Align roles and responsibilities in a process into swimlanes
We know that 66% of knowledge workers aren’t very happy with how their team works together. It’s time to change that. A swimlane diagram (also called a swimlane flowchart) uses the visual metaphor of a pool to provide clarifying structure to complex processes and responsibilities. It can help team members or different teams work together more efficiently by visualizing everyone’s “swimlane.”
If you’re onboarding a new team member or experiencing confusion on project responsibilities, using our swimlane diagram template is a great solution. Use vertical “lanes”' to divide focus areas and shapes and connectors to show how tasks or projects move ahead in the workflow.
A swimlane diagram, also known as a cross-functional flowchart or a process map, is a type of flowchart that visualizes a process flow across different departments and people. Swimlane diagrams are named after the horizontal or vertical lanes that divide and display the tasks or activities performed by each team or person involved in a process.
Each lane represents something or someone specific and the diagram shows how tasks flow between these lanes. Going back to the pool metaphor, a swimlane diagram shows an intricate relay race that your team will crush as long as you follow it.
Get started on your own swimlane diagram template here.
Identify the process you want to map out and identify key steps, decision points, and the roles or actors involved.
Identify the different stakeholders or departments involved in the process and create a lane for each one.
Label a lane sticky note for each key stakeholder or team in the process. Be sure to create more lanes if necessary.
Place each process action in the appropriate lane. Use the oval sticky note to indicate the starting point and process end. Add steps for each key point in the process. Connect the steps with arrows to indicate the flow of the process.
Be sure to document steps that happen at the same time but in different lanes. This will help identify any inefficiencies or understand how dependencies may be slowing the process down.
Identify any decision points in the process and add them to the swimlane diagram. Use the diamond shape to represent decision points and connect them to the appropriate process steps.
Add timeframes for the process. If there are any delays or wait times in the process, add them to the swimlane diagram using the delay shape in the template. Label them accordingly.
Add document tiles to represent where data or information exists that can be read.
Also be sure to include notes and comments on the diagram to clarify any ambiguities in the process or to provide additional context for stakeholders.
Review the swimlane diagram with stakeholders and refine it as necessary to ensure accuracy and clarity.
Swimlane diagrams offer clear advantages in visualizing complex processes, making it easy to see who is responsible for each task.
But, with every disadvantage, there are some drawbacks to consider.
The primary purpose of a swimlane diagram is to help teams identify the key steps, roles, and responsibilities involved in a process. It provides a clear and visual representation of how tasks and activities are carried out, who is responsible for them, and how they relate to other parts of the process.
Swimlane diagrams help to identify process redundancies and duplication or highlight where processes start to break down. Create a diagram with your workgroup to level-up your process improvement.
While swimlane diagrams can be used to visualize workflows, they are not the same. A workflow diagram shows the sequential flow of activities in a process, while a swimlane diagram displays the process flow across different departments or individuals.
Here are some key characteristics of swimlane diagrams:
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