Today, it is possible assemble the ideal agile remote teams for each project, whether its components are close to the company, in the neighboring city or on another continent.
But what about when it is necessary to make important decisions in the company? How to coordinate the entire team efficiently and clearly without having everyone in the same place? DACI comes precisely to fill this type of gap.
By ensuring that everyone has their responsibilities clearly established, teams are able to self-manage much more efficiently and resolve issues quickly.
This article brings together all the information about the DACI decision-making framework.
You will learn what DACI is, how to distribute functions using this strategy and how it helps with marketing project management. Follow!
What is DACI?
The decision-making process can be complex in marketing and technology projects. In order not to take too much time between comings and goings, adopt a decision-making framework such as DACI, for example.
DACI helps make this moment simpler and more efficient, streamlining the team's routine.
Each letter of the acronym represents a role to be assigned to the professionals involved in the project:
- driver (Conductor)
- approve (Approver)
- Contributor (Collaborator)
- Informed (Informed)
The purpose of each one is to make clear what are the responsibilities of each member, in addition to reducing conflicts and increasing the focus towards the objectives.
The DACI derives from the RACI matrix, which is also a tool that helps define responsibilities in agile teams. The difference between them is in the initial of the word.
The “R” in RACI stands for responsible or Responsible. Its role is precisely to be responsible for the entire execution of one or more tasks, relying on assistants who work on the details.
In DACI, the Driver plays a slightly different role, as will be detailed below.
What does DACI mean exactly?
Understanding each role in the DACI decision-making framework is essential to choosing the right professionals for each type of task.
In addition, the leader himself will be able to understand the most efficient way to manage the team and the project towards making accurate decisions.
driver or Conductor
The Conductor is, as the name suggests, the one who leads the project. In other words, the leader.
He guides the team regarding the objectives to be achieved and what is expected from the project, clarifies doubts, and collects feedback and suggestions. In addition, he remains available to assist professionals in whatever is needed.
It is the Driver who gives the start of the project: he prepares the plan and makes sure that the team is always on top of each task to be performed.
To that end, he organizes meetings as needed to ensure everyone is on the same page and to share project progress.
In a remote marketing or technology squad, for example, this role might be assigned to the Product Owner.
approve or Approver
Unlike what you see in common teams (and even in their relative in RACI), the leader in the DACI framework does not usually make approvals or vetoes.
That role belongs to the Approvers, the professionals who have the authority to define what goes forward and what needs to be reworked or discarded.
Approvers usually occupy executive positions, and may be managers, founders, co-founders, directors and other professionals of the type.
Ideally, you should have only 1 Approver. The more Approvers you have, the longer it takes for them to agree on decisions, which creates obstacles and slows down your project.
Contributor or Collaborator
Collaborators are specialists in topics that can help the project to run smoothly.
These are people the Conductor turns to for advice and different points of view. They can also eliminate obstacles or open paths during the design and execution of the project.
Unlike Approvers, Contributors are usually a group of professionals chosen by the Driver.
They work together to find the most appropriate solutions with agility for the most varied types of problems.
The team of Contributors can vary according to the needs of the project and the knowledge and experiences that make sense for it. Therefore, the Driver's good tact when assembling the group of Employees is fundamental.
A correct choice of professionals will ensure that all problems can be resolved with maximum efficiency, without the need to consult other people outside the team.
In a remote marketing squad, for example, collaborators can be the following professionals: content writer, social media copywriter, graphic designer, paid traffic manager e WordPress developer.
Informed or Informed
Finally, the Informed are the people who are not necessarily involved in the project, but who need to be updated on its progress.
Understanding what stage the project is in is what ensures that the Informed are able to stick to their plan or adapt it as needed.
Imagine that your company has a remote squad dedicated to creation of new professional website for business. The content professionals on your marketing team need to be informed about site development.
After all, they will only be able to organize their publication calendar and carry out the agenda and content planning if you have an idea of when the site will be ready to go live.
Any unforeseen event that is not notified in such a situation can cause a series of inconveniences.
If everyone is in tune, even if there is an unforeseen event that will result in the loss of the date, the marketing team can redirect its strategy and actions.
How to implement the DACI framework?
Now that each function has been clarified, it's time to distribute them to start executing your project's tasks.
Record your DACI in a document that is easily accessible by staff. See an example:
What are the benefits of the DACI framework?
So far, it has been strongly emphasized that the main advantage — and the central objective — of the DACI is to ensure agility in the decision-making process.
Therefore, one of the first signs that this framework needs to be implemented comes when:
- decision making takes too long
- there are many requests for changes and adjustments to the materials submitted for approval
- there are decisions to be made that are very complex or involve the business as a whole.
This situation is common in marketing projects, as they require many digital parts to be approved before sharing with the company's external and internal public.
Without a decision-making framework simple arts for social networks can take weeks to be approved due to the requests for adjustments requested by different professionals.
By implementing DACI in marketing projects, there is more clarity at every stage. Each employee understands what their responsibilities are and the chances of ambiguities, communication failures and tasks becoming adrift are reduced.
This benefits decision-making, the project itself and even team members, preventing conflicts and promoting harmony at work.
What is the role of DACI in remote squads?
Over time and to keep up with technological advances, the way companies manage their routines has changed a lot. These days, for example, remote work makes sense for more organizations than it did before the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, many managers are still hesitant about managing processes remotely, even more so when they involve making important decisions.
This is one more reason why the implementation of the DACI is justified not only as beneficial, but also as essential for more efficient planning.
The main characteristics of a remote squad are autonomy, multidisciplinarity and agility.
DACI collaborates so that these attributes remain advantages and prevents the speed of the squad from dropping due to long decision-making processes.
It became more than clear how advantageous it can be to adopt DACI in the decision-making process in remote squads, isn't it?
But be careful: don't fall into the trap of documenting the DACI and not using it throughout the project. Whenever a decision is made, open the document to remember the influence of each DACI role.
Some tips that we reinforce for success when setting up a DACI framework include ensuring that there is only one Approver and understanding that, despite having a leader position, the Conductor does not hit the hammer in terms of decisions.
In addition, it is essential to create a harmonious environment in which people feel comfortable giving and receiving feedback and suggestions.
Do you need a remote team to accelerate your digital transformation? Meet Crowd's remote marketing and technology squads.
