Top tips on building an optimised workflow chart from scratch

Every business or institution is different, with significant diversity among staff, resources, values and goals. For this reason, a personalised workflow chart unique to your company can be a gamechanger.

Workflow charts or diagrams are visual organisers that show a workplace process, the key steps, how work is progressing, the decisions being made and the eventual outcome. Essentially, it creates a tangible, more relatable representation of the process from start to finish. 

There are templates you can follow, advising you on the areas that typically require the most focus. However, because every business comes with an individualised criteria to reach their desired goals, it can be massively beneficial to design your own workflow from scratch and implement it with your company and staff in mind. 

Model identification

Workflow charts are highly customisable and can be deployed in a number of areas. To ensure that you are clear on your requirements, you should first research the different types of diagrams and how suitable they are for your project. 

One popular model is the swimlane diagram. This chart models itself on the design of typical pool lanes to identify who is responsible for what in a linear fashion. By outlining the task at hand and placing it in the ‘swim lane’ of a particular department or team, you can easily notice connections and responsibilities, as well as the need for more or less resources in an area. 

Another popular model would be data flow diagrams which show how information moves between systems in order to identify problems, increase efficiency and brainstorm better ways of doing things. They can be simple in nature or highly detailed and complex, depending on your needs. 

There are many different kinds of charts for you to choose from, all designed to address a specific area, so do your due diligence and experiment to see what works for you and your team. 

Department identification

Once you have identified your preferred workflow chart designs, you can use charts that focus on the areas of the company that are most in need of optimisation. 

For example, if the warehouse aspect of your business could use some organisation, then a warehouse flowchart could come in handy. This diagram enables you to keep track of how goods are received and the processes they go through, right up to the shipping stage. This lets warehouse managers streamline daily activities and keep the operation running smoothly. 

Train employees to recognise the signs

Symbols are commonly used in flowchart design to denote an action to be taken or to make a clear connection. Though relatively simple and easy to remember, without knowledge of what the signs mean, the document will likely not make sense. 

Of course many common symbols will be somewhat self-explanatory, for example an arrow pointing to the right means line of flow and the image used to represent multiple documents is several squares stacked atop one another. 

However, many are less clear, such as the symbol for ‘display’ which can best be described as a pointed bullet leaning in the left direction, or the symbol for the word ‘or’, which is a circle that contains two lines (one horizontal, one vertical) running through it, defining four segments within the circle.

To ensure that everyone can effectively read, write and understand workflow charts, employers and managers should implement consistent training that takes into account any new or emerging language changes. 

Symbols may be unique to different departments and types of flowcharts, but teams and sectors evolve overtime, so it can be useful to implement a broad, cross-departmental understanding of signs. 

Be trendy

As with virtually every sector, digitalisation has had and will continue to have an effect on the industries that utilise workflow charts. As technology advances, workflow trends are evolving and the companies that use them will have to keep abreast of the shifting trends. 

Take for example cloud-computing: Cloud-based platforms allow users to edit in real time and share workflow charts on an international scale, allowing teams situated all over the world to work together regardless of geography. 

Similarly, businesses’ increased use of automation in workflow chart creation can provide a complex and well-rounded overview of how a company operates. 

Ultimately, there are a medley of benefits to optimising and customising your own company workflow chart. Be it cost effectiveness, improved efficiency, a higher degree of internal and external communication or a clearer, better-defined approach to shared goals, having a workflow chart has the potential to benefit everyone within a business’ ecosystem. 

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