Creating a flow chart11/23/2023 Types of flowchartsīecause flowcharts are such a powerful tool, they’re used across many fields and industries. When you create a flowchart that needs different shapes or symbols, include a legend so it’s still accessible to your teammates. Once you’ve learned what the symbols represent you can read-or create-pretty much any type of flowchart and gain a better understanding of the visualized process. Preparation or initialization: This symbol indicates a preparation or initialization step in the process. Multiple documents: This symbolizes multiple documents. Predefined process: This symbol indicates a process that is already defined elsewhere. The symbol itself stands for an alternative to the normal process step in case one is needed. Let’s take a look at some of the most commonly used flowchart symbols, their names, and meaning.Īlternate process: The lines to this symbol are usually dotted. When reading a flowchart, follow the Western standard, meaning you’ll read it from the top to the bottom and from the left to the right. The latest version of this standard was confirmed in 2019. To make it easier for you to understand flowcharts across teams, departments, and even industries, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) set official standards in the 1960s which were adopted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1970 and are continuously updated and improved. Read: 4 types of concept maps (with free templates) Flowchart symbols and definitionsįlowcharts vary from quickly hand-drawn visualizations to help document or plan a process to comprehensive workflow diagrams created with a designated software. This makes tracking progress very easy and also gives you a great overview of the tasks that still need to be completed. Since it’s so easy to follow the steps in your flowchart, you can always pinpoint where your team is currently at in the project or process. This can save you and your team time-and stress-in the long run. Once your flowchart is done, you can reuse it for similar projects and processes. Read: If you like maximizing team impact, you’ll love resource allocation 6. By mapping out the entire process with this visual guide, you can follow each step and ensure that you allocate enough time and resources to every task. Identify and prevent bottlenecksįlowcharts help you uncover bottlenecks or problems before they become issues. A flowchart can also help you see the consequences of your decisions, which makes it easier to anticipate and justify next steps. Make and justify decisionsĭecisions often look way less intimidating and complicated when they’re mapped out in a flowchart. Visually representing a process can make it easier for you to assign tasks to team members and organize your team’s work so it all flows better. Read: What are workflows? 7 simple steps to get started 3. A flowchart allows everyone to follow the workflow, understand the tasks, and analyze the individual steps quickly and easily. Not everyone on your team will have the time (or resources) to read through a complicated and lengthy process document. Download a flowchart infographic When to use flowchartsįlowcharts can be helpful in a variety of scenarios, including when you need to:Ī flowchart is a wonderful way to map out and document a collaborative project or process. We’re also going to cover how you can create flowchart diagrams and provide a few examples for inspiration. If you want to learn more about the variety of different types of flowcharts and flowchart symbols, you’ve come to the right place. Since then, flowcharts have been refined and standardized to optimize processes across various industries. The industrial engineers Frank and Lillian Gilbreth first introduced this tool to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in 1921. It’s a powerful tool that can be used in multiple fields for planning, visualizing, documenting, and improving processes. While there are many different types of flowcharts, a basic flowchart is the simplest form of a process map. In this article, you’ll learn what the different shapes mean, when a flowchart can be useful, and what types of flowcharts you can implement at work.Ī flowchart is a diagram that illustrates the steps, sequences, and decisions of a process or workflow. These symbols can indicate anything from a process to a document or decisions that need to be made. There are over 30 standardized symbols you can use to create a flowchart. A flowchart is the perfect way to visualize a complex process for your team.
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