One of the must requirements when it comes to managing any project is having the Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM). The main objective of the RAM is to detail the responsibilities of the different project stakeholders when it comes to performing the different project management processes across the project life cycle stages. The default responsibilities are Responsible (R), Accountable (A), Consult (C), and to be Informed (I). That is why the RAM is also known as the RACI chart.
The values for those responsibilities could vary depending on what it is best suitable to explain the responsibility to be performed by the different stakeholders’ roles for the type of projects to be managed. For example, for capital projects, it is common to use the stakeholders’ responsibilities as responsible for performance (P), responsible for support and Assist (S), responsible for review and comments (R), responsible for Approval (A) or to be informed (I). Sometimes an organization might decide to expand the RAM to include the different stakeholders’ team members instead of having it summarized by the stakeholder entity.
Using Project Management Information Systems (PMIS) like PMWeb, organizations can improve the process for developing, reviewing and approving the RAM. Using PMWeb form builder, a form will be created to capture the RAM values for each project phase. The project management processes will be predefined based on the best practices and knowledge the organization has in developing the RAM. The responsibilities for each process need to be completed as per the requirements of the project being managed for which the responsibilities values can be selected from a predefined dropdown list.
A workflow will be assigned to RAM form to ensure that the assigned stakeholders’ responsibilities are formally reviewed and approved. The processes for each project phase can be added into different tables in the created custom form. This will allow assigning different reviews and approval responsibilities in the workflow steps.
As an option, it is highly recommended to also create the organization charts and the details of the project team reporting level that will be aligned with the responsibility assignment matrix. Of course, there could be different organization charts and RAM for each of the project life cycle phases that include design, tender, construction, testing and commissioning, and closeout. The PMWeb organization chart module will be used to create those organization charts.
The responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) report details the assigned stakeholders’ responsibilities for each project management process within the project lifecycle phase. In addition, it includes four visuals to summarize the number of processes each stakeholder has a responsibility to perform and grouped by the type of responsibility which could be responsible for performance (P), responsible for support and assist (S), responsible for review and comments (R), responsible for approval (A) or to be informed (I). The report also allows filtering of the processes by project phase and process groups.
