Beyond RACI: Clear Decision Rights for Fast Team Execution

RACI feels neat on a slide. In real work it often slows decisions, hides ownership, and drowns teams in consultation theatre. If speed, clarity, and accountability matter, you need a decision rights system that goes beyond who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed. This guide gives you a practical blueprint you can apply this week. No jargon. No theatre. Just decisiveness that scales with your growth.

Why RACI breaks under growth pressure

RACI was designed for task coordination, not decision speed. It often collapses when stakes and complexity rise. The result is slower execution and rising frustration.

• Vague accountability. Two names under A is common. That means no one is accountable.
• Decision limbo. R and C do the work while A is unavailable. Choices drift.
• Over-notification. Half the organisation sits under I. Inboxes flood. No one reads.
• Hidden vetoes. Senior stakeholders wield informal power that RACI never shows.
• Poor fit for cross-team decisions. RACI was built around tasks, not cross-functional governance.
• No link to risk or reversibility. All decisions treated the same. That is wasteful.
• No mechanism for speed. RACI does not define timelines, authority levels, or escalation.

What great decision rights look like

The goal is simple. Clear ownership, fast decisions, and fewer reversals. Great systems define who proposes, who decides, who contributes expertise, who signs off, who executes, and how to move if blocked.

• One named owner per decision. Never a committee. Accountability is singular.
• Transparent authority levels. People know what they can decide without asking.
• Lightweight consultation. Targeted expertise, short time windows, strong defaults.
• Explicit escalation paths. Blocked decisions move quickly to the next level.
• Decision logs. A short record that explains the why and the who. Easy to find.
• Risk-calibrated approach. Big bets get more rigour. Reversible moves go fast.

The Decision Rights Stack

You do not need a new bureaucracy. You need a small stack that prevents muddle, speeds clarity, and scales with growth. Use this seven-part stack and you will feel the difference inside one quarter.

1) Decision Type Catalogue

Catalogue the 20 to 40 recurring decision types you make. Map each to a home.

• Strategy, policy, investment, pricing, product, architecture, data, security, brand, hiring, compensation, vendor, compliance, incident, customer remediation, service level, exception handling.
• For each type define scope, reversibility, typical stakeholders, and the default owner.
• Keep it on one page. Link it in your wiki and onboarding.

2) Roles that beat RACI

Use a sharper set of roles that reflect how decisions are made in practice.

• D. Decider. One named person with authority and accountability for the outcome.
• P. Proposer. Shapes the decision memo, options, and recommendation.
• A. Advisors. Experts who must be consulted in a time box. Narrow list.
• R. Raters. People impacted who provide input through a structured pulse.
• E. Executors. The team that implements once the decision is taken.
• S. Signatories. Required for regulated or fiduciary areas only. Use sparingly.

This gives you DPARES. The Decider is singular. Proposer does the work. Advisors and Raters contribute quickly. Executors deliver. Signatories are only used where the law or governance demands it.

3) Authority Levels and Guardrails

Define clear authority levels so work flows without permission chasing.

• L1 Inform. You act and inform afterwards. Low risk and reversible.
• L2 Recommend. You propose and proceed unless a named person objects.
• L3 Decide. You decide within defined guardrails. You may consult as needed.
• L4 Ratify. You propose. A senior role must ratify before action.
• L5 Approve. A committee or board approves due to legal or fiduciary risk.

Set guardrails with crisp thresholds.

• Financial. Spend under 50k at L3. 50k to 250k at L4. Above at L5.
• Risk class. Low and medium at L3. High risk at L4. Critical at L5.
• Irreversibility. Two way doors at L3. One way doors at L4 or L5.

4) Escalation Ladder and Timers

Decisions die in inboxes. Use timers and a visible ladder.

• Time box every consultation to 48 hours for standard work and 5 days for high risk.
• If blocked, escalate one level within 24 hours with the decision memo and the ask.
• If still blocked, schedule a 15 minute decision huddle with the next level within 48 hours.

5) Decision Memos not Slides

Slides hide trade offs. Memos force clarity.

• One page limit for reversible decisions. Three pages for one way doors.
• Structure. Context, options, recommendation, risks, mitigations, owners, authority level.
• Pre read posted 24 hours before the decision huddle.

6) Decision Log

Keep a simple log in your wiki. Make it searchable and mandatory.

• Fields. ID, title, type, owner, authority level, date, outcome, rationale, links, review date.
• Keep entries short. A clear paragraph beats three slides.

7) Rituals and Metrics

Make decision quality visible and measurable.

• Weekly. 20 minute decision review in each leadership team. Scan the log. Unblock.
• Monthly. Trend decision lead time, rework rate, escalation rate, and stuck count.
• Quarterly. Audit 10 key decisions. Score clarity, speed, outcome, and learning.

Models beyond RACI and when to use them

RACI is not the only model and not the best in most cases. Choose the pattern that matches the decision and the context.

• RAPID. Distinguishes Recommend, Agree, Perform, Input, Decide. Useful where Agree is legally required. Watch for Agree creep that slows things.
• DACI. Driver, Approver, Contributors, Informed. Good for product decisions with one Approver. Ensure one Driver only.
• DRI. Directly Responsible Individual. Strong for ownership culture. Pair it with guardrails.
• Advice Process. Anyone can decide if they seek advice from those impacted and experts. High trust environments only. Requires strong cultural norms.
• Consent based decision making. Used in sociocracy. Good for self managing teams. Risk of slow pace if not time boxed.
• Delegation levels. Tell to delegate spectrum. Good for coaching leaders. Pair with authority thresholds.

The Decision Rights Canvas

Use this canvas in your next cross functional decision. Print it on one page and fill it in during the huddle.

• Decision. One sentence statement. No vague wording.
• Goal. Outcome you seek. Measures of success.
• Type. From your catalogue. Strategy, policy, product, investment, etc.
• Authority level. L1 to L5 with reason.
• Owner. Name the Decider. Only one.
• Proposer. Name the Proposer. Usually the person closest to the work.
• Advisors. Named experts with a 48 hour window.
• Raters. Impacted groups. Use a short pulse to gather input.
• Options. Three options with pros and cons. Include the do nothing option.
• Risks and mitigations. Top three risks with mitigations and triggers.
• Decision date. Commit a date. Use a timer.
• Implementation owner. The Executor lead.
• Review date. When you will review and adjust.

A practical decision taxonomy

Not all decisions deserve the same process. Use a simple taxonomy and match process to risk and reversibility.

• Strategic. Direction, markets, positioning, M and A. L4 to L5. Three page memo.
• Policy and governance. Principles, risk appetite, compliance, security. L4 to L5.
• Investment and allocation. Budgets, headcount, vendors, capex. L3 to L5 by threshold.
• Product and customer. Roadmap, pricing, feature choices, SLAs. L2 to L4 by impact.
• Architecture and data. Patterns, platforms, standards, privacy. L3 to L4.
• People and organisation. Structure, roles, compensation bands, senior hires. L4 to L5.
• Incident and exception. Outages, escalations, crisis comms. L2 to L3 with tight timers.

Risk and reversibility rules of thumb

Do not overthink this. Use firm thresholds and move on.

• If you can reverse with low cost in two weeks, treat as L2 or L3.
• If the cost of delay exceeds the cost of a wrong decision, decide now.
• If legal exposure is material or the brand risk is high, raise to L4 or L5.

Implementation playbook in 90 days

You can implement this without a massive transformation. Follow this plan and adapt the paperwork to your culture.

Days 1 to 30. Clarify and pilot.

• Draft your Decision Type Catalogue. Keep it to one page. Socialise with leaders.
• Select two teams. Product and Operations are often good pilots.
• Introduce DPARES roles and L1 to L5 authority levels. Train in a one hour session.
• Set up a simple decision log in your wiki. Use a template with copy and paste fields.
• Pilot the memo template on one live decision per team. Time box to one week.

Days 31 to 60. Scale and harden.

• Expand to three more teams. Sales, Data, and People usually benefit early.
• Run weekly decision reviews. Keep them at 20 minutes. Focus on unblock and learnings.
• Add the escalation ladder and timers. Publish the playbook in the wiki.
• Start tracking lead time to decision and rework rate.

Days 61 to 90. Embed and optimise.

• Roll out across functions that share decisions. Pricing, onboarding, incidents.
• Calibrate authority thresholds using real data from the log.
• Add the Decision Rights Canvas to big or cross functional decisions.
• Run a quarterly audit. Pick ten decisions and score clarity, speed, and outcome.

Templates you can use today

Stop waiting for a perfect framework. Use these templates immediately.

• One page memo. Context, options, recommendation, risks, owners, authority, date.
• Decision log entry. Title, type, owner, level, date, outcome, rationale, links, review date.
• Decision review agenda. Scan new decisions. Check timers. Unblock. Capture one learning.
• Escalation email. Decision ID, ask, reason for escalation, options, recommendation, timer.

Rituals that create consistent speed

Rituals turn intent into habit. Use these to keep decision latency low.

• Monday decision sweep. Each team updates the log. New items get owners and dates.
• Wednesday memo clinic. 30 minutes. Three memos. Peer review for clarity and risk.
• Friday outcome review. Close the loop. What did we decide. What did we learn.

Metrics that expose decision friction

You cannot improve what you do not measure. Use a small set of metrics across teams.

• Lead time to decision. From proposal to decision. Target under five working days for L2 and L3.
• Rework rate. Percentage of decisions reversed within 30 days. Target under 10 percent.
• Escalation rate. Percentage that needed one level up. Watch for systemic blockers.
• Stuck count. Items that passed the timer without movement. Zero is the goal.
• Consultation span. Number of advisors engaged per decision. Target three or fewer.
• Owner clarity. Pulse question. I know who owns the decision. Target over 90 percent yes.

A short case vignette

Before. A scale up is debating a pricing change. RACI shows Product as R, VP Sales as A, Finance and Legal as C, twenty people as I. Weeks pass. Advisors cannot agree, so no decision is made. Sales keeps discounting. Margin erodes.

After. The team applies the Decision Rights Stack. Type is pricing. Owner is the Pricing Lead as Decider at L3 with a 50k revenue at risk threshold. Proposer is Product Marketing. Advisors are Finance and Legal with a 72 hour timer. Raters are Sales and Customer Success through a structured pulse. Memo presents three options with impact on revenue, churn, and sales cycle. Decision is taken in five days. Execution starts the next week. A review date is set for six weeks to check impact. Margin lifts within the quarter.

Avoid these pitfalls

Even good systems fail if you let old habits creep back in. Watch for these and act fast.

• Committee ownership. If you see two owners, you have none. Fix it on the spot.
• Endless consultation. Limit advisors. Time box input. Proceed when the timer ends.
• Hidden vetoes. Publish authority levels and guardrails. Enforce them.
• Model worship. RAPID or DACI are tools, not goals. Solve for speed and clarity.
• Scope creep. Define the decision. One sentence. If it grows, split it.
• Silent changes. Log every material decision. If it is not in the log, it did not happen.

Connecting decision rights to the bigger picture

Decision rights are not an isolated process. They are a backbone that touches the whole organisation. Seen through the PerformanceNinja 6Ps lens, they connect strategy, structure, and execution in a direct way.

• Purpose. Decisions allocate attention to the why and the what that matter.
• People. Clear authority builds leaders and prevents dependency on a few voices.
• Proposition. Faster product choices create sharper value for customers.
• Process. Governance routes become simple and predictable. Waste reduces.
• Productivity. Teams spend more time executing and less time waiting.
• Potential. Bolder experiments run safely inside agreed guardrails.

Where to start on Monday

Make it practical. Pick one team and one decision. Use the stack and learn fast.

• Publish your Decision Type Catalogue on a single wiki page.
• Choose a live decision. Fill the Decision Rights Canvas together.
• Name one Decider. Set an authority level. Add a 72 hour timer.
• Write a one page memo with three options and a clear recommendation.
• Log the decision. Review the outcome in four weeks.

Fast FAQ

Ground the habit by answering the questions everyone will ask.

• What if the Decider makes a poor call. Use review dates and reversible moves. Coach, do not centralise.
• What if Legal wants final say on everything. Use Signatories only where law demands it. Publish a list.
• What if two teams both claim ownership. Use the catalogue and make one choice. Resolve it in the log.
• What if my leader will not commit. Show lead time and rework data. Escalate through the ladder.
• What if a decision spans multiple regions. Assign one Decider with regional ratification if required.

The bottom line

RACI is fine for task clarity. It is not enough for decision speed and ownership. Use a focused stack that names the owner, calibrates authority, sets timers, and captures learning. Your organisation will move with intent, cut noise, and deliver results with less drama. That is what leadership should produce every day.

Next Steps

Want to learn more? Check out these articles:

Clear Roles for Faster Flow: A Blueprint for Team Velocity

Decision Rights for Fast Growth: A Tactical Leader Playbook

Convert Tasks to Deliverables: The Tactical Leader Playbook

To find out how PerformanceNinja could help you, book a free strategy call or take a look at our Performance Intelligence Leadership Development Programme.