Explore how flow diagrams optimize processes and when to use them
Examples +
A flow diagram is a visualization of a sequence of actions, movements within a system and/or decision points. They're a detailed explanation of each step in a process, no matter the level of complexity of that process.
flow diagram
flow diagram • [flō dī-ə-gram]
Flow diagrams, also known as flowcharts, are powerful tools for optimizing the paths - or flow - of people, objects or information through a system or procedure. The connectors and symbols work together to create a visual representation of the direction of movement and what's needed to make that movement happen.
noun
"After creating a flow diagram for our sign-up process, we were able to optimize the path and increase conversions by 12%"
Synonyms
Any process with multiple steps can be visualized with a diagram creator, if you're not sure where to start, use our diagram templates to take the pressure off. Before jumping into how to make a flowchart though, it's important to know the various types of flowcharts as some are better suited to meet your needs than others. Let's break down which you'd want to use to improve your operation.
This type of diagram is used to map the flow of data through an information system or process. Showing all the accompanying inputs, outputs and functions that relate to the capture or use of data and where that data lives.
These are quite specialized in the flowchart family, having their own notation and corresponding symbol libraries: Yourdon & Coad and Gane & Sarson. Both duos wrote seminal books that included DFDs, “Structured Design” and “Structured Systems Analysis: Tools and Techniques”, respectively.
DFDs are further broken down into logical and physical DFDs, with both depicting the flow of data within a system but from different perspectives.
A logical DFD, or a logic flowchart, focuses on business operations showing the essential information flow and business activities, independent of specific technologies or implementations.
A physical DFD, meanwhile, focuses on the "how", highlighting the specific implementation details, including hardware, software and databases for information processing.
✍️ Note: To visualize the flow of business processes, you'd use Business Process Model Notation, which is different from a data flow diagram.
These are most commonly used in the areas they started from; software engineering, development and computer programs. They're also useful in logistics as well as managing and trimming the fat from business processes.
If the idea is to work smart, not harder, putting together a graphical representation to see exactly how work is getting done is something you should consider.
These diagrams can be created at the organization level all the way down to charts for a particular service or a single process that charts the flow of its decisions, documents, tasks and activities.
A workflow diagram ensures optimization of your internal processes, whereas a user flow diagram optimizes how a user interacts with your product or service.
They're largely used for improving how work gets done and identifying bottlenecks you may have missed. These can also be helpful for onboarding new employees so they know exactly where they fit in a process.
How do you keep track of who does what, and when, in a multidisciplinary or collaborative project?
The difference between a swimlane diagram and the workflow diagram is that each person, group, department, etc. of a process has a clear cut lane.
Whichever way you orient the lanes, vertically or horizontally, the point is to see the entire process and the interactions between the various role players as they happen in a neat and easily consumable way.
Think of this as a way to diagram the flow of interactions between departments.
These are used when you have a cross-team project that requires a lot of interaction between various departments or employees. Also a great tool for pinpointing and fixing inefficiencies in the course of getting projects done.
Process flow diagrams, or process maps, come to us from the world of mechanical engineering. Industrial engineers Frank and Lillian Gilbreth wrote about the concept all the way back in 1921 in “Process Charts: First Steps in Finding the One Best Way to Do Work”.
As they put it, “the process chart is a device for visualizing a process as a means of improving it. Every detail of a process is more or less affected by every other detail; therefore the entire process must be presented in such form that it can be visualized all at once before any changes are made in any of its subdivisions”.
In other words, a PFD sequentially depicts the steps of a process, its sub-processes and how they relate to one another. Often used in engineering, you can use a process flowchart, as they're also known, for any application in any industry.
Related diagrams like mechanical flow diagrams, for example, are used by mechanical engineers to get into more granular details.
Process flow diagrams are useful in developing, standardizing and improving processes, illustrating a manufacturing process and also helpful in quality control.
EPCs, or event-driven process chains, are flow diagrams that are specifically meant for illustrating and modeling business processes and activities as a chain of events that influence each other.
This type of chart also has some of its own unique notation in addition to the standard flowchart symbols, notably the 'AND', 'OR' and 'XOR' operators along the connector lines:
This system flowchart is commonly used when revamping a business process, in resource planning as well as modeling and analyzing business operations.
SDL diagrams are for detailing the specific behavior of complex, real-time systems, breaking them down into blocks and processes.
These diagrams lay out the specifications and states of behaviors throughout a system, helping model and document how it reacts to events and interacts with its environment.
Useful for:
These are most often used in industries like telecoms, aviation and medicine to describe state machines.
Unified modeling language diagrams, or UMLs, are quite similar to SDLs and illustrate a system and how users interact with it, generally software, from a higher level.
The most common of these are activity diagrams and are used to illustrate the actions in a process.
UML diagrams are divided into two main categories:
UML diagrams are most useful in software development and engineering.
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Flow diagrams are used as process explainers, time-savers and clarity makers. If improving data flow, workflow or a process is the goal, flow process charts are your best bet.
Complex systems, flows and processes become clearer when they're visually displayed, step-by-step.
See, discuss and refine processes together through the shared language of flowchart diagrams.
Use flowchart software to map out options, pathways and outcomes to aid in informed decision-making and analysis.
Bottlenecks and inefficiencies jump out when visualized in a detailed flow diagram allowing for targeted process improvement.
Track and monitor the status of tasks within a process and the process as a whole, at a glance.
A process map structures workflows, streamlining processes and improving efficiency.
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A flow diagram visually maps a process, using shapes and arrows to show steps, decisions and flow. They clarify complex processes and aid communication.
Create a flow diagram by identifying your process steps, using standardized flowchart symbols and connecting them to visualize the sequential flow of activities or data.
The four most common flowchart symbols are: the start/end symbol (oval) that denotes process start and end points, process symbol (square), decision symbol (diamond) and the arrow.
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Creating flow diagrams used to be a tedious mess. With Slickplan’s drag-and-drop interface I can quickly build diagrams and collaborate with my team in real-time to perfect them, saving hours of frustration.
Steve T, Marketing Director at Awmous
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