Process Flow Tutorial
A flow chart is an excellent visual tool for describing any process in a company. Manufacturing can use a process flow chart to describe the various steps that are involved in an assembly line. A process flow can help users understand the decision making process in a company, the design process and any number of other tasks. To maintain consistency among various charts, each shape represents a different type of task or step. A process, a decision and a document are all represented with different shapes in a process flow.
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Instructions
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List each step that is required to complete the process on a piece of paper. Include all of the steps required to complete the process from start to finish.
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Identify each step as a process, a document, data, a decision or a pre-defined process. A pre-defined process is usually associated with another process flow chart that already exists.
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Open a new flow chart in your software application.
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Insert an oval shaped box in your flow chart. The oval shapes are terminators, meaning they begin or end the process flow chart. Label the shape with a brief description.
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Insert the next step of the process. Processes are identified with a square shape and decisions with a diamond. See the complete list of represented shapes in the Resources section of this article. Label the step with a brief description.
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Continue inserting steps until you have outlined every step in the process flow.
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Connect the steps of the process with connectors. Choose whether the step will connect to one process or, in the event of a decision, to multiple other steps.
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Format your process flow. Add colors and descriptions so it is easier to read. Adjust the sizing so the flow chart fits on as few pages as possible.
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Tips & Warnings
When the process flow chart gets too big, consider which portions of the flow chart could be consolidated to make a separate process flow. Remove these steps and put them on a separate sheet. Replace the removed steps with a pre-defined process shape.
References
- Photo Credit Process Flow image by Christopher Hall from Fotolia.com
