How to Draw a Project Flow Diagram for a Meal

Flow diagrams are useful tools to help teach new concepts.

Many people understand and retain information better when they can picture the concepts. Project flow diagrams break down a process into steps and use arrows so that readers can visualize how the process "flows" or progresses from start to finish. When describing how to prepare a meal, consider using a project flow diagram. A project flow diagram may be easier for some cooks to use over a standard cookbook recipe because each individual step is clearly laid out on the page. For purposes of this article, let's assume you want to make chicken fingers.

Instructions

1. Draw an oval at the top of the page and label it "start." Use rectangles to denote actions and diamonds to denote decisions the cook must make during the process. Other symbols can be used: the above are suggested by Mindtools.com.

2. Draw an arrow from the start oval to a rectangle. Inside the rectangle write the first step of the meal. For example, for this meal you would write: "Cut boneless chicken breast into strips. Set aside."

3. Connect the next step in the process with another arrow. Here the instructions might read: "Place three empty bowls on the counter. Fill one with flower, fill the second with an egg, and fill the third with crushed crackers or bread crumbs. Beat the egg."

4. Connect the third step in the process with an arrow from the second step. Write thusly: "Place a pot on the stove and fill with enough oil to cover the chicken breast. Heat until the oil is 350 degrees Fahrenheit."

5. Continue connecting steps in the process with arrows and using rectangles to denote the actions. You could have boxes for the following steps in this meal preparation: breading the chicken (by dipping it into the flower, then the egg, and then the bread crumbs) and frying the chicken until the meat is cooked.

6. Draw a diamond for decisions to be made. Here, you could use a diamond to show that you can serve the chicken fingers with various sides such as ketchup, ranch dressing, or hot sauce.

7. Draw an oval and write "finish" at the end of the process.

References

• Mindtools.com: Flow Charts
• Get A Head: Data Flow Diagrams