Swimlane Flowchart Example – Student Registration
One of the things that I found very useful when learning about swimlane flowcharts was looking at real world examples that I could learn from. This example, which I modified from a post on camagazine, shows the before and after of a simple student registration process that was improved by utilizing swim lane flow charts.
Here in the before image (click on it to open bigger) you can see the simple process. A student submits a registration and ultimately they get either an acceptance letter or a rejection letter:
Swimlane Flowchart Example - Before
You can see how useful it is to draw this business process up in a swimlane flowchart because in doing so it becomes obvious where the opportunity for improvement is – two different groups (lanes on the flowchart) are writing rejection letters. Why not improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the process by having only one group write the rejection letter.
And that is what you will see in the after image of the process, after business process improvement:
Swimlane Flowchart Example - After
This was a very simple swimlane flowchart example yet I think it shows very clearly how these flowcharts can be used to improve a process. I hope you found it helpful.
By the way, I created these example flowcharts in Excel. I’ll be writing a post later about how to do that very easily – if you are interested in learning more be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed (it’s free!) so you never miss a post.
Cross Functional Flowchart
A Cross Functional Flowchart is the same thing as a Swimlane Flowchart – it is used for showing departmental or individual responsibilities in a process flow. The bands of a Cross Functional Flow Chart represent each individual department or individual that participate in the process that you are documenting.
One decision you will need to make when creating a cross functional flowchart is whether the bands are vertical or horizontal. I believe this is just a matter of personal preference to which way you like to see the flow of the process. While it is true that there may be some processes that are represented better either in horizontal bands or vertical bands, I have yet to see such a process and for my cross-functional flow charts I always use horizontal bands.
Another thing to keep in mind is that because processes can cross departmental boundaries, if you have more than a few bands in your cross-functional flowchart then you should make sure that if you have identified a process that is done simultaneously by two people or departments that you make those bands adjacent to each other. That way when you draw the flowchart items it will be a lot neater. If you have good eyes you can see an example of that in the diagram in the upper left of this post.
Looking for some example of cross functional flowcharts? If you are having a hard time finding any then consider searching for swimlane flowcharts instead. Since they are the same thing you might have better luck that way.
Whatever you call it, a cross functional flow chart is a very useful tool to have in your business process modeling toolbox.
All About Swimlane Flowcharts . Com
If you have spent any time on a business process mapping project then I am sure you have come across swimlane flowcharts. Swimlanes are brilliant for a number of applications but where they really shine is in business process improvement. This is because the nature of the swimlanes is that they clearly show when a process is mired down in the bowels of an organization and they present this in such an easy to understand flowchart that it can be readily presented to executives who appreciate things being easy to understand.
I really like to see swimlane flowcharts side by side where it is very clear how your business process improvements have made a difference. There is nothing better than seeing a swim lane flow chart with 4, 5 or even more bars (each representing a different person or group) as an original and then seeing the improvement business process with only 1 or 2 bars. Or maybe you still have the same number of bands, but less back and forth within each band. However you have improved the process, the swimlane flowchart will make it very obvious.
I first ran into these flowcharts 7 or 8 years ago on a business process improvement project. Since then I have used them successfully in a number of projects. My goal for this website is to educate people on what swimlane flowcharts are and how they can be used in an arsenal of business process mapping tools for the purpose of helping you improve your business.
My goal with this website is to point out interesting examples of swimlane flowcharts that people have written about, to educate on the available books or software tools available for creating flowcharts, and to cover a number of different areas within the business process mapping space.
My personal goal is that by doing all of this that I will get even more knowledge about swimlane flowcharts, so there is certainly an element of personal growth here as well.
I hope you find the site of value.
