How to Make a Swimlane Diagram in Visio (Cross-Functional Flowchart)
A swimlane diagram shows not just what happens, but who does it. Learn how to build a cross-functional flowchart in Visio: add the lanes, name them, and put each step in the lane of the person or team that does it.
Step by step
Intro
- Swimlane diagrams. A normal flowchart shows what happens. A swimlane diagram also shows who does each step. Let's build one in Visio for a simple order process.
Intro
- Cross-Functional Flowchart. I've opened the Cross-Functional Flowchart shapes, plus the basic flowchart shapes for the steps.
Add the lanes
- Add the lanes. Drag a swimlane onto the page. Visio builds the whole frame for you, with a title bar on top. Name the first lane Customer.
Add the lanes
- Add the lanes. Drag another swimlane under it. It snaps into the frame. This one is Sales. And one more for the Warehouse.
Put steps in lanes
- Steps go in lanes. Now the steps. Each one goes in the lane of whoever does it. The customer places the order. Sales checks the stock. Connect them. The line crosses the lanes, and that's the point: you can see the work being handed over.
The decision
- The decision. Is the item in stock? Sales decides. Connect the check to the decision.
Hand-offs
- Hand-offs. If yes, the warehouse picks and packs it. Connect the decision down to it, and label the line yes. If not, sales back-orders the item. Label that line no. Connect it.
Finish the flow
- The end. Finally, the customer receives the order. That's back in the customer's lane. Connect the packing step to it.
- Done. Click away, and read it lane by lane.
Why lanes help
- Why lanes help. Swimlanes make hand-offs easy to see. Every time a line crosses a lane, work moves to someone else, and that's where delays and mistakes usually happen.
