All About Flow Diagrams
A flow diagram, also called a flowchart, is a schematic representation of a certain event, algorithm or process. Used mainly in presentations and business as well, flow diagrams are one of the seven main tools often used for quality control. These flowcharts aid the audience by letting them have a visual idea of the general content of the subject. Also, a good flow diagram also helps one see a problem or flaw with a certain process. Every flowchart has to necessarily have a start and end point. A flow diagram's flow of control usually starts at the top of the diagram and ends in the bottom, with many other elements thrown in. The following are the symbols most commonly used in a flow diagram:
Start and End These two symbols are the most vital entities for any flow chart. They can be shown be oval-shaped, rectangular with rounded edges or as oblong lozenge-like shapes as well. These symbols will have the word Start or End written in that particular process, thereby indicating the movement of the process. Arrows The arrows are the symbols indicating the flow of control. Though it is downward, it can also point elsewhere if there is a choice available in the decision-making process. Process Boxes Each of the processing boxes in a flow diagram is shown as a rectangle. There can be as many boxes as there are processing stages. All process boxes are numbered, so as to give a clear idea about the number of processes in the flow diagram. Input and Output The Input and Output boxes in flow diagrams are represented by parallelograms. The relationship between the input and the output in any process can be clearly shown with the use of these boxes. Decision Diamond The Decision Diamond in flow diagrams helps you choose a decision when required. The options available here are true or yes and false or no. Based on the consequence each one tends to give rise to, you can make your decision on the process. As the name suggests, the Decision Diamond is represented by the diamond shape or the rhombus. Other symbols There are many other symbols used in flow diagrams for indicating a data file, document, manual operation, manual input and so on. There are also other symbols flow diagrams commonly use, such as connectors, an arrow pointing towards another arrow, loop symbols, off-page connectors (connectors pointing to the next page) and so on. Only, it has to be ensured that all the processes flow from above to below and from left to right. If there are too many processes involved in just one business, the flow diagram is split up into anes, each lane describing the connection with the business as a whole. This type of flow diagram is referred to as cross-functional. Creating a flow diagram on the computer is highly simplified with the use of vector-based drawing programs such as MS Word, Concept Draw, SmartDraw, Open Office.org Draw and so on. You can also manually draw flow charts, but it might end up taking a lot of time. Besides, ready-to-use software creates accurate flow diagrams in the blink of an eyelid! Using such flow diagram software will give you the best of both worlds speed and accuracy-wise! |
