What is Cross-functional Flowchart?

In real life, we will encounter a variety of processes. For example, if you go to the hospital to see a doctor, you need to go to the service desk to get a ticket for a specific department of the doctor or specialist. Then go to the registration window and hand the ticket to the staff. After you have paid the registration fee, you will get the registration form and then go to the office of the specific department to see the doctor.

Cross-functional Flowchart

A simple business process is typically modeled flowchart or business workflow diagram (i.e. OMG BPMN). If we want to model also role-based kind of workflow. A swimlane BPMN or cross-functional flowchart can be used to serve the purpose such as representing the scenario above.

A cross-functional flowchart (sometimes referred to as a deployment flowchart) is a business process mapping tool used to articulate the steps and stakeholders of a given process. Typically, we use a cross-functional flowchart to show the relationship between a business process and the functional units (such as departments) responsible for that process.

The swimlanes in the flowchart represent functional units, such as departments or positions. Each shape representing a step in the process is placed in the swimlane for the functional unit responsible for that step. Thus, across-functional flowcharts are useful for determining who within an organization is required to implement a process and are sometimes used as a business planning tool. As cross-functional flowcharts highlight the relationships between stakeholders in addition to the process flow they are especially useful in highlighting areas of inefficiency, duplication or unnecessary processing.

Try it Yourself and Learn it from Examples

• Free Swimlane Diagram examples and templates editable in an online Swimlane Diagram software: Visual Paradigm Online.
• Use the templates as a starting point to create your own Swimlane Diagram.

Course Development

Growth monitoring of children

Swimlane Diagram Template — 6 Swimlanes

Warehouse Swimlane Flowchart Template

Swimlane Diagram Template

Vertical Cross-Functional Flowchart Template

Cross-Functional Flowchart Template

Vertical Swimlane Diagram Template

Student Registration

A process is a series of logical operations that are carried out to achieve a specific goal. As long as there are tasks, there will be a process, and a regular process can be graphically represented to visualize the process, which will facilitate the reorganization and optimization of the process.