Roles and Responsibilities

Defining clear roles and responsibilities in business is a core ingredient in business and succession planning. Ambiguity about individual roles and responsibilities can create confusion, impact productivity and cause conflict. Primary benefits of defining roles and responsibilities include:

• Reduces confusion and helps everyone understand what is expected of them.
• Promotes autonomy, efficiency and accountability in performing job functions.
• Enables everyone to understand what others are working on.
• Allows individuals to collaborate and support one another more effectively.
• Informs transition planning for next generation management, leadership and ownership

Roles and Responsibilities Overview

• Complete the RACI Chart, including: 
  • Functional areas. 
  • Specific tasks under each functional area. 
  • Current roles and responsibilities for each task. 
  • Who is currently accountable for each functional area.
• Identify and discuss gaps or overlaps in functional areas and tasks.
• Consider transition timelines and development plans for next generation management, leadership and/or ownership

RACI Chart

The RACI Chart is a spreadsheet tool used to define functional areas, their respective tasks and the individuals involved in each task. RACI is an acronym that stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed. 

• Accountable: The buck stops here. This individual may not do the work or job, but they’re the one who makes sure it gets done and/or supervises the individual(s) doing the work.
• Responsible: The primary doer(s). May be the same person who is accountable.
• Consulted: Individual(s) who provide input or participate in a task or functional area. 
• Informed: Individual(s) who don’t provide input but are made aware of decisions or task

Step 1: Identify Functional Areas

Begin by identifying functional areas (e.g. departments) in the business. Functional areas vary between businesses and commodities and may include:

• Record keeping
• Accounting
• Crop/livestock production
• Herd management
• Labor management
• Purchasing
• Shop operations
• Warehousing
• Processing
• And much more

Using the template: The RACI spreadsheet template is pre-populated with common functional areas to use as a starting point. Delete those that are not relevant and add areas unique to your operation.

Step 2: Identify Tasks

Once you’ve identified the primary functional areas, inventory specific tasks in each area. Tasks should include the primary things that need to be done for the business to be successful. These may include specific jobs (e.g. financial statements), relationships (e.g. lender relationship) or areas of oversight (e.g. harvest crew management). For the RACI to be effective, the list of tasks must be comprehensive. The task list commonly ranges from 100-200 total tasks depending on the operation’s size and complexity.

Step 3: Identify Current Roles and Responsibilities

Using the complete list of functional areas and tasks, identify the individual(s) who are currently accountable, responsible, consulted, and informed for each task. If there is more than one person or it is unclear who is accountable or responsible for a specific task, document in the RACI accordingly and highlight for discussion of gaps and overlaps later. 

Using the template: Fill in the spreadsheet cells to the right of each task with name(s) of individual(s) who fit into each category. Don’t over-think or stop to discuss during this process. If the names aren’t immediately clear, leave the cell empty or put multiple names in the cell. Use highlighting and the notes column to identify areas for further discussion.

Step 4: Identify Current Accountability for Functional Areas

Review the names in the accountable and responsible columns to identify who is currently accountable for each functional area. Similar to step 3, if there is more than one person or it is unclear, document in the RACI accordingly and highlight for discussion later.

Using the template: Add the individual(s) names next to the title of each functional area.

Step 5: Discuss Gaps or Overlaps and Identify Next Steps

Uses for a Completed RACI Chart

• Job descriptions: A bulleted list of each individual’s responsibilities from the RACI Chart can be the foundation for a job description and inform compensation decisions. 
• Gaps and overlaps: The completed RACI can help to identify and address areas where roles are unclear (overlaps) or missing (gaps). 
• Transition planning: It can also be used to plan management and leadership transitions. This can be accomplished by simply copying the current state RACI assessment and creating a future state version with transition plans of functional areas and task to other individuals. This informs coaching and mentoring plans for the next generation of management or leadership.

Group Discussion Guide

Including all people vested in the business in this discussion is important to ensure transparency, understand all perspectives and maintain relationships.

Prepare Participants

• Schedule a dedicated time (1-2 hours depending on the group size) for a focused discussion.
•  Provide the Roles and Responsibilities Guide to all participants.
• Recommend listening to the Roles and Responsibilities episode of the Northwest FCS Strategic Planning audio series. 

Define Roles

• Identify a facilitator to keep the group focused and moving through the discussion. 
• Designate one person to take ‘official’ notes, documenting the discussion.
• Review the meeting ground rules and verify agreement or possible changes.

Instructions

• Before you start, discuss why it is important to understand and document roles and responsibilities in the strategic planning process. 
• Follow the RACI Chart steps above using the RACI Template.
• The designated note taker should inventory results in a shared document or template. 
• Discuss the questions below and take notes on family and business member perspectives. Give everyone an opportunity to share their perspective and be heard.

Recommended Next Steps

• Schedule a dedicated time (1-2 hours depending on the group size) for a focused discussion on an Estate Plan Philosophy.
• Listen to the Estate Plan Philosophy episode of the Northwest FCS Strategic Planning audio series. 
• Read the Estate Plan Philosophy Strategic Planning Guide.

Additional Family Business Planning Resources

• Family Business Planning Toolkit
  • Family Business Basics
  • Family Business Communications
  • Family Business History and Timeline
  • Family Business Values
  • SWOT Analysis
  • Personal Goals
  • Business Vision
  • Transition Timeline
  • Roles and Responsibilities
  • Estate Plan Philosophy
  • Strategic Decisions and Action Planning

• Talk to a Consultant