Define the system and unit of analysis
Specify process, population, product, time window, boundaries and aggregation level. Without a defined unit of analysis, measures and comparisons may represent different phenomena.
TECHNICAL GUIDE · STRUCKEL TOOLS
PDC-05 · Projects
PDCA RACI Matrix
Connects each PDCA activity and stage to R, A, C and I roles, making accountability explicit and exposing governance gaps.
RACI · PDCA · responsabilidade · accountableFormulários Struckel
01
MANAGEMENT QUESTION
The problem the tool must make decidable.
Before opening a form, define the question that must be answered. A management tool is useful when it reduces ambiguity, exposes assumptions and makes clear which decision will be made from the evidence produced.
PDC-05Is it clear who performs, who is accountable for the final decision, who must be consulted and who only needs to be informed for each activity?
Projects turn intention into deliverables under constraints of time, resources, scope and risk. Documentation should facilitate decisions and governance rather than merely record what happened afterwards.
Use it when there are deliverables, owners, dependencies, milestones, acceptance criteria or a need to track evolution objectively.
02
METHOD ARCHITECTURE
Technical construction: from operational definition to evidence.
A matrix turns criteria into a comparable structure. Before scoring, define scales and the meaning of each axis; otherwise different numbers may represent different interpretations across evaluators.
Define criteria before evaluation
Translate abstract concepts into operational definitions, scales, classification rules and data sources. Criteria should exist before the result to reduce retrospective interpretation.
Preserve traceability
Link each conclusion to data, observations, assumptions and owners. When a score is used, retain its components; when a hypothesis is used, record how it will be tested.
Calibrate when there are multiple evaluators, retain the evidence behind each score and treat the result as decision support — not an automatic replacement for judgment.
03
WORKED EXAMPLE
How the method behaves in a real situation.
In a launch, “approve price” involves Sales and Finance. RACI can assign Sales as R, the Director as A, Finance as C and Operations as I. Validation should flag activities with no A/R or multiple A roles without a tie-break rule.
The example is intentionally specific. Numbers illustrate the reasoning and are not universal benchmarks: limits, scales and targets must be defined for the process being analyzed.04
MEASUREMENT AND INTERPRETATION
What to observe so the document does not become mere form filling.
Measures should serve reasoning. Whenever possible combine outcome, process and contextual evidence. For time series, look for patterns and variation rather than only point-in-time before/after comparisons.
01% activities with R
02% with single A
03R/A conflicts
04decision time
05handoffs
Consistency test
Ask whether another person, using the same definitions and evidence, would reach a similar interpretation. If the answer depends heavily on individual judgment, refine the operational definition, scale or data source.
05
LIMITATIONS AND GOVERNANCE
The tool supports decisions; it does not replace judgment, context and validation.
Widely used management heuristic. Useful for structuring decisions, but not by itself a causal model or scientifically validated scale.
RACI clarifies roles but does not fix poor process design, insufficient authority or excessive consultation. Too many C roles may signal slow governance.
Define an owner, review frequency, official data source and condition for reopening the decision. Link actions to deadlines and indicators, hypotheses to tests, and risks to treatment and follow-up.
DefinitionEvidenceInterpretationDecisionReview
06
METHODOLOGICAL BASIS
References for deeper study of the method.
The references below support the methodological family or principle used. Struckel’s digital implementation operationalizes application, documentation and traceability; it does not change the conceptual limits of the original sources.
PMI_PMBOK8
Open reference Project Management Institute. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). 8th ed. 2025.
USE IT IN PRACTICE
Turn the method into a document ready for real work.
Struckel Forms offers a free way to structure this methodology with guided fields, contextual help and print/PDF preparation. Use the tool to organize reasoning; use consulting when the challenge requires design, implementation, facilitation or executive follow-up.