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Comparison with a worked decision

RACI vs RASCI, DACI and RAPID: which one to use

Short answer

RACI and RASCI assign roles to the tasks of a project. DACI and RAPID assign roles to one decision. RASCI adds a Support role to RACI, DACI names a Driver and a single Approver, and RAPID, from Bain and Company, splits a decision into Recommend, Agree, Input, Decide and Perform.

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Which one to useSee LeanSuite in action

  • RACI

    • RResponsible
    • AAccountable
    • CConsulted
    • IInformed

  • RASCI

    • RResponsible
    • AAccountable
    • SSupport
    • CConsulted
    • IInformed

  • DACI

    • DDriver
    • AApprover
    • CContributors
    • IInformed

  • RAPID

    • RRecommend
    • AAgree
    • PPerform
    • IInput
    • DDecide
  • Owns the call or the result
  • Does, drives or recommends
  • Must agree before it moves
  • Asked first
  • Told after
The colour groups roles by what they do in each framework. The word is under every letter.

In one table

How do RACI, RASCI, DACI and RAPID compare?

RACI says who does, owns, is asked and is told for each task. RASCI adds Support for people who help deliver. DACI is for one decision: a Driver runs it and one Approver makes the call. RAPID splits a decision into five roles, including Agree for those who must sign off before it moves, and one Decide.

RACI, RASCI, DACI and RAPID compared
AspectLettersBuilt forThe one ruleA good fit
RACIResponsible, Accountable, Consulted, InformedTasks in a project or processOne Accountable per task, and at least one Responsible.A kaizen event, a launch, a handover: any list of tasks with several people on it.
RASCIResponsible, Accountable, Support, Consulted, InformedTasks, when helpers outside the core team matterThe same as RACI. Support is for helpers, not owners.Work that could slip because a named person outside the core team does not show up.
DACIDriver, Approver, Contributors, InformedOne decision with a dateExactly one Approver, as the Atlassian play puts it.A decision that keeps getting reopened, or that no one has been asked to drive.
RAPIDRecommend, Agree, Perform, Input, DecideDecisions that cross functionsOne Decide. Bain's line is that when one person has the D, bottlenecks go.A decision that stalls between functions, or between a site and the center.

Letter by letter

What do the letters mean in each?

RACI is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed. RASCI adds Support. DACI is Driver, Approver, Contributors, Informed. RAPID is Recommend, Agree, Perform, Input, Decide. Some letters repeat with different meanings: the A is Accountable in RACI, Approver in DACI and Agree in RAPID, and the I is Informed in three and Input in RAPID.

  • RACI

    • RResponsibleDoes the work.
    • AAccountableOwns the result and signs it off.
    • CConsultedAsked for input before the work is done.
    • IInformedKept up to date, often only when it is done.

  • RASCI

    • RResponsibleDoes the work.
    • AAccountableOwns the result and signs it off.
    • SSupportActively helps deliver, without owning the result.
    • CConsultedAsked for input before the work is done.
    • IInformedTold once it is done.

  • DACI

    • DDriverGathers people and facts, sets the scope and gets the decision made by the agreed date.
    • AApproverThe one person who makes the decision.
    • CContributorsExperts who recommend options. A voice but no vote.
    • IInformedAffected by the decision. Told the outcome, with no vote or voice.

  • RAPID

    • RRecommendProposes a course of action, with alternatives.
    • AAgreeMust approve the recommendation before it moves. Some can veto, and must then offer an alternative or escalate.
    • PPerformCarries out the decision.
    • IInputSupplies facts. The recommender weighs them but is not bound by them.
    • DDecideThe single point of accountability. Makes the final call.
  • Owns the call or the result
  • Does, drives or recommends
  • Must agree before it moves
  • Asked first
  • Told after
The colour groups roles by what they do in each framework. The word is under every letter.

Letters that look alike and are not

  • The A means three things

    Accountable in RACI, Approver in DACI, Agree in RAPID. In RAPID the person who owns the call is the D, and A is a sign-off before it moves.

  • The I means two things

    Informed in RACI and DACI, Input in RAPID. Input is asked before the call. Informed is told after.

  • RACI for a decision

    RACI can say who is accountable for a decision, but it has no letter for who recommends it and no letter for who may block it. Decision frameworks such as DACI and RAPID add those letters.

  • Four frameworks in one plant

    Pick one for tasks and one for decisions at most. Three letter systems in one building confuse people.

Choosing

Which one should you use?

Use RACI for the tasks of a project. Add Support when named helpers outside the core team must show up. Use DACI when one decision needs an answer by a date. Use RAPID when a decision stalls between functions or some people must sign off before it moves. For a small fix by one team, a name and a date are enough.

  • RACI

    You are dividing up the tasks of a project or a process

    It answers who does, who owns, who is asked and who is told, one task at a time. The free template on this site is a RACI.

  • RASCI

    Named people outside the core team have to show up for the work

    Mutomorro's test: could the work miss its date because a specific person outside the core team does not show up? If so, give them an S. If not, RACI is simpler.

  • DACI

    One decision needs an answer by a date, and people keep reopening it

    It names a Driver to get it done and one Approver to make the call, and it leaves Contributors with a voice but no vote.

  • RAPID

    A decision stalls between functions, or some people must sign off before it moves

    The Harvard Business Review article says decisions stall between function and function, center and business unit, global and local, and inside and outside partners. Agree gives sign-off its own role.

  • None of them

    A small fix by one team

    A name and a date is enough. A chart for a five-minute fix costs more than the fix.

A worked decision

What does the same decision look like under each?

Take one decision: whether to buy a second set of quick-change dies for Press 2. Under RACI it becomes a purchase task with one owner. Under RASCI the tool room supports. Under DACI one supervisor drives and the plant manager approves. Under RAPID, finance must agree and the plant manager decides. Same decision, different questions answered.

The decision: Buy a second set of quick-change dies for Press 2.

  • RACI

    A task: get the dies bought and fitted.

    • APlant manager
    • RMaintenance lead
    • CProduction supervisor
    • CFinance partner
    • IOperators

  • RASCI

    The same task, with the tool room named as a helper.

    • APlant manager
    • RMaintenance lead
    • STool room
    • CProduction supervisor
    • CFinance partner
    • IOperators

  • DACI

    A decision: yes or no, by the end of the month.

    • DProduction supervisor
    • APlant manager
    • CMaintenance lead
    • CQuality manager
    • CFinance partner
    • IOperators

  • RAPID

    A decision where the budget has to be agreed first.

    • RProduction supervisor
    • AFinance partner
    • IQuality manager
    • IOperators
    • DPlant manager
    • PPurchasing
    • PMaintenance lead
An example with sample data. An illustrative plant. The aim is to cut the changeover time on Press 2. A die set costs time and money, and several functions have a view.
  • Under RACI and RASCI the decision is already made and the question is who gets it done. Nothing says who recommends or who may veto.
  • Under DACI the supervisor drives, the plant manager approves, and the people with a view are Contributors: they speak, they do not vote.
  • Under RAPID finance has to agree before the plant manager decides. In RAPID the letter I means Input, not Informed: Quality and the operators supply facts.

Where they come from

Where does each one come from?

Only RAPID has a named origin in the pages read: Paul Rogers and Marcia Blenko of Bain and Company, in a Harvard Business Review article in January 2006. The pages read for RACI, RASCI and DACI do not say who created them, so this page does not name anyone. Atlassian publishes DACI as a Team Playbook play.

  • RACI

    The pages read give no author or date for RACI. They treat it as practice that grew over time.

  • RASCI

    A RACI variant. Wikipedia lists it with RACIS, RASIC and RASI. The pages read name no author or date.

  • DACI

    Atlassian publishes it as a Team Playbook play. That page does not say who created it, so this page names no origin.

  • RAPID

    Paul Rogers and Marcia Blenko of Bain and Company, in Who Has the D? in Harvard Business Review, January 2006.

Common ground

What do all four have in common?

All four put one name on the call: one Accountable, one Approver, one Decide. All four separate the people who do or advise from the people who only need to hear. And none of them is a formal standard, so write down what each letter means for your plant and use it the same way every time.

  • One name on the call

    One Accountable, one Approver, one Decide. Two names on that letter is how a decision sits for a month.

  • Doers apart from advisers

    Each separates the people who do or recommend from the people who are asked, and from the people who only hear.

  • Roles before names

    Write the role, then the person. A chart that lists only departments tells nobody who to call.

  • Defined in writing

    None is a formal standard. The Mutomorro article advises picking one model, defining each letter in writing and applying it the same way each time.

For the tasks of a project, start with the RACI chart guide and the free template.

Get the free RACI templateRead the RACI chart guide

Sources

Read more on RACI and ownership

FAQ

Questions about RACI, RASCI, DACI and RAPID

  1. RASCI adds an S for Support: a person who actively helps deliver a task without owning the result. Everything else is the same. Add the S when the work could slip because a named person outside the core team does not show up. Otherwise RACI is simpler and an S column would sit empty.

  2. RACI assigns the tasks of a project. DACI assigns one decision. DACI names a Driver to get the decision made by a date, and exactly one Approver to make it. Contributors give input but have no vote, and Informed people are told the outcome.

  3. Recommend, Agree, Perform, Input and Decide. Recommend proposes a course of action. Agree must approve it before it moves. Input supplies facts. Decide makes the final call. Perform carries it out. The framework comes from Paul Rogers and Marcia Blenko of Bain and Company.

  4. Paul Rogers and Marcia Blenko of Bain and Company described RAPID in the article Who Has the D? in Harvard Business Review in January 2006. Bain's own page says the point of the framework is that one person holds the D, the single point of accountability for the decision.

  5. Driver, Approver, Contributors and Informed. Atlassian publishes it in its Team Playbook with exactly one Approver. The Atlassian page does not say who created it, and the other pages read for this guide do not either, so this site does not name an origin.

  6. This site's advice: use a RACI chart for the tasks of the event, and DACI or RAPID only for a single big decision inside it, such as buying equipment. The free RACI template is set up for a kaizen event. A quick fix by one team needs only an owner and a date.

  7. Yes. The free RACI matrix template on this site has 17 kaizen project tasks by ten roles, R, A, C, I drop-downs and a check that flags any task with no accountable person or more than one. It comes as an Excel file and a one-page PDF.

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