Cross functional flowchart Guide

Basic Flowchart vs Cross-Functional Flowchart

Processes can be represented by flowcharts, but they have one drawback – a standard flowchart cannot indicate who is responsible for the activities. Processes can be represented by flowcharts, but they have one drawback – a standard flowchart cannot indicate who is responsible for the activities.

Thus, cross-functional Flowcharts (or known as swimlane diagram, Swimlane flowchart, cross-functional process diagram) bring clarity to processes by defining who does what. Each swim lane is representative of a person, team, or stakeholder, making it evident who is responsible for which stage in the process to help avoid confusion.

What is Cross-Functional Flowchart?

As mentioned above, flowcharts depict the steps of a process, and when the process involves many different people, departments or functional areas, it can be difficult to keep track of who is responsible for each step.

For example, if you go to the hospital, you need to go to the service desk to get a small ticket for a specific department, then go to the registration window to hand the small ticket to the staff, pay the registration fee and get the registration form, then go to the specific department to see the doctor.

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In the example above, we can see that each office will have its own process, follow the process to achieve the purpose quickly and reduce unnecessary trouble, but of course you can also find a unique way, which belongs to the optimization of the process.

A useful way to solve this problem is to divide the flowchart into columns so that you can also get a clear picture of the number of task transmissions. At the top of each column, write the name of the person or department responsible for the process in that column. Each time an action is performed, it is described in this column.

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More Cross -Functional Flowchart Examples

VP Online‘s powerful process mapping tool supports numerous process mapping diagrams. You can use cross-functional flowcharts to show the relationship between a business process and the functional units responsible for that process. The cross-functional flowchart tool comes with a rich set of cross-functional flowchart symbols and features that help you create professional flowcharts in no time. In addition, you can access your process diagrams from anywhere because VP Online is fully cloud-based.

VP Online provides a rich set of ready-made cross-functional flowchart templates that allow you to get started quickly. Here are a few of them. Click on a template to view it, or click on Edit to start editing – no prior registration required More templates can be found in the cross-functional flowchart maker.

A Cross-Function (Vertical Swimlane) Flowchart Template

This is a simple Swimlane diagram that categorizes several processes into three vertical groups and four horizontal groups. Create your swimlane diagram by using this template as a starting point. Customize the diagram for your solution. No prior registration required.

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A Cross-Function (Grid Style) Flowchart Template

This is a simple Swimlane diagram that categorizes several processes into four vertical groups and three horizontal groups. This swimlane diagram template can help you create your processes in your organization.

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Cross-Functional (Grid Style) Flowchart Example – Course Development

This is a Swimlane diagram example that shows the entire process of course development. The process is divided into 4 phases – Planning, Development, Review and Publish. The teacher, reviewers, and teaching assistant work together to produce a course.

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Cross-Functional Flowchart Example – Payroll Process

The purchase order process flowchart shows the credit approval process of a purchase order (PO) from the creation order form, through credit review and approval by going through three different departments (Sales, Credit Department, and Management):

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