Weekly questions to consider when creating your posts. These questions are a jumping off point to asking your own questions, pose new ideas, and provide explanations and examples backed by careful analysis. Apply class concepts, terms, and theories too. Refer to Assignment 12 for additional details.
- Why are we learning Salesforce in this course? 2.1
- What are the benefits of creating a database in Salesforce? 2.1
- What are all the symbols used in swim lane diagrams, and what does each represent? 2. 1
- Circle, rectangle, diamond, arrow, cylinder
- Actors
- Remember: actors don’t have specific names – (identify the role/job function).
- What is Process mapping and why do we use it? 2.1
- The following swim lane has four mistakes in it, locate and correct the issues.
- What are the benefits of swim lanes?
Montajim Khan says
I believe we’re learning salesforce in this course because it will look good on our resume and helps companies with customer relationships and customer service. The benefit of creating a salesforce database is that it helps with time management, planning, customer satisfaction, and revenue increase. The list goes on to explain why creating a database in salesforce benefits. The circle is starting and ending of the process. The rectangle represents activity in the process. The diamond makes a decision. The arrow shows the flow of the process and the cylinder stores data. Actors are the roles and jobs that play an essential part in the swim lane. The first mistake I see in the swim lane is most of the arrows don’t have labels. Second, it’s missing a part. What if the order is not in stock? What would happen next? Third, when it comes to actors’ names shouldn’t be involved. Lastly, the “place order” and “finish” should have circle shapes because they’re both starting and ending. The swim lane diagram makes things clear, such as making it easier to understand by visually finding the problem, and improves communication.
Julia Grugan says
Hi Montajim, thanks for your response! I think you’re right that, in the long run, Salesforce helps with customer satisfaction. However, I think you may have not mentioned a step in your logic. Part of the benefit of Salesforce is that it helps us aggregate and visualize customer data and engagement. Without being able to perform this analysis, no improvements can be made in terms of customer satisfaction. I definitely agree, though, Salesforce is a powerful tool to help businesses improve relationships with customers!
Sami Barhoum says
Hi Montajim, you are right it will look great on our resumes. A lot of companies use salesforce including mine, I work at ADP and i use salesforce everyday to look at clients data, information, and prospects.
Lisbeth Guerra says
Hey Montajim,
I was asking myself this the whole time during the lab. Thank you for answering it in a way that helped it make sense to me. And it will look good for future employers to see on our resumes.
Ishaan Joshi says
Hi Montajim, Salesforce was definitely a very enjoyable experiences in my opinion. At first I was very frustrated with all the lengthy steps and wanted to get it over with as quick as possible. As I started to use it more I started understanding the true value of having a database that can store data like this. I can only imagine how valuable this would be if I myself wanted to started a business. Like you said it saves so much time and is a perfect resource for revenue increase as well as customer service.
Isel Sainte says
1. The Swim Lane Actors are not supposed to have names. The third Actor includes his name and should just say, Stock Manager. 2. The start and end of this process symbols are rectangles instead of circles. 3. In Actor John Smith, Stock Managers lane the decision that asks if the item is in stock or not does not have a process for if the item is not in stock. The arrow should be pointing toward the customer, and it should say notify the customer. 4. In that same lane deliver is in a cylinder and should be a rectangle because no data is identified as being stored.
Julia Grugan says
Hi Isel, thanks for your response! I’m not sure if I would have picked up on the lack of a process for if the item is not in stock. However, you’re definitely right that this swim lane is missing a huge part of the process. Also, I’m glad you clarified about the cylinder – sometimes I find it hard to grasp what a cylinder actually means, and this example helped!
Cassidy Mantle says
Hi Isel, I agree with your response. Salesforce is being used in this course to demonstrate our understanding of databases and customers needs. Sales force is a platform which helps to bring all customer needs together in one place. Specifically Sales force focuses on customer relationship management in a software which allows customers, businesses, clients and more to touch base on their marketing needs while also managing their data in one place. The use of sales force will help us to better understand Sales data while also observing the market/customers needs.
Jinzhou Situ says
Hi Isel, I think your explanation is very detailed, especially the part where the arrow points, it is very detailed. I think your answer helped me a lot with the questions in this chapter.
Shivam Joshi says
Salesforce promotes client pleasure. However, I believe you could have forgotten to mention a step in your reasoning. Salesforce’s ability to collect and visualize consumer involvement and data is one of its many advantages. No customer satisfaction gains can be realized if this analysis cannot be performed. However, I firmly believe that Salesforce is a useful tool for assisting companies in strengthening their connections with clients.
Anthony Marquis says
Hey Isel, I believe you nailed every part about the problems with the swim lane diagram. You did a great job explaining the cylinder and what it means in the diagram. Nice job!
Julia Grugan says
I believe we are learning Salesforce because it will be useful in nearly any business degree. Funnily enough, I actually want to be a VC, so the situation outlined in the labs fits right in for me! I could see myself using Salesforce to create frameworks for reports for LPs and portfolio companies, and creating my own website. In other finance jobs, which is my major, I could see even more the use for reports, to share information on your performance or the firm’s performance. In fields like HR, it might be useful to know how to create websites an average user can interact with to automate aspects of the job, such as the first meeting with someone who needs to speak with you, and definitely in recruiting. Finally, for project management it would be imperative to know Salesforce, as well as other applications and coding languages. I am really pleased to be learning this tool, because I am sure it will prove a useful skill to have!
Isel Sainte says
I like how you can see yourself using the Max Labs in the future. I actually said I could use Salesforce in my Recruiting position too. In thinking of my department, I thought of another department that could benefit from Salesforce even more than I could. At the company, I work for we applied for grants and have donors. We need to keep up with where the money is coming from, how much money we are getting, and how we will decide to spend it. I know based on the Labs I have completed this far that Salesforce has ways to help them too.
Sami Barhoum says
Hi Julia, you are right it will look great on our resumes. A lot of companies use salesforce including mine, I work at ADP and i use salesforce everyday to look at clients data, information, and prospects.
Lisbeth Guerra says
Hey Julia,
Thank you for highlighting ways that salesforce can be useful in more fields than just one and also for sharing your perspective with it. It’s made me more excited to use it.
Kristina Brown says
I like how you applied how Salesforce can be used in the different fields of business. I didn’t really think beyond how the platform can be used in the different sections, so it was cool to see how you think it would apply to each field.
Nicholas DiGiuseppe says
Hi Julia, I have never used Salesforce before this class, but I can definitely say now that I am extremely grateful for finding out about it because of how beneficial it is to build strong relationships with clients as well as it’s ease of access to analyzing key information and setting up important business meetings.
Jinzhou Situ says
Learning saleforce helps us understand the program management structure. Creating a database in salesforce can help us view a company’s data and business growth. Circles in a swim lane diagram represent the beginning or end of an event, and rectangles represent activities in the process. Diamonds represent decisions that must be made. Arrows indicate the flow of events. Cylinders represent data in storage. Process mappinp is a simple flow chart depicting the steps of things. Its mistake is that the start and redemption do not use a circle, the arrow should point to the customer, the deliver should be in a rectangle, and the name should not appear. The advantage of swimlane is that it can simplify some complex processes.
Shivam Joshi says
I doubt that I would have noticed that there is no procedure in place if the item is out of stock. You are unquestionably correct, though, that a significant portion of the procedure is missing from this swim lane. Additionally, I’m grateful you described the cylinder since sometimes it’s difficult for me to understand what a cylinder actually means. This example was helpful.
Jessica Giare says
Hi Jinzhou. I definitely agree with your response on why we are using Salesforce. It’s interesting that once exposed to Salesforce it helps grasp the concept of what MIS truly is. I think after using Salesforce I have a better understanding and when we continue to use it, that knowledge will only increase.
Rachel Holt says
Hi Jinzhou,
I agree that swim lanes simplify complex processes. As a visual learner, I would prefer a swimlane to an audible explanation of a process. Also creating databases in Salesforce has shown me the value of storing data, specifically being able to reference the entries from our laptop and phone. I find Salesforce to be very interesting and will definitely use it in the future.
Shivam Joshi says
Salesforce is a widely-used customer relationship management (CRM) system that helps businesses manage their interactions with customers and clients. By learning Salesforce in this course, students will gain knowledge and skills that can be applied in a variety of roles and industries, such as sales, marketing, customer service, and more.
There are several benefits to creating a database in Salesforce, including:
1. Improved data management: Salesforce allows users to easily store, organize, and access customer data in one central location.
2. Increased efficiency: Salesforce automates many tasks and processes, such as data entry and reporting, which can save time and increase productivity.
3. Better customer relationship management: Salesforce provides tools for tracking customer interactions and managing sales and marketing efforts, which can lead to better customer relationships and increased sales.
Process mapping is a visual representation of a business process or workflow, typically created using flowchart symbols and lines to show the sequence of steps and decision points within a process. It is used to identify areas for improvement and to clearly communicate the process to all stakeholders.
1. Improved organization: Swim lanes help to organize tasks and activities into logical groups, making it easier to understand the flow of work and identify potential bottlenecks.
2. Enhanced visibility: Swim lanes provide a clear visual representation of the process, making it easy to identify where work is taking place and who is responsible for each task.
3. Improved communication: Swim lanes can be used to communicate process flows to team members and stakeholders, helping to ensure that everyone is on the same page.
Sophie Chen says
Hi Shivam,
I think you organized your points really well, I could read them clearly and I totally agree with your answers. I think in addition to better customer relationship, Salesforce also improves worker relationships since all internal communication can be efficiently managed and organized within Salesforce itself. Employees can comment or propose polls directly inside Salesforce using their employee accounts, and interact with other members of the company.
Jessica Giare says
Why are we learning Salesforce in this course?
I believe that we are learning to use Salesforce in this course because as students enrolled in the Fox School of Business, we need to learn how to utilize tools that can help us in a business setting. Especially since a lot of factors in a business are now online, whether it be from a website or an app- using Salesforce is a great practice to really see what happens on the backend and how to operate it yourself. After doing the first two Maxlabs I feel like I am starting to understand how to really use Salesforce, and it truly is interesting to physically be the person to be changing and adjusting things internally and seeing the final result. MIS is about creating organization and trying to efficiently run a business, and I think Salesforce has been a great factor of showing different ways to organize data in a business.
Justin Bonfiglio says
Hello Jessica,
I completely agree with you that it is awesome and so cool to see what happens in the backend of a business. I hope to one day start a business of my own, so I will eventually need a system like this to automate the process of recording data on individuals. I learned how to set up a whole system that will automatically collect individuals information and put it into the system for me while also responding at the same time. Being able to do this is important in saving me time and effort.
Ivan Uliganets says
Hello Jessica, fully agree with that one. I believe a salesforce is a great tool for Companies to use and understand their customers, and connect with them on a variety of levels, Salesforce remembers clients’ birthdays, product information and much more and help grow their customer base.
Sahid Kapadia says
Hey, Jessica. I agree with you that MIS Major is more about learning to run a business efficiently than learning about coding, as we have learned multiple times in class.
Yi-Lun Ma says
Hello Jessica,
I fully agree that the Salesforce is a good tool to most of the company, for example knowing how to connect to the customer. If i have a company I also will use Salesforce too.
Robert DiBrino says
I believe Salesforce is extremely important to learn right now, and I think we are learning it because it is the next step of integrating technology into the workplace. Salesforce CRM has an incredible discovery, and is listed as one of the best/ most profitable places to work. A lot of my peers use Salesforce everyday at work. The benefits of creating a database on salesforce is that you are able to personalize it how it best suits you. There may be data that is more valuable than others, and with salesforce you are able to prioritize the information you are looking for.
The symbols of a swim lane consist of:
Circle: Indicates the beginning and end
Rectangle: an activity in progress
Diamond: decision that must be made
Arrow: Flow
Cylinder: Stored Data
Actors: are the people/departments that handle the different tasks
Process mapping is some form of graphic used to plan out a process step by step, showing the flow of completing a designated task. For the swim diagram provided I noticed the first problem 1.) Diagram does not start with a circle 2.) once it gets to Stock Manager, there is no option for if the product is out of stock 3.) For the deliver task it is represented with a cylinder that is supposed to represent stored data and 4.) the finish is also not represented with a circle! The ultimate benefit of a swim lane is the itemization of the steps in the process. It can help you have a better understanding of where potential problems may be, and you can have a birds eye view of the processes.
Kristina Brown says
Robert, I like that you said that the swim lanes help show potential problems. I didn’t think of that being a benefit so that is a good thing to add to the list. I agree that swim lanes provide a bird’s eye view of the processes and how it is a benefit because it gives an overall glance of the process and allows everyone to have a basic understanding of their roles.
Justin Bonfiglio says
After completing up to 3a and 3b for Salesforce, I am starting to see how useful of a tool it can be for all of us business students no matter what field we work in. Being able to make a system that will easily compile data like what you can do on Salesforce can save time and effort. Having this database set up can allow me to easily find and different possible customers and to be able to easily know and remember how to contact them for future business. In business we will need to be able to give certain jobs to certain people to take care of, and usings salesforce and other different methods like swim lanes will help simplify the process. A swim lane is used to visually show a flow of business and set who is responsible for what aspect of it. In a swim chart there are five key shapes being the circle, rectangle, diamond, arrow, and cylinder. The circle is the start or end of an event in the process, the rectangle is and activity in the process, the diamond means a decision must be made, an arrow indicates the flow of the process, and the cylinder is the symbol for stored data. Each swim chart will have set actors or jobs in a company which will not have specific names, but rather different roles or groups assigned for each section. In the swim lane given there are issues with it, being the wrong start and finish shape, missing arrows on diamonds, naming specific people as actors, and using the cylinder in the wrong way. If done properly a swim chart can easily set up a whole process that you need done and allow people to understand it easier within seconds of seeing it over trying to describe or writing out the process. This is once big example of process mapping, which is a visual diagram that explains who is responsible for what in a given system.
Ivan Uliganets says
Learning salesforce gives the opportunity to learn the automation and function of Customer relationship management systems. Salesforce allows you to store information and details about customers. Salesforce is a great CRM platform to learn about your customers and get an edge over competitors.
A circle is the starting and ending of an event in the process, A rectangle diagram represents an activity in the process. A diamond represents a decision that must be made. Arrows indicate the flow of the process. A cylinder represents stored data. Actors have specific roles in the company that handle different assignments. Looking at the diagram the first issues that stood up to me was the shape being a rectangle, it should be a circle. The second issue is that labels don’t have who does what and when. Third issue is it says john smith stock manager, there should be no John Smith. And finally, fourth issues is using the wrong shapes in the wrong order. Swim lanes allow for process steps to be specifically set t with the roles of the actors who are performing the activities to help to identify transitions of control or information.
Kristina Brown says
I think we are learning Salesforce because it will lay the foundations of a system we will most likely be working on within our future careers by exposing us to it and understanding its purpose of it. Salesforce allows a company to build better relationships with its consumers and allows businesses to gather their data efficiently to assist in their decision-making. The circles show the starting or ending points of the event. The rectangle is for the activities in the process. The diamond is used to show what decision needs to be made. The arrows show the flow of the events. The cylinder is stored data. The actors are the rows or columns that identify the role that is responsible for the steps in its lane. Process mapping identifies problems with symbols. We use it because it is easier and quicker for someone to read and understand while still conveying the information that needs to be understood. The first mistake that I noticed is that the starting and end of the swim lane have the wrong symbol, it is a rectangle it should be a circle. Another issue found with it is that one decision diamond only has one option, there should be a yes and no option. The delivery action is in a cylinder, which would mean they store data in the delivery, which would not be true so it should be another rectangle. Another issue is the actor says, “John Smith, Stock Manager”, but the actors should not include names just the role. Swim lanes are a simple way to show who is responsible for what and when in the process they are responsible. It can be applied to different processes.
Sami Barhoum says
I believe the benefits of Salesforce is so we have that skill so in the future it makes it easier to find clients, potential clients, prospects, investments, close deals. I work at ADP and I use salesforce and this tool really helps me when I want to find the information on a client or potential client,
Sheree Owens says
Hi Sami! I completely agree that there are many benefits to using Salesforce for a business. Learning the Salesforce system will be great in our professional career for prospecting leads/accounts, keeping track of clients’ information, and building a pipeline to hit sales goals. I also work in sales and understand how CRM tools are crucial to staying connected with your team, management, and customers.
Lisbeth Guerra says
I believe we are learning salesforce because it is an important tool to have when working with businesses. It allows us to understand how businesses keep track of customer interactions and sales data. Salesforce brings together marketing, sales, commerce, and IT teams that all can work from one webpage. I read “A swim lane map is similar to a flowchart in that it maps out a process, decisions, and loops” I felt this was good analogy. A swim lane map has three elements time, people, and task/processes.
Assia Snineh says
Hey Lisbeth, great explanation about Salesforce and why it is important to use it and learn it. I totally agree with your statement. i agree it is a good analogy.
Leonid Kovalchuk says
Salesforce services allow businesses to use cloud technology to better connect with partners, customers, and potential customers. Using the Salesforce CRM, companies can track customer activity, market to customers, and many more services.
Circles in a swim lane diagram represent the beginning or end of an event, and rectangles represent activities in the process. Diamonds represent decisions that must be made. Arrow: Flow
Cylinder: Stored Data.
A process map is a planning and management tool that visually describes the flow of work. Using process mapping software, process maps show a series of events that produce a result.
Swim lane (cross functional) diagrams provide a mechanism to easily indicate the department, function, or party responsible for the activities that make up a business process.
Rachel Holt says
We are using Salesforce to learn how technology can be used to carry out daily operations for an organization. We are learning how to compare and analyze information to make decisions for our businesses. The benefits of creating a database are having a record of data we can reference when making decisions and analyzing that data for future usage. The symbols in a swim line diagram are a circle (beginning and end of the process), a rectangle (activity is progress), a diamond (decision), an arrow (flow of process), and a cylinder (stored data). We also identify the actors to show who does what role in the process. Process mapping is creating a diagram that outlines the steps of a process. The benefit of swim lines is that they can give clarity about who completes each task and in what order they are completed in.
Assia Snineh says
Hey Rachel, great explanation about Salesforce and why it is important to use it and learn it. I totally agree with your statement.
Assia Snineh says
i think we are learning Salesforce in this course because Salesforce is an excellent way to gain knowledge of the world’s leading CRM cloud platform, which is in high demand among businesses of all sizes. Salesforce assists businesses in managing customer interactions and sales data. It is capable of managing leads, contacts, opportunities, and cases. Salesforce also provides several features to assist businesses with audibility. The shapes in a swimlane diagram specify certain things, for example, start/endpoint, a decision, or an activity. A circle represents the starting or ending of an event. A rectangle represents an activity in the process. a diamond represents a decision. arrows indicates the flow of the process, and a cylinder represents stored data. A process map describes the individual steps in a process, identifies task owners, and specifies expected timelines. They are especially useful for communicating processes among stakeholders and identifying areas for improvement. The first error I notice in the swim lane is that most of the arrows have no labels. Second, a portion is missing. Third, when it comes to actors’ names, they should be avoided. The last mistake is, because they are both beginning and ending, the “place order” and “finish” should be circle shapes.
Isel Sainte says
That is right CRM cloud platforms are in high demand among businesses of all sizes. All businesses have some sort of data to save and keep up with. At the end of your post, you mention on point two that a portion of the swim lane with errors is missing. Could you explain what is missing? I don’t see it.
Levan Lobjanidze says
From my experience, Salesforce is really amazing, I thought our corporate CRM a Keller Williams Command was amazing, but Salesforce gives as much more capabilities. It is so versatile it can be overwhelming sometimes, but surely one of the best tools for professionals in sales.
Sophie Chen says
Salesforce is a great tool to deliver cloud-based products and is used by many businesses in various industries. I believe we’re learning how to use it in order to exercise these skills in the future. It also looks good to future employers that we are knowledgeable in a platform that is actively used and sometimes has a learning curve for beginners. By creating a database, we have a central place to store information for use across multiple devices. I really like this diagram because I think it helps visualize how helpful Salesforce can be across multiple topics. (https://static.javatpoint.com/tutorial/salesforce/images/salesforce-com-offerings-services-by-salesforce.png)
In swim diagrams, we use circles to represent where the process starts or ends, rectangles to indicate activities in the process, diamonds to represent decisions made in the process, and cylinders to represent stored data. The “actors” represent roles that play essential parts in the process—they do not specific names but rather are used as placeholders. When we process map, it helps visualize a system’s process in a way that is easier for the view to understand quickly. It also helps identify problems along the way in the process.
Amgad Elamin says
Hello Sophie,
I did not use Salesforce before this class. I enjoyed it, although it was confusing at first. could-based products are become more useful in this tough economy. i think the pandemic was good in the way how technology took a long leap.
Sheree Owens says
A swim lane diagram breaks down a business process into its actors and its logical and chronological order. It indicates the action handoff in a procedure. The benefit is it identifies who does what and in what order. It is a visual representation that can help identify problems and solve problems in a business process. I can see how MIS professionals can apply swim lane diagrams to all businesses and dig deep to see how a business procedure can be more efficient. It is a great breakdown of everything happening in a system from start to finish. I now have a better understanding of how things work on the backend of businesses from a consumer and business standpoint.
Yi-Lun Ma says
The benefit in the swim reveals the actors in a business operations as well as their logical and logical order. It indicates the handover of an action in a procedure. It helps to understand who does what and in what order. In a business operations, it is a visual representation that can help in problem-solving and issue. I can understand how MIS experts might analyze all firms using swim lane layouts and look closely at how a business process could be made more efficient. It is an interesting description of everything that takes place in a system from beginning to end. I now have a better understanding of how firms operate from a customer and corporate perspective.
Levan Lobjanidze says
Salesforce is the number one CRM (customer relationship management) platform in the world. Although it can have many applications, in my case it is its main purpose, a customer relationship. Customer is a pillar in every business, and surely the most important stakeholder in sales. Learning about it in our course was a surprising for me. I am a realtor at Keller Williams Real Estate and we use KW command. KW command is also a CRM. Although it is more specialized for real estate professionals, similarities are there. Customer contact database, automated emails and logged phone calls, cloud based document management and much more makes it convenient to run multiple business. With Salesforce training, it became much easier to navigate through the KW command. Other than that, having Salesforce training also gives as a confidence and makes our resume look more professional.
Overall experience gained through Salesforce training will make as more productive and competitive, and the best part of all, we can continue learning on our own and master our Salesforce skills.
Sahid Kapadia says
Besides being the best CRM in the world, I think we’re learning salesforce to better learn about MIS and how MIS is not really about coding/technology but how businesses can use technology to manage their business efficiently. The reason to use a database in salesforce is to keep track of your data and customer feedback efficiently. A Circle is an indicator of the start and ending of an event. A rectangle signifies an activity in a process. A diamond means a decision that must be made. An arrow indicates the flow of the process. A cylinder represents stored data. Actor means an individual or an entity who completes a specific duty in a particular swim lane. Process Mapping is a tool one can use to define what’s happening in a specific situation visually. We use it because our brain processes visual information faster than words, making it more efficient. First mistake; John Smith, Stock Manager. Change it to simply Stock Manager. Second and Third Mistake: While you start and end a process you need to use a circle not a rectangle. Fourth Mistake: In stock is a decision but only one choice is given and that is yes. It should be yes or no. The reason to use swim lane is it’s much more simpler to understand than bunch of words. It’s also much faster to comprehend as we learned in class.
Aidan Morgan says
Hey Sahid, I found your breakdown of Salesforce to be outstanding. The way you described Salesforce as a CRM helped me get a better understanding on why the program is a CRM and how it functions, especially when it comes to tracking data.
Lamine Karamoko says
I think that there are many benefits to come with Salesforce. One major benefit is that it is a valuable way to connect with clients through emails, phone calls, meetings, planning and much more. It can take many businesses from small company to large entreprise. Salesforce is a cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform that helps businesses to manage customer data, sales operations, and marketing campaigns. The tools on there can help businesses build relationships with future clients to potentially come across a deal. Their tools can help you achieve the goal of improving business through a simple view of the information relating to sales, marketing, commerce, and customer service. It’s very good for the partner ecosystems and security of business. This is why salesforce is one of the most useful CRM’s in business, and why more people will continue to use it. These are the benefits that come with salesforce.
Robert DiBrino says
Hi Lamine! You did a great job explaining the benefits of Salesforce. This was a topic that I was very excited to learn about, as it will translate directly to the outside world. In a number of sales job postings, they reference having experience with Salesforce, and I can now say that I have worked with the CRM and am capable of using it day one.
Paige Willis says
HI Lamine! You wrote a very insightful post as to the benefits of sales force. When looking into the benefits of salesforce myself, I also noted that it was beneficial to businesses by helping them manage customer data. To specify, it is proven to be incredibly efficient in dealing with large quantities of a user’s data, allowing employees across an organization to access it. Its also important to not that this CRM is more beneficial because you do not need to be on a company’s server to access it, making it available almost anywhere.
Aidan Morgan says
A swim lane diagram is a type of process flow diagram that breaks down a process with “lanes” that an actor, or doer, is responsible for the work described in the lane. Lanes can be horizontal rows or vertical columns. Using swim lanes, come with some advantages such as a clean, easy-to-follow way to identify multiple phases in a system. Swim lanes are also versatile and can be applied to numerous diagrams. A swim lane is consisted of multiple symbols to represent various aspects of the diagram. These symbols include circles, rectangles, diamonds, arrows, and cylinders. A circle signifies the start and the end of an event in the process. A rectangle represents an activity in the process. A diamond represents a decision that has to be made. Arrows indicate the flow of the process. Finally, a cylinder represents stored data within the process. Actors play a vital part in a swim lane as they indicate who handles what in the process and the roles they play in completing the process as a whole. The swim lane presented as some issues with it starting with the start and end of the event being indicated with a rectangle instead of a circle. The role of “John Smith, Stock Manager”, should be instead replaced with simply just “Stock Manager”. Many of the arrows in this swim lane are also not labeled. Also, the deliver that is nested inside a cylinder should be in a rectangle instead as deliver is not stored data. Overall, swim lanes are a easy way to read how a process is handled from start to finish and helps to identify who plays what part in the process.
Swim Lanes:
https://www.modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/1868/An-Introduction-to-Swimlane-Diagrams.aspx
Amgad Elamin says
Hello class,
Before taking this course, I did not know anything about Salesforce. At first I thought it was complicated and hard to navigate. However, after completing my first two assignments I figured it out. It is a very powerful tool. Moreover, being able to use it from anywhere is priceless. After the covid pandemic could based computing has taken over almost all online communications. The need to come to an office became less important. In fact, many companies preferred the idea of saving money and cancelled long term leases in many office buildings around the country. In addition to that, Salesforce allows organizations to track progress from multiple levels. Salesforce helps organize date in a unique way and that can be highly customized based on companies and industries.
The benefits of creating a database in Salesforce is its accessibility. This database could be accessibly by the whole team anywhere in the world. For example, if an employee is sick or on vacation, the team leader can assign someone else to finish their tasks easily. Moreover, data can be filtered and integrated.
These are the symbols used in swim lane diagrams
1. Circle: Start and end.
2. Rectangle: an activity.
3. Diamond: decision (Yes or No)
4. Arrow: flow.
5. Cylinder: stored data
Process mapping is the way we answer the What, Why and How questions in designing a system.
I found these mistakes in the swim lane diagram;
1. In the stock manager section there is a diamond shape step without a (No) option.
2. Cancel order is not communicated to the customer when card is not valid.
3. There is a missing step of updating inventory.
4. No names should be used in swim lane applications.
Swim lanes has many benefits. This process identifies who does what in what order. Moreover, it is versatile.
Nicholas DiGiuseppe says
Hello everyone,
I think the main reason Salesforce is important to learn is because it is one of the most useful/important tools for students to have regardless of what kind of business degree they are trying to obtain. Salesforce is essentially the perfect business webpage creator. It is perfect for collecting all kinds of data and it is also perfect for satisfying customer needs. With all the data that is analyzed using Salesforce, it allows for more accurate estimation and everyday business decision making therefore, relationships between businesses and customers improves.
I’d also like to talk about the swim lane diagrams/symbols. The first symbol is the circle which indicates the beginning and ending of the process. Activity is represented by the rectangle. The decision making is represented by the diamond. The flow of the process is represented by the arrow and the storage of data is represented by the cylinder. In the given swim lane diagram linked at the top of the page, the first mistake I noticed was that the beginning point did not contain a circle. The next question I couldn’t help but ask myself was, “What happens if the product is out of stock?” There was no option for that and I also noticed that a cylinder represented the deliver task which is incorrect because we know that a cylinder is supposed to be used when we want to store data. Lastly, we know that a circle represents the beginning and end but the end did not have a circle. I really enjoy using swim lane diagrams because I believe that it gives you a really clear view of how the process works and where you can spot important issues.
Robert DiBrino says
There are a number of reasons why we are learning about Salesforce in this course. This platform provides you with a cloud-based CRM which creates a streamlined process. It does this by placing the information for a client, including their email, phone number, address, etc., in one place. This makes the sales process flow much easier. Additionally, the platform provides you with a place to track your touch points with the individual, meaning a call, email, etc. This, in turn, provides you with a reminder of previous touch points as well as any other individual on your team who may have interactions with the contact in the future. Furthermore, with the system’s ability to report, it enables a company to run diagnostics in real time providing the organization with up to date data for decision making, progress reports, etc. In the future, learning about Salesforce will prove to be very valuable to me as I pursue a career in sales, as it is a platform that is very commonly used. According to the Salesforce website, there are over 150,000 companies across multiple industries that are currently growing their business through Salesforce (https://www.salesforce.com/campaign/worlds-number-one-CRM/).
How will you be using this information in the future?
Paige Willis says
Swim lanes are roughly defined as a map of the processes and responsibilities of varying “actors” or participants which definies who does what at each step of a certain task . The benefits are extensive. Most importantly, in my opinion, it lays out the steps of a particular process which allows businesses to remove probable “bottlenecks” to the workflow. These may look like possible missed steps, “roles” that serve little value, poor time management activities, and so on. Swim lanes ensure that business processes are occurring effectively and efficiently. Furthermore, because it lays out the incremental steps in a particular process, it enables new hires or trainees to visualize a task, and gives the step by step instructions to completing it. Lastly, swim lanes specify intended results and their solution.
Anthony Marquis says
We are learning the Salesforce program because it helps us open up the door to advanced CRM functionalities that allow you to store every single detail about every single customer in order to provide personalized services for them. The benefits of creating a salesforce database includes helping with time management, planning events and being able to use this tool anywhere you want to. To start with all the swim lane symbols, the circle is starting and ending point, the rectangle represents the activities, the diamond makes the decisions, the arrow demonstrates the flow of the process and the cylinder stores all of the data. Th actors in a swim lane demonstrate the roles and jobs that play the essential partz of the swim lane. The process maps help outline all of the individual steps within a process, as well as identifying task owners and displaying timelines. The first mistake is most of the arrows don’t have labels. Second, the swim lane is missing an entire part. Third, actors’ names shouldn’t be involved. Lastly, the “place order” and “finish” should have circle shapes because they’re both starting and ending. Swim lanes are essential because the diagram makes it easy to figure out responsibilities that belong to specific individuals or departments.
Ishaan Joshi says
Salesforce is a dominant player in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) industry and is what we will be using for Max Labs. It is good to have on your resume as well. Creating a database allows you to store and manage data efficiently and is a quick one-stop shop to organize all this information. The circle represents the start and end of a process, the rectangle represents an activity, the diamond is a decision, and the cylinder represents stored data. Actors are the roles/jobs represented within a swim lane. Each actor has a specific purpose in accomplishing the swim lane process. Process mapping diagrams the flow of a process, and they help us more easily understand the existing conditions. Circle instead of a rectangle on both sides, change John Smith to only Stock Manager, change cylinder, decisions should be both yes and no. Swim lanes help you map out and organize highly complex processes and can help you keep better track of the process.
Preston Cain says
Learning Salesforce in this course shows the great deal of use for technology. Learning Salesforce gives us as students the ability to understand how processes come together and make the technology work for us as humans. The software has many different elements such as the marketing feature that used through the max labs assignment. Learning this information in salesforce made it easy to process data into charts. Creating databases in Salesforce is useful as it allocates for the user to be able to collect mass amounts of data on a cloud based server. This making for the user to not be taking up storage on their own device while being able to share the data with other users. Salesforce makes it easy to communicate data in a workplace and the types of functions within its data base allow users to make their workload smaller by using their service.