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Swimlane Mapping

Swimlane mapping is a technique that graphically shows the logical relationships between activities and organizational responsibilities. It was developed to focus on the flow of products, paper, and information between departments rather than just activities within departments. Swimlane maps provide an alternative view to organization charts by showing the customer, product, work flow, and how work cuts across organizational boundaries through internal relationships. To construct a swimlane map, tasks are laid out in sequence and placed into swimlanes labeled by organizational responsibility. Flow lines are added between tasks while accounting for decisions and multiple flows. The map is then validated by walking through scenarios and asking questions about each step to ensure it is accurately represented.

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25 views2 pages

Swimlane Mapping

Swimlane mapping is a technique that graphically shows the logical relationships between activities and organizational responsibilities. It was developed to focus on the flow of products, paper, and information between departments rather than just activities within departments. Swimlane maps provide an alternative view to organization charts by showing the customer, product, work flow, and how work cuts across organizational boundaries through internal relationships. To construct a swimlane map, tasks are laid out in sequence and placed into swimlanes labeled by organizational responsibility. Flow lines are added between tasks while accounting for decisions and multiple flows. The map is then validated by walking through scenarios and asking questions about each step to ensure it is accurately represented.

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Life Coach
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Swimlane Mapping

Introduction

Swimlane Mapping is a technique that graphically shows the logical relationships between activities and
organisational responsibilities i.e., which individuals, positions, functions, location or departments perform
each step.

The technique was developed by Geary Rummler and Alan Brache in 1990 to focus on the flow of products,
paper and information between departments rather than simply on the activities within departments.

For this reasons, Swimlane Maps are also often referred to as Functional Boundary Diagrams.

The Difference Between Swimlane Maps, Organisation Charts and Process Maps

Swimlane Maps provide an alternative horizontal view of organisational responsibilities to the typical
hierarchical organisation charts in that they show:

 The customer, the product (output) and flow of work which are missing from typical organisation charts;
 How work actually gets done through processes that cut across organisational boundaries; and
 The internal customer-supplier relationships through which products and services are produced.

Process maps generally classify activities into categories such as input/output, decision, inspection, waiting
and movement. Swimlane Maps add to this the logical relationships between activities and the organisation
responsibilities and show which individuals, positions, functions or workgroups perform each step.

In most cases, swimlanes are assigned to departments, groups within departments, individuals, or to
applications, systems of applications or databases. In some cases, swimlanes may be used to represent
geographical regions.

Constructing and Validating a Swimlane Map

To build Swimlane Maps:

 Lay out the steps or tasks in sequence from the process maps;
 Add swimlanes, labelled by organisational responsibility (e.g., by individual, positions, functions,
locations or departments);
 Place the steps or tasks in the appropriate swimlane so that the tasks and steps performed by each
business function, department or location are in different horizontal or vertical boxes or lanes - giving rise
to the name “Swimlane Map”;
 Wherever an organisational responsibility has a contiguous set of steps or tasks (from receiving a
handoff to initiating a handoff,) reduce them to a single step or task;
 Add flow lines between the steps or tasks, being careful to account for decisions and multiple flows;
 Try to improve step or task names to reflect the “totality” of what happens while that organisational
responsibility has the work; and
 Complete an initial validation by walking through a few scenarios and revising the diagrams as
necessary.

One approach that can be used to validate each step in the Swimlane Map is by asking the following five
questions about each step:

1. “What makes it go?” This question may uncover missing trigger conditions for a step, which is a
fundamental aspect of workflow. Often a diagram will show a single flow line entering a step but the
question is: “Is the flow line (or lines) shown really all that it takes to trigger the beginning of the step?”;

2. “Is anyone else involved?” This question often uncovers one of two common errors:
 a step is shown being performed by a single participant when there are actually two or more
participants (a meeting) or there is a handoff to another participant, or
 sequential steps, performed by different participants, are drawn when actually there is one step (a
meeting) simultaneously involving multiple participants;

3. “Does the name of the step accurately convey the result?” The purpose of this question is to
ensure that there really is a legitimate step, that the outcome of that step is clearly defined and that the
name conveys the result;
4. “Are all outcomes shown?” Sometimes a diagram will show a single flow line leaving a step. The most
common error is to neglect to show that there are two or more possible outcomes - in other words, a
decision is being made; and

5. If there is a handoff, “How does it get there?” This question may uncover missed process participants
(e.g., intermediaries or transport mechanisms). For example, the answer to the question “how is the work
transported from participant A to participant B?” may lead to the discovery that additional participants
exist who perform a delivery service function.

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