RACI Accountability Model
Use RACI matrices in Dictiva procedures to clarify who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed for each governance step.
What Is RACI?
RACI is a responsibility assignment matrix that removes ambiguity from governance procedures. For every step in a procedure, RACI answers four questions:
| Letter | Role | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| R | Responsible | The person or team that does the work |
| A | Accountable | The single owner who signs off on the outcome |
| C | Consulted | Subject-matter experts whose input is required before the step completes |
| I | Informed | Stakeholders who are notified after the step completes |
A single person can hold more than one role on a step, but every step should have exactly one A — ambiguous ownership is the most common reason governance processes break down.
Assigning RACI Roles in Dictiva
Each procedure step in Dictiva includes an Accountability lane. To assign roles:
- Open a procedure from the Procedures section in the sidebar
- Select a step
- In the step detail panel, find the Accountability section
- Click any lettered block (R, A, C, or I) to enter a name, team, or role title
- Press Enter or click outside the field to save
The block fills with colour when a value is assigned and appears faded when empty, giving you a quick visual scan of coverage gaps across your procedure.
Common Patterns
Data governance decisions typically look like this:
- R — Data steward (owns the day-to-day task)
- A — Domain owner (accountable for the outcome)
- C — Legal or Privacy team (consulted before changes are made)
- I — Senior leadership (informed of significant changes)
Approval workflows often assign R and A to different people on purpose — the analyst does the work (R) while the manager approves it (A).
Switching to RAPID
If your organisation uses the RAPID decision framework rather than RACI, you can switch the accountability model on any step. Click the RACI / RAPID toggle in the Accountability section header. RAPID uses five roles: Recommend, Agree, Perform, Input, and Decide.
See the RAPID guide for full details.
Tips
- One A per step — multiple Accountable owners means no one is truly accountable
- Use role titles, not names — "Data Steward" ages better than "Alice" when teams change
- Leave C and I intentionally blank if a step genuinely has no consulting or informing needs — blank is correct, not missing
- Audit the matrix periodically — as your governance program matures, roles evolve