Whiteboard PromptsMap a business process on Claude Whiteboards
Talk through one real recent case while Claude draws it in swimlanes, count handoffs and waiting time, vote on pain points and draw the improved version with only the changes the team agreed.
Use it when: A process is slow or error-prone and nobody can explain it end to end, with one person from every role that touches it.
Process mapping with swimlanes
What you type here fills every prompt below and stays in this browser.
- 0′Lay out the board
- 3′Agree the boundaries
- 7′Walk a real case
- 22′Find the gaps
- 29′Count handoffs and time
- 35′Mark pain points
- 45′Options for the top three
- 55′Draw the improved version
- 67′Change table and close
Agenda, 75 minutes. Click a time to jump to its step.
Before the meeting
- Pick one real case from the last month and copy its timestamps from your helpdesk and payment tools as plain text: when each step started and finished. You paste them in step 5; Claude can't read connected apps from a board.
- Invite the person who actually does each step, not only their manager. Click Share and invite them by email; guests outside your organization need the outside-invitations setting turned on by a Team or Enterprise admin.
- Run step 1 ten minutes early and check there is a lane for every role you invited.
- 0–3 min
Lay out the board
Run this before people join. Check that every role in the room has its own lane and the improved area is as large as the as-is area.
Start a whiteboard to map Oakline Furniture's refund process, from the customer's refund email to money back on their card. At the top, add a title and a strip with three empty sticky notes labeled "Starts when", "Ends when" and "Out of scope". Below it, add a section called "As is" with horizontal swimlanes, each labeled on the left: "Customer", then one lane per role for each person in Megan (support), Luis (warehouse), Jo (finance) and Arjun (operations manager), then a lane called "Systems" for automatic steps. Below "As is", add an empty section of the same size called "Improved". In a corner, add a small legend: rectangle = step, diamond = decision, orange arrow = handoff, red note = pain point, grey note = wait.
Board after this stepEmpty scope strip, empty as-is swimlanes, an empty improved area and a legend.
Steps 2 to 9 are in the workshop kit
You have the setup prompt and the full agenda. The kit adds the other 8 prompts of this process mapping with swimlanes, what to do while Claude works on each one, and 4 follow-up prompts: Procedure doc, Send to Lucid, Change tracker sheet, Before and after slides. The same for all 12 workshops, plus the 40-prompt library.
One payment, no subscription. Opens in this browser as soon as Stripe checkout completes.- 3–7 min
Agree the boundaries
In the kitFill the scope strip, keeping my wording …
Board after this stepA fixed start, a fixed end and a lane for every role involved.
- 7–22 min
Walk a real case
In the kitMap what I'm about to describe into the "As is" swimlanes …
Board after this stepFifteen to forty steps across the lanes, with arrows, decisions and waits, showing the process as it actually ran.
- 22–29 min
Find the gaps
In the kitFind the gaps in the "As is" map …
Board after this stepConfirmed missing steps are in; the map matches what really happens.
- 29–35 min
Count handoffs and time
In the kitIn "As is", color every arrow that crosses from one lane to another orange and number them H1, H2 and so on …
Board after this stepNumbered orange handoffs and three totals at the top, for example "11 handoffs, 2 h 40 min working, 9 days elapsed".
- 35–45 min
Mark pain points
In the kitLabel every red note with its type …
Board after this stepRed notes on the map, labeled by type, with the top three outlined and listed.
- 45–55 min
Options for the top three
In the kitLook only at this part of the map …
Board after this stepEach top pain point has two or three typed options beside it, one ticked.
- 55–67 min
Draw the improved version
In the kitIn "Improved", copy the "As is" swimlanes and steps, then apply only the ticked changes, nothing else …
Board after this stepThe improved map below the original, changes in green, before and after totals side by side.
- 67–75 min
Change table and close
In the kitUnder "Improved", add a table called "Changes" with the columns Change, Steps affected, Owner, Done by …
Board after this stepA change table with one owner and a date per row; both maps stay as the record.
After the meeting
Procedure doc
In the kitTurn the "Improved" map into a step-by-step procedure doc …
Send to Lucid
In the kitBefore I send this board to Lucid, tidy the "Improved" map …
Change tracker sheet
In the kitCreate a sheet from the "Changes" table with the columns Change, Steps affected, Owner, Done by, Status, Elapsed time after …
Before and after slides
In the kitTurn this board into a 3-slide deck …
What goes wrong on Claude Whiteboards
- Walk one real case, not "how the process works". Asked to map a process in general, Claude draws a clean textbook flow, and the waits and rework that cause the pain never reach the board.
- 2 more pitfalls for this workshop are in the kit
Board layout
A board with an as-is swimlane map, numbered handoffs, working and elapsed time totals, the top three pain points, and an improved map below it with before and after totals. Plus a change table with owners and a procedure doc.
Agenda at a glance
| Minutes | Step | What the board shows afterwards |
|---|---|---|
| 0–3 | Lay out the board | Empty scope strip, empty as-is swimlanes, an empty improved area and a legend. |
| 3–7 | Agree the boundaries | A fixed start, a fixed end and a lane for every role involved. |
| 7–22 | Walk a real case | Fifteen to forty steps across the lanes, with arrows, decisions and waits, showing the process as it actually ran. |
| 22–29 | Find the gaps | Confirmed missing steps are in; the map matches what really happens. |
| 29–35 | Count handoffs and time | Numbered orange handoffs and three totals at the top, for example "11 handoffs, 2 h 40 min working, 9 days elapsed". |
| 35–45 | Mark pain points | Red notes on the map, labeled by type, with the top three outlined and listed. |
| 45–55 | Options for the top three | Each top pain point has two or three typed options beside it, one ticked. |
| 55–67 | Draw the improved version | The improved map below the original, changes in green, before and after totals side by side. |
| 67–75 | Change table and close | A change table with one owner and a date per row; both maps stay as the record. |
Run every workshop, not just the retro
Anthropic's help page gives three sample prompts. Free prompt packs give single prompts. The kit gives you the whole session: what to paste, in what order, how many minutes each step takes, what you do while Claude works and what the board should show before you move on.
| Free here | Workshop kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Sprint retrospective | The whole script | The whole script |
| The other 11 workshops | Agenda, board layout and the first prompt | Every prompt in order, with what you do at each step |
| Prompts that turn the board into a doc, deck, tracker sheet or Miro board | Retro only | For every workshop (40 in all) |
| Mistakes to avoid on Claude Whiteboards | One per workshop | All of them |
| Single-job prompt library | 10 prompts | All 40 |
| Copy, print or download a script | Retro only | All 12, plus the whole kit as one Markdown file |
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