Your blueprint for realisation
of a project’s objectives
ADVISORY ARTICLE
By Dr. Robert J. Chapman
United Kingdom
The PRACI matrix is a simple yet effective means of communicating to project team members who is accountable and who is responsible for completing specific tasks while at the same time conveying to those: who are required to participate in their preparation; who will be consulted; and those that are simply to be informed. The PRACI matrix is an indispensable expansion of the pan industry RACI chart that has been in existence for several decades.
Benefit
Having supported projects in multiple industries in the UK, South Africa, Malaysia, the UAE and Qatar over the last 12 years, the creation and use of the PRACI matrix has proved to be an invaluable communication and collaboration tool. It removes confusion and ambiguity. Its construction forces a team to consider all of the tasks required to complete an activity and who should be involved. It provides transparency, visibility and lucidity. It avoids the ownership of activities ‘falling through the cracks’ where one team member has incorrectly assumed someone else is undertaking a specific task. It avoids the discovery of the need to carry out additional activities at the ‘eleventh hour’, robbing team members of ample warning of new tasks to be completed. PRACI charts can prevent reputations being tarnished when milestones are missed. Project reviews of failed projects pinpoint activities that were not identified, specialist consultants who were engaged late in a programme or stakeholders that were not consulted. Time and time again it is not until a PRACI chart is commenced that a consensus is established across a project as to the tasks to be completed and the appropriate accountabilities and responsibilities.
Documented
The adoption of a PRACI matrix has proved to be an aid to establishing project governance and the implementation of project controls. The introduction and use of a PRACI matrix is described within the text “The rules of project risk management, implementation guidelines for major projects, second edition” published by Routledge in 2020, in both New York and Oxfordshire in the UK. The text advocates that “Leadership must ensure that it is made explicit who within the project team is accountable and who is responsible for all of the primary risk management activities”. The same tenet applies to all of the other project disciplines.
Definition
The PRACI matrix is a project role and responsibility assignment chart that describes the tasks to be completed for a specific objective and assigns which roles are Accountable and Responsible for each task, which project team members are required to Participate and who needs to be Consulted or Informed. The acronym PRACI stands for the five roles that project team members play in completing activities that contribute to a collective goal.
P: Participate
Those who assist and support those who are Responsible for the completion of the task.
R: Responsible
The individual who is Responsible is subordinate to the individual who is Accountable. Those who are Responsible are those that ‘do the work’ to achieve the task. There is typically (but not always) one individual assigned to a task who is Responsible, to avoid confusion as to which individual should deliver. A Responsible person may be responsible for completing multiple tasks.
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How to cite this work: Chapman, R. J. (2024). The PRACI matrix: Your blueprint for realisation of a project’s objectives, advisory, PM World Journal, Vol. XIII, Issue IV, April. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/pmwj140-Apr2024-Chapman-the-PRACI-matrix-advisory.pdf
About the Author
Robert J. Chapman, PhD, MSc.
United Kingdom
Dr Robert J Chapman is an international risk management specialist. He has provided risk management services in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Holland, UAE, South Africa, Malaysia and Qatar on multi-billion programmes and projects across 14 different industries. He is author of the texts: ‘The SME business guide to fraud risk management’ published by Routledge, ‘Simple tools and techniques for enterprise risk management’ 2nd edition, published by John Wiley and Sons Limited, ‘The Rules of Project Risk Management, implementation guidelines for major projects’ 2nd edition published by Routledge and ‘Retaining design team members, a risk management approach’ published by RIBA Enterprises. He holds a PhD in risk management from Reading University and has been elected a fellow of the IRM, CIHT, APM and ICM and is a former member of the RIBA. Robert has passed the M_o_R, APM and PMI risk examinations. In addition, he has provided project and risk management training in Scotland, England, Singapore and Malaysia. Robert has been an external PhD examiner. Dr. Chapman developed the PRACI matrix and successfully deployed it for multiple organizations. It effectively ensured that those project team members and stakeholders, upon whom those responsible for a task were reliant, were identified and communicated with from the outset of an activity.
