FAQ of the Month
I frequently work in teams at my job, and I feel frustrated by the division of labor. I often have to pick up the slack for colleagues who aren't doing their tasks, and I end up resenting it. Any tips?
Teamwork can be a wonderful and aggravating thing, can't it? When the train is chugging along nicely, everyone gets a sense of individual and team success. But in other situations, misunderstandings and miscommunication about to roles & responsibilities can derail a project.
If the latter is happening with your team, one technique to try is a Responsibility Assignment (RACI) Matrix. It's a Six Sigma tool that charts both the people responsible for specific tasks and the roles of everyone involved. The RACI acronym strands for Responsibile, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed -- the four roles assigned to team members.
Here's a quick look at a sample chart. The tasks are listed in the first column, while team members are listed along the table's top row. The goal in creating the chart is to reduce confusion and inefficiencies by clearly communicating who is completing which task(s) and their particular role(s).
