Make responsibility and decision-making explicit.
A fractional director may lead priorities across part of a working week; an agency may supply a delivery team under an agreed scope. Neither label establishes who can approve a budget or direct another supplier. Record decisions, dependencies and escalation before expecting a title to resolve them.
A practical example
In a fictional engagement, the owner approves a service change, the marketing lead coordinates the work and a designer produces the page. If all three assume someone else checks the service claim, the page can be finished but still wrong. An explicit approval responsibility closes that gap.
Definitions in this topic
14 connected terms. Follow a comparison when two ideas are easy to confuse.
- Agency
A business providing a team or specialist services under an agreed scope.
- Capacity
The time and skills available to complete agreed work.
- DACI
A decision framework identifying a driver, approver, contributors and people to keep informed.
Also called: Driver approver contributors informed
- Decision rights
The choices a person is authorized to make.
- Deliverable
A specific piece of work that can be reviewed and accepted.
- Fractional
A role provided for part of the working week or an agreed share of capacity.
- Fractional CMO
A part-time senior marketing leadership role whose agreed remit may include executive-level choices, team direction and business accountability.
Also called: Fractional chief marketing officer
- Fractional marketing director
A part-time marketing leadership role with agreed responsibility for direction, coordination and any included production work.
Also called: Fractional director
- Handover
The transfer of useful work, context and duties to the next named owner.
- RACI
A responsibility map identifying who is responsible, accountable, consulted and informed for a task.
Also called: Responsible accountable consulted informed
- Remit
The duties and decisions a person or team is asked to own.
- Remit boundary
A stated limit on a role’s duties, decisions or included production work.
- Retainer
An agreement for continuing access to defined services or capacity, with its included work, limits and payment terms stated explicitly.
- Scope
The work included in a service, with its boundaries and exclusions.
Keep the distinctions clear
RACI maps responsibility for work: responsible, accountable, consulted and informed. DACI organizes a decision: driver, approver, contributors and informed. They help make different questions visible. A matrix still needs named people who understand and accept their role.
Put the ideas to work
Read the fractional-role guide for the remit, the agency comparison for delivery trade-offs and the interview questions for practical checks before an engagement.
- What a fractional marketing director owns
Define the decisions, delivery work and business responsibilities a fractional marketing director should own before choosing an engagement.
- Fractional marketing director or agency: which work do you need?
Compare fractional marketing leadership, agency support and an internal hire by the decisions, delivery skills, approvals and handover your business needs.
- Questions to ask a fractional marketing director
Ask about remit, evidence, capacity, owner decisions, progress and handover before choosing a fractional marketing director.
Sources & scope
Still Matter’s working definitions connect these ideas to small-business marketing. The sources below support the named methods and technical distinctions; the examples are fictional. Practical planning descriptions are our editorial guidance.
For the applied explanations and their full source notes, use the guides above.