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Peak Atlas

Problem · Unclear responsibilities

Everyone was there. Nobody was responsible.

Tasks left undone are rarely a sign of laziness. Usually nobody has said out loud who owns the result. One name per result solves more than another round of coordination.

Set up matrixUnderstand the causes

Responsibility matrix

One result. A name.

Enter the outcomes that recently got stuck. Exactly one accountable person per row; there can be several contributors.

Your plan

2 of 4 rows complete.

Still open: Accountable (one person), Contributes

Die Beispielzeilen sind nur ein Anfang. Überschreibe sie mit deinen eigenen Einträgen.

Assumptions and limits

  • The matrix clarifies responsibility, not capacity. Afterward, check whether one person carries too many rows.
  • It only works if the team knows it. Go through it together once instead of just sending it.

Your entries stay in this browser. Nothing is saved or sent.

How you'll notice

Everyone pitches in. Nobody writes it down.

  • A customer email sits for three days because it went to everyone.
  • In the meeting it's "We'll do that," and a week later nobody has.
  • In the end, everything unclear lands with management.

Understand the causes

Where the gaps come from come into ownership.

  1. 01

    Responsibility for groups

    How you'll notice
    Tasks go to "the team" or "sales".
    Why it happens
    A group can't follow up, remember, or give notice. Only one person can.
    What helps
    Assign each outcome to one person; the group works along.
    Limit
    In very small teams, responsibilities change more often; then the handover has to be said out loud.
  2. 02

    Roles grew, they weren't agreed

    How you'll notice
    Who does what follows habit and helpfulness.
    Why it happens
    Tasks grew with the team, but nobody redistributed them.
    What helps
    Once a quarter, go through the recurring results and confirm responsibilities.
    Limit
    A one-time distribution goes stale as soon as someone leaves or joins.
  3. 03

    Commitments without a date

    How you'll notice
    “I'll take care of it” gets said, but never delivered.
    Why it happens
    A commitment without a date has no moment when it falls due.
    What helps
    Record every commitment with a date when someone checks in.
    Limit
    Not every little thing needs a date; results that others are waiting on do.
  4. 04

    Everything runs through one person

    How you'll notice
    Decisions pile up with management.
    Why it happens
    Responsibility was delegated, decision authority was not.
    What helps
    For each result, define what the responsible person may decide alone.
    Limit
    Some decisions rightly belong at the top, such as large expenses.

Ways to solve it

Clarify responsibility. Without an org chart project.

Ways to fix unclear responsibilities, compared
WayEnough ifLimit
Shared round with the matrix aboveYou are a small team and the lack of clarity affects recurring tasks.It doesn't capture one-off tasks from projects and meetings.
RACI table in a shared documentMany stakeholders, few processes that rarely change.Maintenance effort; hardly anyone looks inside in daily life.
Task list with assigneesEvery task has a name, and the team works from the list.Shows who is responsible, but not which commitments are slipping.
Peak OneYou want to see tasks, owners, and commitments in one place.The software shows gaps; the distribution itself remains a management decision.

Peak One in action

From “who does this?” to one name.

  1. TriggerWho is actually taking care of this?
  2. 01 · CommitmentSignalCommitments Today in Peak Accountability shows commitments that are due or at risk today.
  3. 02 · PersonUnderstandingAccountability People shows who committed what to you, and Commitments shows what you committed to whom.
  4. 03 · ReviewDecisionCommitment Review shows which commitments were kept and which were not, as a basis for a new distribution.
  5. 04 · TaskActionThe task gets an owner and a due date in Peak Board.
Result: Every open result has a name, and slipping commitments stand out.

The apps for it

Commitments visible in Peak One.

To try out

Start with one task.

Three steps

Clarity in one week.

  1. 01 / 03

    Collect what's been left sitting

    Write down what was left undone last month. Those are the results without names.

  2. 02 / 03

    Assign a name

    Assign exactly one responsible person to each result and say it out loud in the team.

  3. 03 / 03

    Check after four weeks

    After a month, look at what held and where one person carries too many lines.

Frequently asked questions

Briefly answered.

What is the difference between accountable and contributing?

Accountable is the person who makes sure the outcome gets done and says so if it doesn't. Contributors deliver input. There is always exactly one accountable person.

Do I need a RACI matrix?

For most small teams, a simpler form is enough: outcome, one responsible person, contributors. RACI pays off when many people need to be informed or consulted.

What do I do if nobody wants to feel responsible?

Then the outcome may be unclear or too big. Split it into smaller outcomes, clarify what the person may decide, and then assign it.

Keep exploring

What's included.

Welt Value

✦ A Peak principle

Clarity first. Everything else follows.

One thing at a time

More problems

Typical bottlenecks in growing companies, each with a tool you can try right away, the causes, and the path Peak One provides for it.

Alle Probleme

Solve it once. The rest follows.

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