Everyday Office Jargon · Unranked level

"Swim lane"

"Swim lane" means a defined area of responsibility assigned to a person, team, or department so that roles do not overlap and accountability is clear.

Say this instead: area of responsibility

How "Swim lane" shows up at work

Pulled from flowchart diagrams where parallel horizontal bands keep different teams' tasks visually separate. Now used in any conversation where someone is getting into business that isn't theirs, politely or otherwise.

Buzzword

Let's make sure everyone is clear on their swim lane before we kick off.

Plain English

Let's make sure everyone is clear on their area of responsibility before we kick off.

Corporate Rank: Unranked  ·  Category: Everyday Office Jargon

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