Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
You’ve probably heard of the acronym RACI at some point. RACI stands for responsible, accountable, consult, and inform. It’s a way to establish organizational accountability by assigning who is “responsible” for doing the work, who is ultimately “accountable” for the outcome of a task, who are the subject matter experts to be “consulted” about the work, and finally, who should be regularly “informed” about the status of the work.
While I like RACI, there’s a similar acronym called MOCHA that I like just as much – if not more. Here’s what MOCHA represents:
Manager: Who handles the day to day management of the task or program? Someone has to be responsible for the work – whether that’s a task, process, program, etc. They handle the everyday decisions and coordinate the front-line activities associated with the job.
Owner: Who is the organizational owner or sponsor for this task or program? Depending upon the type of work we’re referring to, this person might be a senior leader who directs a department or division. Or maybe it’s someone that has a lot of influence in the organization, so we want them to be kept in the loop.
Consultant: Who advises the group or manager? This could be an internal or external subject matter expert. They might have a regular role or be someone who is called in to deal with a specific problem or obstacle.
Helper: Who are the people that the group or manager taps into for information or assistance? There are always people who help us accomplish our work. They might not be in our department. They might not be on our project team. But we need them for data, information, and sometimes just a supportive ear.
Approver: Who approves resources for the manager or group? This may or may not be the owner. The approver could be someone in purchasing or procurement. Or maybe they’re the CFO. We need both owners and approvers to be successful.
I think MOCHA is a refreshing take on the traditional RACI acronym. I particularly liked the addition of the “helper” category. I don’t know that organizations spend enough time thinking about the help they might need to accomplish a goal. Not only does this help the group focus on those resources but it provides a way for those “helpers” to be acknowledged for their contribution.
I originally heard about MOCHA from a participant in a training session. That’s the other thing that I liked about MOCHA – an organization took a concept like RACI and made it work for them. To me, that’s what best practices are all about. It’s not always about just copying what someone else is doing. It’s about saying, “I like that idea. How can I make it work for me or my organization?” New ideas are formed all the time.
Most importantly, whether you use RACI or MOCHA, the focus is still on establishing accountability for a task or program! This is so incredibly important. How many programs or projects fail because clear accountability isn’t established? As organizations are setting their goals for the upcoming year, it could make a lot of sense to use a tool like RACI or MOCHA to establish greater organizational accountability.
Images of MOCHA beverages captured by Sharlyn Lauby
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