision, they have no influence in actually making the decision.

In most cases, there is a single driver for each one of the project’s elements. However, different drivers can be assigned to different aspects of the same project. Individuals can also have multiple assignments across the DACI matrix.

While it’s usually the project manager’s job to decide on the overall vision of the project, for example, it’s generally the quality assurance team that decides when to release the product or when to delay it. However, the project manager might have the responsibility of approving or denying their decision.

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