Coaching practices for The Raci Matrix During Conflict
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For The Raci Matrix During Conflict, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- We sorted out who owned what at kickoff, but the project has shifted and two people have left since then, and now decisions are getting made by folks who aren’t even in those roles anymore
- Every small call drags out for days because I’ve looped in so many people for their input that nobody’s opinion actually moves the needle anymore
- We keep re-arguing the same decision we already settled weeks ago because no one wrote down what we chose or why
- Everything still funnels through me because I own the outcome, so I can’t hand off the actual doing without feeling like I’ve let it go entirely
- A deadline just blew past and when I asked what happened, everyone pointed at someone else
Practices that may help
- The RACI Matrix, Made Practical
A RACI matrix assigns one of four roles — Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed — to every person for every key decision or task in a project. Its main value is preventing the two most common team failures: work falling through the cracks because no one owns it, and decisions stalling because too many people feel they must approve them. - Review the RACI when scope or team changes
A RACI built at kickoff and never updated is out of date the moment the first change happens.
The RACI Matrix, Made Practical - Limit Consulted to people whose input genuinely changes the decision
Every C is a two-way conversation that costs time; over-consulting is as dangerous as under-consulting.
The RACI Matrix, Made Practical - Pair the RACI with a decision log
Knowing who decides is only half the system — recording what was decided closes the accountability loop.
The RACI Matrix, Made Practical - Separate the doer (R) from the owner (A)
The person who does the work is often not the person who owns the outcome — make this explicit.
The RACI Matrix, Made Practical - Assign exactly one Accountable per decision
Every decision or deliverable must have exactly one A — not zero, not two.
The RACI Matrix, Made Practical - Use Competing when speed or safety matters more than buy-in
Competing — high assertive, low cooperative — is appropriate when the decision is urgent, high-stakes, and not open for debate.
The Thomas–Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) - Inform stakeholders before they ask, not after they complain
I’s are one-way — they receive information; the cost of surprising them is always higher than the cost of telling them.
The RACI Matrix, Made Practical - Recognize when to shift modes mid-conflict
The mode that’s right at the start of a conversation may not be right ten minutes in.
The Thomas–Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) - The Five Conflict-Resolution Styles
The Thomas-Kilmann model maps conflict behavior on two axes — how much you assert your own needs and how much you cooperate with the other’s — yielding five styles: competing, accommodating, avoiding, compromising, and collaborating. None is "best": each fits certain situations, and skill lies in choosing deliberately rather than defaulting to the one style you always reach for. The model is a widely used framework and instrument, not an outcome-tested intervention.
Related concerns
- Decision Log Raci
Knowing who decides is only half the system — recording what was decided closes the accountability loop.
Pair the RACI with a decision log
- How To Use Raci
A RACI matrix assigns one of four roles — Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed — to every person for every key decision or task in a project. Its main value is preventing the two most common team failures: work falling through the cracks because no one owns it, and decisions stalling because too many people feel they must approve them.
- Raci Consulted Too Many
Every C is a two-way conversation that costs time; over-consulting is as dangerous as under-consulting.
Limit Consulted to people whose input genuinely changes the decision
- Raci Informed Stakeholders
I’s are one-way — they receive information; the cost of surprising them is always higher than the cost of telling them.
Inform stakeholders before they ask, not after they complain
- Raci R Vs A
The person who does the work is often not the person who owns the outcome — make this explicit.
Separate the doer (R) from the owner (A)
- Responsible Accountable Consulted Informed
A RACI matrix assigns one of four roles — Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed — to every person for every key decision or task in a project. Its main value is preventing the two most common team failures: work falling through the cracks because no one owns it, and decisions stalling because too many people feel they must approve them.
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