How to create a cross-functional flow diagram

- Just like a jigsaw puzzle, you need all the pieces in a project to fit together to create the whole picture. Creating a cross-functional flow diagram is best achieved after you have validated the pieces of your functional flow diagram. We now take the functional flow diagram and drill down into the next level of detail. Each functional area and all the entities captured in your functional flow will essentially become a swim lane in your new diagram. Actors are allocated to each of the lanes down the left-hand side. Now you're ready to plot the sequence of activities across the swim lanes. In a way, what you are doing is unraveling the functional flow of diagrams in a linear process with a distinct start and end point. You will tell the story from where it initiates and then illustrate the flow of events, in particular how they cross over between each functional area. When documenting a business flow, I like to make the diagram horizontal with the actors on the left-hand side. A vertical format is more commonly used when mapping out technical or system cross-functional flow diagrams. However, the principles remain the same. Each cross-functional flow diagram needs to start with the process with the trigger event. A trigger is an event that has activated the process to begin on this template, it's represented by a solid terminated dot. You can also use circle shapes or rounded rectangles at the start and end of your diagram. From the trigger, we begin mapping out each activity using process box symbols and then connecting the two activities together using connecting arrows in the direction that the workflow needs to take. When creating a cross-functional flow diagram, ask yourself: in a perfect world what functions need to occur from start to finish to achieve the fastest way of completing the transaction? This is referred to as the happy path or main path. As you work through each step, clearly label each activity. As a general rule, each activity should be labeled with a verb-noun combination, such as authorize payment. There shouldn't be more than a few words in each box. If you find you need a really big box to explain everything that needs to happen at this point in the process, then you may need to consider breaking it into smaller several steps. As you map out each activity, there'll be situations where a decision is required, altering the flow of the events. This is where you need to use your decision diamond. The question is found inside the diamond and the yes, no path is added showing the flow with the outcome of the question. Within every organization, there's always challenges and unforeseen problems which occur and prevent a function from being completed. These are called alternate flows and exception flows. An example of an alternate flow is where a transaction continues via an alternate path, rejoining the original path to complete the transaction after the alternate process is complete. Exception flows are when a process comes to a complete stop. A completely different process or trigger is required to complete the activity. This is when you would create another swim lane diagram to capture the handling of this exception. Once you have completed your cross-functional flow diagram, you should have it validated by the actors. The best way is to organize a series of walk-throughs with the impacted areas of the business. During these sessions, ensure that you have representation from each area and have them validate what has been mapped in fact is what they do. When you are satisfied that you have conducted thorough validation walk-throughs and made all necessary changes, you are ready to expand all of your high-level process steps into what we call flow charts or process maps. These are the detailed steps that each individual actor needs to know how to complete their part in the process puzzle.