This is part of a series of ‘What Makes A Great Executive Assistant’ and making references to specific sections in the Certified Executive Assistance Professional CEAP Body Of Knowledge BoK.
Who says project management is only for project managers! Very often, executive assistants are given projects to lead, and assignments to deliver. It could be a small project to hire a PR agency, prepare a new brochure and making major product announcement, or it could be arranging logistics for a new customer or partner visiting your company. Whatever the scenario is, each of these assignments are projects, and should be handled and thought of from a project management perspective and using effective project management techniques. Here comes the importance of RACI.
Let’s talk about the project of selection of an new PR agency, preparing a new brochure and announcing a new product. As an executive assistant, while you need to maintain close rapport with our own manager, you still need to arrange various tasks and assignments with marketing department, procurement personnel, and other members. So, how would you know which resource is responsible to handle certain tasks, which resource must be informed about a certain decision or deliverable? Here comes the importance of a famous project management technique; RACI.
“A RACI chart is an excellent way to outline who is responsible for what during a project or task. To start, create a chart with tasks listed on the left hand side, and resources listed across the top. Now, put the appropriate letter in each cell:
- R: Responsible for execution.
- A: Approver (or Accountable for overall task success).
- C: Consult.
- I: Keep informed.”