Before RACI: who actually owns the decision?

A responsibility chart does not settle every decision

A company may have an organization chart and still route a routine purchase through three managers without an accountable decision. People know their job titles, but not who can approve, execute, challenge, or close a decision.

RACI can clarify participation. It cannot compensate for undefined decision authority or thresholds.

The root cause is a mismatch of accountability and authority

Teams often combine four distinct roles: doing the work, owning the outcome, approving a commitment, and challenging a risk. Someone can be accountable for a result without having the authority or information needed to deliver it.

The mismatch becomes visible during exceptions: an out-of-budget request, a late supplier, or disagreement between sales and finance.

Test the decisions before drawing the matrix

Select three recurring decisions and classify their financial impact, operational impact, reversibility, and information requirements. Low-risk recurring decisions should usually have an operational owner and a delegation limit. Material commitments and exceptions need an explicit escalation route.

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• Who recommends and who approves?
• What threshold changes the approver?
• What record makes the decision auditable?

Related perspective: SharePoint Is Not Just Folders: Govern Company Documents

Start with a bounded pilot

Document one decision on a single page: trigger, inputs, decision owner, backup during absence, target response time, and exception path. Only then map who performs, reviews, or must be consulted.

Test the rule for two weeks in one workflow, then examine decisions still returning to senior leadership.

Hypothetical example: a discount waiting for the business owner

Imagine a sales team asking the business owner to approve every discount. A business could set limited discount bands and a minimum margin, let the sales lead approve within those bands, and escalate out-of-policy requests to finance.

This is an illustrative scenario, not a client result. The goal is transparent authority and reviewable controls, not removing oversight.

Look for evidence of improvement

Track approval cycle time, escalation count, reopened decisions, and undocumented exceptions. Fewer messages alone are not success if errors or unauthorized commitments increase.

• Every recurring decision has a named owner.
• Approval thresholds and exceptions are recorded.
• A short weekly review identifies broken rules.

A decision register before the RACI chart

Collect ten decisions that recur each week. Record authority limits, who recommends an action, and when escalation is required. For example, an approved discount band can be delegated to Sales; exceptions follow the agreed approval policy.

After two weeks, measure unnecessary leadership escalations. A responsibility chart helps only when it reflects real authority.

Design the operating model before buying software

A task management tool cannot decide which person should approve a commitment. Clarify decision rights, operational ownership, and necessary records first. Systems permissions can then implement those rules consistently.

Digital Business Foundation helps turn the agreed model into documented roles, controls, and a practical digital foundation.

• Field — Required definition
• Decision — Specific action, not a department label
• Decision owner — One role with actual authority
• Delegation limit — Amount, percentage, or risk category
• Escalation — Clear trigger and target response time