Why can’t I just use Excel?

Spreadsheet apps such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets are often used by businesses in place of project management software as they can work out cheaper overall.

Using Excel as a money-saving method is perfectly understandable. But you will be severely limited in how well you can plan your project. Here are the main reasons we don’t recommend Microsoft Excel for RACI planning.

Collaboration

The ability to share your RACI matrix, both internally and externally, should be a minimum requirement from your software. It’s likely you’ll be delegated jobs by a client (those who are Consulted) or sharing results to a stakeholder (those who are Informed).

It’s much simpler to add multiple team members to your PM account to view the plan.

Plus, all relevant information including documents, videos, and emails can be stored in the platform so – once your RACI matrix is designed – you can work on every aspect of a project from one easy location.

Knowledge gap

Excel and Google Sheets are not intuitively designed. Analysts often need to partake in specialist training programs to understand them – which your team won’t have time for.

Smartsheet came out top in this list for usability during our latest round of research, scoring 4.3 out of 5. It features a Gantt chart view where you can automatically view all your tasks without prior setup.

Aesthetics

Particularly if there are stakeholders involved (which there nearly always are in RACI planning) then PM software is much more attractive to look at than Excel.

Rather than sharing a clunky and confused page of cells, you can format your plan to ensure it looks professional and accessible for partners or clients to view.