Flow charts are one of the many weapons for the project management ninja, but like a samurai sword, can be dangerous if not used with caution. When used properly flow charts are an excellent tool to document processes, identify inefficiencies, and improve communication. Unfortunately, if they are not clear or the audience is not kept in mind flow charts can cause confusion and provide little value. I’m going to explain the format, software, and uses that have proven successful for me.
More is Less
You have probably seen flow charts with crossing lines resembling spiderwebs and more icons than the inside of a Egyptian tomb. If your audience is not experienced in the ways of the flow chart, and perhaps even if they are, it’s best to keep it simple. I have found it best to only use four icons.
Process Icons: Document, Process, Decision, and Off Page Process
I rarely, if ever, use more than these four icons. If your defining a software program you may need to use some of the system related icons, but for standard processes these icons should meet your needs. I also never use the start and end icons. When does a process ever just start, or end? There is always an input to start a process and an output that ends it.
Keeping the icons simplified makes it easier for your intended audience to follow. You don’t need huge legends for your business stakeholders to refer to. Depending on the complexity of the process you may not need to even provide much explanation.
Interdependencies Determine Format
When beginning to document your process flow you have two choices; standard and swim lane. If your processes is self contained within one group a standard flow should be satisfactory. If your process spans multiple department I suggest using a swim lane format.
Standard
A standard process map.
A standard process map just documents the inputs, outputs, and activities of the process. I start in the upper left working down to the lower right.
The standard format is easy to follow and is really a visual representation of step by step procedure document. This format works well for smaller processes and decision trees.
It’s important that when laying out your map, you keep a logical flow. If there are concurrent activities they should be horizontal to each other. A subsequent activity should be below the preceding task, and try to limit overlapping paths. I usually throw all my inputs, activities, and tasks down and then clean up the layout when the process is near-final. While you want the process to be user-friendly, you may end up with an ugly mess of a process. This is expected if you are working on process efficiency. You can usually relate the ugliness of the process to it’s efficiency.
Swimlane
A proces smap using the swim lane format.
The swimlane format is similar to the standard process but adds columns or rows that identify the person, group, or system that is performing the activity.
The group or departments can be layed out horizontally or vertically. I prefer horizontal because it seems a little easier to read. If your documenting a process that is sequential without much back and forth a horizontal layout may make sense.
One of the benefits of using swim lanes is that you can pretty easily identify inefficiencies. A swim lane process should generally flow from the top left nicely down to the bottom right. If the process is bouncing back and forth multiple times it is probably inefficient.
The Right Tool
In most corporate environments Microsoft Visio is available. If it’s not preloaded on your machine, a quick call to your IT department should get it installed. There are also open source alternatives that provide much the same functionality. If your familiar with word processing and spreadsheet software like Word and Excel you should be able to pick up Visio (or it’s alternatives) pretty easily. If you don’t have access to specialized software you can also create process maps in MS Word and even paint.
Process maps are extremely useful when creating or improving processes. Just keep in mind to create your flow chart with your audience in mind. Keep it as simple as possible, and most importantly use them to prompt action!