Cross Functional Flowchart
Plan for any undesirable actions, outcomes, or behaviors that occur in the workplace. Clarify different team responsibilities and identify bottlenecks using a Cross-Functional flowchart.
About the Cross-Functional Flowchart
Cross-functional flowcharts (also known as a “swim lane diagram” or “cross-functional process map” ) can help you visualize business relationships and end-to-end project contributions. These elements that depend on each other can include the relationship between functions and stakeholders (such as departments and clients) or project phases and milestones.
The map format allows you to make your business processes or project phases more transparent with added layers of detail and structure.
Keep reading to learn more about cross-functional flowcharts.
What is a Cross-Functional flowchart?
A cross-functional flowchart shows how people from different teams contribute to, and complete, a business process or project.
The lanes in the chart can help separate and clarify which department, employee, or person outside of the business contributes to a business or project.
Each person (such as a customer, client, or representative from a specific function) who contributes to the big-picture process is assigned a lane. That assigned area outlines all the activities they are responsible for moving forward to the finish line.
When to use a Cross-Functional flowchart
Cross-functional flowcharts can be used to improve your team and organizational processes. These changes can include the need to work out what factors create inefficiencies and address delays that impact both internal and external stakeholders.
A cross-functional flowchart can also help different teams or departments better understand each other’s responsibilities and capabilities. These details are especially useful when people haven’t worked together before or struggle to understand what different teams do on a day-to-day basis. Consistently collaborating with an online flowchart creates greater transparency and alignment.
Create your own Cross-Functional flowchart
Making your own cross-functional flowchart is easy. Miro’s virtual collaboration platform is the perfect flowchart maker and canvas for sharing them. Get started by selecting the Cross-Functional Flowchart Template, then take the following steps to make one of your own.
1. Decide what your lanes are.
Decide what divisions (functions) or identities (internal or external stakeholders) need representation on the flow chart.
2. Define what the start of your process is.
What’s the first action that triggers a series of tasks or interactions? Maybe it’s a client confirmation or a customer request. Each division will have a different starting point, but you’ll see that there may be points in the journey or interaction where functions or individuals coincidentally meet (or need to coordinate and communicate, for a smoother process to roll out).
3. Keep adding steps to your process until you get to the last step or endpoint.
What does the flow of information look like from start to finish? What decisions need to be made? Ask yourself and your team these questions as you map out each situation. Try to convert your quick sketches to sticky notes, shapes, and connecting lines that work together to create a logical flow chart.
4. Update your flow chart as needed—and use it alongside other process-based templates.
Cross-functional process maps were designed to work alongside – or be connected to – other templates, such as a product roadmap or stakeholder mapping tool. Rally your teammates, stakeholders, and leadership team around a people-first vision by helping them see the bigger picture alongside the all-important details.
Get started with this template right now.
Meeting Organizer Template
Works best for:
Meetings, Workshops, Project Planning
When it comes to ideas generated during a meeting, you want quantity AND quality. So why choose? Our meeting organizer template will maximize your meeting’s chances of yielding lots of great ideas. It will give you a simple, efficient way to design any activity (including meetings and daily planning) and make sure remote teammates know just what the meeting aims to accomplish. And you can give your meeting organizer power by connecting Miro to your favorite apps and services: Atlassian’s JIRA, Google Drive, Slack, Trello, DropBox and OneDrive.
UX Project Canvas Template
Works best for:
User Experience, UX Design, Market Research
Inspired by Alexander Osterwalder's 2005 business model canvas, the project canvas will help your team visualize the big picture of your UX and design projects, providing a convenient structure that holds all of your important data. This innovative tool enables you to transform an idea into a project plan, stimulating collaboration and communication between collaborators. Unlike alternative models, the project canvas is a simple interface. There are few startup costs, and employees can easily be brought up to speed to start using the canvas quickly.
BPM
Works best for:
Diagramming
The BPM (Business Process Management) template is a visual tool for modeling, analyzing, and optimizing business processes. It provides a structured framework for documenting process flows, identifying bottlenecks, and improving efficiency. This template enables organizations to streamline operations, enhance productivity, and drive business performance. By promoting process transparency and agility, the BPM template empowers teams to achieve operational excellence and deliver value to stakeholders.
Team Charter Template
Works best for:
Meetings, Workshops, Team Meetings
A team charter is a document that outlines your team’s purpose and objectives, as well as steps you will take to reach your goals. The team charter illustrates the focus and direction for all team members. When created collaboratively, the team charter is a great way for individuals to feel even more connected to one another within the group. A team charter template is useful when you’re first establishing a new team, adding new members to an existing team, or when you need to better align regardless of your team’s tenure.
SMART Goals Template
Works best for:
Prioritization, Strategic Planning, Project Management
Setting goals can be encouraging, but can also be overwhelming. It can be hard to conceptualize every step you need to take to achieve a goal, which makes it easy to set goals that are too broad or too much of a stretch. SMART is a framework that allows you to establish goals in a way that sets you up for success. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. If you keep these attributes in mind whenever you set goals, then you’ll ensure your objectives are clear and reachable. Your team can use the SMART model anytime you want to set goals. You can also use SMART whenever you want to reevaluate and refine those goals.
Inspired: Creating Products Customers Love
Works best for:
Product Management, Planning
Inspired: Creating Products Customers Love template guides product managers in developing innovative and customer-centric products. By emphasizing empathy, ideation, and validation, this template fosters a deep understanding of customer needs and preferences. With sections for brainstorming ideas, defining features, and validating concepts, it facilitates the creation of compelling products that resonate with target audiences. This template serves as a roadmap for delivering exceptional customer experiences and driving product success.