Week 2 Blog Post

Swim lane diagrams are problem solving tools used in business to visually map out a problem or a sequence of events needing to happen to create a successful outcome of some sort. They can create logical and chronological patterns to a solution. It includes people involved, processes order, activities in the process, decisions and the flow of those decisions.

There are symbols involved in the diagram to specify these exact objectives and activities. A circle represents the beginning and end of the process/ event in process. A rectangle is for an activity in a process while a diamond is for a decision that must be made. An arrow shows where the flow from one thing to another is. And the last shape, a cylinder, is representing stored data.

Another very important symbol is the actors of the event at hand. These can be any people apart of the business, including management, accounting team, CEO’s, COO’s, or customers. Basically the actors are anyone involved in part of the decision to make or event occurring in this process. 

The benefit of swim lanes are to visually show what logically makes sense and the order of events to create solutions and processes. It helps businesses be able to see what they need to do in order to get the results they want. In the example we did in class we were able to visually map out how the actors of the business were going to find their new employee. There was a direct flow of communication between our two actors to get applications for the position, recommend good fits for the position, and set up interviews to meet these individuals. The swim lane was able to show how to do this the best way possible and what flows would work properly to get the best results. It also allows the business to understand what to do if the process does not go as planned and where to go back to in order to try again. It is a problem solver in itself because it makes sure to cover all the bases of a problem or event and how it will be dealt with best.