Simple Flow Chart

By Yvonne Hertz on October 06 2018 20:47:48

This is where simple process mapping can be used as an effective tool. Developing sample flowcharts that focus on specific areas or duties can help each subject matter expert define their areas of knowledge and communicate to others in the room. Linking each area together with inter-dependencies and business rules is where the real power of this technique comes in.

Well, flowcharts can be used to analyze, design, document or manage a process in a wide variety of fields. Examples could include a Recruitment or Accounting process, the logical procedure within a piece of software, or a process in an organization such as Health & Safety, Equal Opportunities, Conciliation & Arbitration or Social Services. There are several derivatives of the basic flowchart including the Workflow Diagram,

Flowcharts can be quickly created in many computer software programs; even recent versions of Microsoft Word and PowerPoint contain Smart Shapes that allow users to rapidly insert a flowchart into a document of presentation. Specialist Flowchart Diagramming software also exists but for sheer versatility and the ability to connect data to shapes I would put my money on Microsoft Visio. It has a huge range of ready-made stencils containing all the shapes you could possibly need (and the ability to create your own if you wish), and very slick automatic connection features. Visio also allow a flowchart that dexcribes one process to become part of a larger process and to integrate with it via a hyperlink from a button on the drawing page.

Helping an organization map out processes can be a challenging task unless you know how to create sample flowcharts. When attempting to get subject matter experts to redefine their business processes, it is imperative to help them identify gaps or redundancies in their current as-is process.

This is not easily done, especially in a large room with multiple experts who know only a small portion of the entire process. Each contributor who works within the team can identify their specific areas they deal with on a daily basis, but do not necessarily understand or know the linkages and dependencies that exist outside of their general areas.

Once the team recognizes the problem areas, they can easily adjust the map to a future state version that can dramatically affect performance and turnaround time of the purchase order process.