How to build an event RACI matrix
Several people on your committee think a task is theirs, or each assumes someone else has it.
The short answer
A RACI matrix lists each event task against each role and marks one person Accountable, the doers Responsible, and the others Consulted or Informed. The rule that makes it work is simple: every task has exactly one Accountable role.
Build it at task level, not for the whole event, and review it with the people named in it before it is final.
What the four letters mean in an event
Responsible means doing the work. Accountable means answering for the result and having the final say on that task. Consulted means asked before the work is finalised. Informed means told afterwards.
One role can be both Responsible and Accountable. A task can have several Responsible roles but never two Accountable ones.
Build it in five steps
- List 15 to 30 tasks from your work breakdown, written as outcomes such as Speaker contracts signed.
- List roles, not names, for example Committee chair, Secretariat, Finance officer, Programme lead, Venue supplier contact.
- Mark Accountable first, one per row. Then add Responsible, then only the Consulted roles that truly need to be asked.
- Look for rows with no Accountable, two Accountable, or a person who is Accountable for too many rows.
- Check the load with the committee workload planner, then agree the matrix in a meeting and record it.
Tasks where RACI usually goes wrong
- Speaker invitations, where the programme lead and the chair both think they approve.
- Supplier payments, where the person who books the supplier is not the person who approves the invoice.
- Attendee communications, where several people send messages with different details.
- Anything involving a joint organiser, covered in joint-organiser responsibilities.
Keep Consulted short
A long Consulted column slows every decision. Ask of each Consulted role: if this person were not asked, would the task go wrong? If not, make them Informed.
Decision authority on larger choices belongs in a decision-rights matrix, which RACI does not replace.
Worked example · Fictional example
A fictional association's forum matrix
Fictional organisation and figures. Role names and counts are illustrative.
Persatuan Fiktif Perancang Bandar plans a one-day forum with a seven-member committee. Their first draft had 22 tasks. Six rows had two Accountable roles and three had none.
After the review, speaker confirmation became the programme lead's, invoice approval became the finance officer's, and the chair moved from Accountable on eleven rows to four. The chair stayed Consulted on programme theme and speaker shortlist.
| Task | Chair | Secretariat | Programme lead | Finance officer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speaker shortlist agreed | C | I | A/R | I |
| Speaker contracts signed | I | R | A | C |
| Venue deposit paid | I | R | C | A |
| Registration page live | I | A/R | C | I |
Use this yourself
Event RACI matrix template
Copy this table into a spreadsheet. Fill one row per task and give every row exactly one A.
- Rule 1: one A per row.
- Rule 2: no role is A for more than about a quarter of rows without a reason.
- Rule 3: every R role has confirmed it can do the work.
- Rule 4: C only where asking changes the outcome.
| Task | Role 1 | Role 2 | Role 3 | Role 4 | Role 5 | Check |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (task outcome) | A/R/C/I | A/R/C/I | A/R/C/I | A/R/C/I | A/R/C/I | One A? |
| (task outcome) | ||||||
| (task outcome) |
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- Your committee has seven or fewer people and one person can run the review meeting.
- Roles are already clear from last year.
- No joint organiser or outside supplier shares the tasks.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- Two organisations or several committees share tasks and disagree on who is accountable.
- Members change often and the matrix is out of date within weeks.
- Nobody has time to chase the Accountable people to confirm their rows.
Need the matrix agreed, not just drawn?
If the draft exists but people keep reopening who owns what, a conference project lead can run the review with your committee, resolve duplicate accountabilities and keep the matrix current as roles change. You keep decisions that belong to your committee.
Questions organisers ask
Is RACI too formal for a small committee?
The format can be light. A one-page table with one A per task is enough. The value is the conversation about ownership, not the document.
Can a committee be Accountable?
Name a role or person instead. A committee can decide, but one named role should answer for each task.
How often should the matrix be updated?
Review it at each committee meeting and whenever a member leaves, as covered in committee member handover.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.