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# How we make decisions
# Directly Responsible Individual
A DRI, also known as Directly Responsible Individual, is a method of assigning clear ownership and accountability for specific tasks, projects, or initiatives within an organization. The purpose of a DRI is to ensure that there is a single individual who is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of a particular undertaking.
When decisions need to be made in a DRI's area of responsibility, the DRI is the person who has the final say and is empowered to make those decisions. This allows for efficient decision-making and prevents decision paralysis or ambiguity within FlowFuse. The DRI is expected to gather relevant input and feedback from other stakeholders but is ultimately responsible for making the final call. Other stakeholders might need to Disagree and Commit. Regular (async) communication and collaboration with other team members and stakeholders is crucial to ensure alignment and support for the DRI's initiatives.
The appointment of a DRI occurs through the CEO or CTO. They will identify the areas of ownership and accountability within the organization and then assign the appropriate DRI. The selection of a DRI is based on factors such as expertise, experience, and the individual's ability to handle the specific task or project successfully.
Note that both the CEO and CTO retain the right to override decisions. This should very seldomly happen.
DRI's weren't invented by FlowFuse, we stand on the shoulder of giants that championed the term and iterated before us. Read about the prior art:
# How we assign project roles and responsibilities
Projects of any size are typically carried out by more than one individual, and so it is helpful to have a way of organizing responsibilities beyond identifying only the DRI. For this, we use the RACI framework. RACI stands for: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed.
The Responsible person is the one who is responsible for executing on the project. In accordance with our use of the DRI concept, at FlowFuse, there is never more than one person recognized as the Responsible person on a project, even if the project has multiple individuals doing the work.
The Accountable person is the one who is accountable for meeting whatever goals are associated with the project. For example, as purposeful projects will be associated with some higher-level KPI, the accountable person will be the one who is tasked with ensuring that the project delivers on the KPI and overall brings results. It is not unusual for the Responsible person and the Accountable person to be the same individual, and depending on the nature of the project, there may be more than one Accountable person.
A Consulted person is anyone whose expertise is needed to plan and execute on a project. There will often be many consulted individuals on a project, and they are individually responsible (Responsible) for the sub-project of delivering on whatever portion of work is needed for the Responsible person to do their work.
An Informed person is anyone who must be made aware of project status. This is one-way communication to those who need to know the outcome but don't contribute directly to the task.
# DRI, Responsible, and Accountable
Because at FlowFuse we are committed to the DRI concept, the DRI for a project or initiative always assumes both the Responsible role and an Accountable role in the RACI matrix. They have final decision-making authority and are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the work.
# When to use RACI
# Projects
RACI is a project management tool but, like any tool, should be applied only when it is useful and necessary. We use explicit RACI role identifications when:
- Working on cross-functional projects with multiple stakeholders
- Clarifying roles in complex processes
- Onboarding new team members to existing projects
- Establishing a new workstream with multiple dependencies
For smaller, straightforward tasks, the DRI concept alone may be sufficient.
# Meetings
In cross-functional meetings, there are often action items assigned. When any amount of collaboration on action items is needed, assign roles based on the RACI structure.
# Resources
More information about the RACI framework and how it can be applied can be found here: