DACI Decision Making Framework: Managing accountability with Mural

How many times have you been in an inspiring workshop or meeting, with great discussions, deliberation, and ideas from attendees…yet the session ends without concrete decisions or clear next steps? How often have you been part of meetings where the same topics and challenges get re-hashed over and over? People may remain passionate about needing to solve challenges, but no action is taken to solve said challenges — because no one is specifically responsible.

Lack of decision making and outcome focus are without a doubt some of the most consistent challenges that clients raise. These issues can hinder progress, reduce productivity, and diminish motivation. 

What is the cause? What’s holding teams back? In most cases, it’s certainly not a lack of skills, experience, passion, or drive that is causing the issue — but rather accountability.

Accountability is the linchpin that holds the wheel of team performance in place. High levels of accountability is the secret sauce to high performing teams. When teams operate with high accountability, projects and initiatives are delivered on time, within scope, and often with better-than-expected results. 

The most common causes of lack of accountability are unclear roles and responsibilities. With no clear owner of a project or decision, no one feels empowered to drive the decision or the initiative forward. People assume it is not their responsibility to, or fear that they may be overstepping into someone else’s territory.

Alternatively, a number of people may take it upon themselves to start projects, with multiple people doing similar work in different workstreams. This leads to a lot of wasted effort.

This is where the DACI decision-making framework can be instrumental.

What is the DACI model?

The DACI model is a decision-making framework that is used in project management and other organizational situations to clarify the roles and responsibilities of team members when it comes to making decisions and executing tasks, ensuring that every team member knows what's expected of them. 

What Are the Roles of the DACI Decision Making Framework?

DACI is an acronym that stands for:

• Driver: The team member responsible for managing the progress of the project and keeping the team on track.
• Approver: The individual (or individuals) with the final decision-making authority.
• Contributors: People who need to provide input and feedback throughout the project.
• Informed: Those who need to be kept in the loop about the project's progress and outcomes so they are aware of what is happening.

DACI vs. RACI

The DACI and RACI models are both frameworks used in project management to define roles and responsibilities within a team or organization. They serve to clarify who is responsible for what within a project or process. Although they have similar acronyms and purposes, there are distinct differences in their focuses and the roles they describe.

The DACI model (Driver, Approver, Contributor, Informed) emphasizes the decision-making process, with a focus on keeping projects moving and clarifying who has the authority to approve outcomes.

RACI is another common acronym used to define roles. It stands for: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed. The RACI model places more emphasis on the execution of tasks and processes and on delineating every level of task responsibility and accountability within a project, rather than on the decision-making process like the DACI.

DACI Model Examples

Here are some examples of the DACI Model in action:

DACI Matrix - Illustrative example A

‍Situation: A project Manager leading an IT transformation project.

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DACI Matrix - Illustrative example B

‍Situation: A product development team is working on launching a new feature.

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DACI Matrix - Illustrative Example C

Situation: A marketing team is working on launching a new campaign.

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Benefits of Using the DACI Framework In Project Management

Implementing the DACI model in project management, and other organizational situations, provides several benefits that can significantly enhance team performance and project outcomes.

As an effective tool for driving accountability and clarifying roles, the DACI framework simplifies decision-making and promotes a harmonious work environment. Below we outline the key advantages of incorporating the DACI framework into project management practices:

1. Enhanced Clarity and Focus

With clear roles and responsibilities, the DACI model minimizes confusion about who should be doing what. This enhanced clarity helps team members focus on their specific tasks without worrying about overstepping boundaries or duplicating effort.

2. Streamlined Decision-Making 

By designating a single Approver, DACI streamlines the decision-making process, preventing the common pitfalls of group indecisiveness and confusion. The model:

• Reduces the likelihood of "decision paralysis" by having a clear decision-maker.
• Allows decisions to be made promptly, which is critical in fast-paced project environments.
• Encourages concise and targeted communication, as contributors and informed parties know whose consensus they need to seek.

3. Improved Accountability

The DACI framework assigns ownership to different aspects of a project, which fosters a sense of personal responsibility. When team members are accountable for specific outcomes, it:

• Motivates individuals to meet their commitments, knowing that their work directly impacts the project's success.
• Enables more accurate tracking of progress, as the responsibilities are delineated.
• Helps to quickly identify any bottlenecks, as it's clear who is responsible for each task.

4. Better Collaboration

Defined roles and a clear framework encourage better collaboration among team members. Understanding each other’s responsibilities leads to:

• More efficient use of each member’s time, as they can collaborate without overlapping or omitting critical tasks.
• Enhanced synergy between team members, as they can leverage each other's strengths more effectively.
• Increased likelihood of successful cross-functional collaboration, with team members from different disciplines working well together.

5. Higher Project Success Rate

With all the previously mentioned benefits working in tandem, the DACI model significantly increases the likelihood of a project’s success. It:

• Helps keep the project aligned with its goals and timeline, thereby meeting or exceeding stakeholder expectations.
• Ensures that all team members are pulling in the same direction, which can lead to innovative solutions and high-quality outcomes.
• Cultivates a proactive and accountable team culture, which can be beneficial for future projects.

DACI and Mural - Complementary Partners for Driving Accountability

The DACI model's success is amplified by Mural’s collaborative capabilities. When used in conjunction, they provide a structured method for enhancing accountability and improving team dynamics.

Using the DACI model drives accountability by assigning specific roles and responsibilities. In doing so, it facilitates ownership, promotes clear communication, streamlines decision-making. Combined with tools like Mural, DACI can facilitate the implementation of a culture of accountability. 

Mural is a visual collaboration tool that allows teams to brainstorm, plan, and manage projects effectively. Other project management tools such as Asana and JIra can also support the DACI Model. Let’s dig into this further. 

D for Driver

The Driver is effectively the project manager, key to moving the project forward and ensuring that deliverables are met. The ownership of the progress and success of the project lies with the driver.

The driver is responsible for rallying the team and creating a project plan or dashboard including things like the goals, timelines, talks likes,and success measures. As a Senior Manager at Mural, I often play a driving role on cross-functional projects. To help me be successful, I always use a Mural board to:

• Map out the project timeline with milestones and deadlines.
• Assign tasks to different contributors using visual cues.
• Keep track of progress with status indicators.

A for Approver

The Approver holds the final decision-making authority. The Approver needs a clear and concise view of the project, and the nuances within it, to make informed decisions. 

The Driver is responsible for presenting summaries, proposals, and final products to Approvers, who can then provide feedback or approval.

Mural’s presentation mode can be a powerful way for Drivers to do this, where Approvers can also provide their feedback and approval directly into the canvas. I find it particularly helpful in:

• Displaying all relevant data and options in a visually appealing way for easy comparison.
• Highlighting the pros and cons of different decisions through decision tree templates.
• Organizing live voting sessions within Mural to gauge consensus.

C for Contributors

In any decision making process or project, there are a subset of people who need to provide input and feedback throughout the decision making process or project. Contributors are often the subject matter experts whose input is vital to inform effective decisions or to support a project's success. This group is usually made up of cross functional team members that help provide different perspectives and expertise.

A great way for a driver to get input from collaborators is to facilitate brainstorming and collaboration sessions where Contributors can share their expertise. This can be done both synchronously, or even asynchronously.

There are Mural features that I always leverage to enhance Contributor participation include:

• Utilizing sticky notes for brainstorming ideas.
• Comment and tag collaborators for probing or clarifying questions and providing asynchronous feedback.
• Sharing documents and links relevant to the project directly in the canvas, for a single source of truth.
• Conducting collaboration exercises in real-time or asynchronously

A few of my favorite methods that I use during collaboration sessions include Rose, Thorn, Bud for more structured brainstorming, affinity clustering for synthesizing ideas and comments, and Visualize the vote to help get a consensus on what’s most important.

I for Informed

The Informed group are those who need to be kept in the loop about the project's progress. Those who are Informed need updates on project progress and/or key decisions to stay aligned with the team's goals and progress.

I tend to keep people informed in a number of ways. Communication is key here. The best way to keep people informed is to have things like discussion points, considerations, and recommendations clearly documented. I would also recommend using a selection of written and verbal communication. 

A great way to communicate is to share a concise message in your channel of choice (e.g. email, MS Teams, Slack) containing an overview of the key points, a link to the mural or document, as well as short video walkthrough (we use Loom). 

Mural can serve as a central repository for project-related information that’s easy for everyone to access. 

Driving Accountability with DACI

Creating a culture of accountability can be challenging. Fostering a culture of accountability will take intentionality, effort, and commitment, especially if this has been lacking. It also works best when your teams use a common framework.

Key factors for success include: 

1. Getting people on the same page and aligning them around a single framework (e.g DACI Model)
2. Embedding this as an agreed way of working across teams, projects, and the organization
3. Documenting and visualizing the roles and responsibilities of the DACI chart in your chosen source of documentation (e.g. in a mural)
   • This empowers team members to understand their roles clearly, actively contribute to decision-making processes, and align towards common goals, ultimately leading to the successful delivery of projects.
   • It also serves as reinforcement and reminder of the DACI framework as the desired way of clarifying roles and responsibilities.

The DACI Model is a powerful methodology for project management, and when combined with collaborative tools like Mural, it can lead to remarkable improvements in project and team performance. By clarifying roles, simplifying the decision-making process, ensuring accountability, and fostering collaboration, the DACI model aligns team efforts toward a common goal. It empowers project leaders to harness the full potential of their teams and deliver outstanding results that satisfy stakeholders and contribute to the organization's success.

If you would like to learn more about how we can help you drive decisions and productivity in your teams, please reach out to professionalservices@mural.co.