Process Flow Chart Guidelines

Make decisions at the diamond symbol.

Process flow chart guidelines. There should not be any room for ambiguity in understanding the. Not everyone agrees with this categorization but the core principals of drawing a flowchart remain the same. General guidelines for preparing flowcharts. The standard for flow lines.

Top of page open initiation flow chart as a pdf file. Just enter your process data to the excel flowchart template then export to automatically create the shapes and connectors that visually tell the story. The flowchart should be clear neat and easy to follow. Project management process guidelines flowchart.

Start at the oval at the top and perform the actions noted in each box symbol. Open all flow charts in a single pdf file. For a document or report use a rectangle with a curved base. Another use would be to document a process for regulatory compliance or to ensure quality control such as an iso 9000 or iso 9001 quality management system.

The following are some guidelines in flow charting. Perform each action until you reach an oval that is marked stop. To avoid these problems people who prepare flowcharts can use the guidelines that follow. A flowchart is a picture of the separate steps of a process in sequential order.

Continue from top to bottom and from left to right using the connecting line. While only one flow line should enter a decision symbol around three flow lines depending on the answer should leave the decision symbol. Use these flowchart diagrams as a visual aid to help understand the project management methodology. You need to consider few things when drawing a flowchart check out 6 useful tips on drawing flowcharts before you start.

When these guidelines are used flowcharts are more readable more clear and concise and more understandable. It is a generic tool that can be adapted for a wide variety of purposes and can be used to describe various processes such as a manufacturing process an administrative or service process or a project plan. The diagrams show parallel and interdependent processes as well as project lifecycle relationships. Ideally just one flow line should come out from a process symbol.

A process flow chart template uses symbols and diagrams to depict complex processes from start to finish. Document flowchart system flowchart data flowchart and program flowchart. Additionally only one flow line is utilized together with a terminal symbol. Apply a rectangle with the upper edge sloping upwards to indicate a manual input and a trapezoid with the longer edge at the top to indicate a manual operation.

If you re introducing a new process at your workplace or documenting an existing one a process map template can help. Flowcharts would be difficult to read and understand if they were always drawn differently and were inconsistent. You can also represent manual processes in your flowcharts. Flowchart rules are simple.

There are four main types of flowcharts. The usual direction of the. General guidelines for preparing flowcharts.