Cross-Functional Flowchart

A cross-functional flowchart or process map is a great way to visually represent the individual steps or activities in a process flow and show the relationship between each process step and the individual or team that is responsible for completing those steps or activities.

If you are experiencing the following symptoms in one or more of your business processes, this type of process map can be very helpful:

• unnecessary complexity

• duplication of work

• re-work

• poor performance

• inefficiencies or inconsistent results

• choke points or bottlenecks

Process maps are often eye-opening even to those who have intimate knowledge of a particular process as they learn what happens outside of their immediate area of influence (outside of their swimlane). When we document a process flow, we get everyone on the same page by removing assumptions of what we think is happening, and we document what is actually happening.

Each swimlane can represent:

• An internal stakeholder group, department, business unit, or functional team

• An external stakeholder group, such as suppliers, customers, or contractors"