I heard a quote along time ago and have never been able to find who first said it. This is a quote that is very relevant for a business analyst.
Don’t confuse my understanding of a situation for my responsibility for a situation.
This quote outlines the importance of RACI charts.
A RACI chart is a chart that specifics the RACI for each item on the chart. RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed.
Responsible is the person who is actually doing the work.
Accountable is the person who is the owner of the work, He is the one who reviews and ultimately determines when the work is done.
Consulted are the individuals who have valuable input into the work
Informed are the individuals who want or need to know the status and progress of the work.
It is always best to only have one person accountable. In all the other categories there can be multiple individuals.
Having a RACI chart will assure that everyone knows who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed of the work that is going on.