business plan flow chart template

The 8 Best Free Flowchart Templates [+ Examples]

Published: July 17, 2024

Once upon a time at university, I used flowcharts to map out my research processes so they could be clearly understood and repeated during peer review. Lately, I’ve been using flowcharts to organize an instructional book on floral design. Today, I’ll be exploring flowcharts as they pertain to the business sector.

Flowchart templates help people easily map out business processes, improve workflows, and even clarify organizational structures. Any industry can make smart use of flowcharts for business, and templates make that work go even faster.

Bulleted lists, Word documents, or even presentations can help convey a process, but they don’t offer the same level of visual clarity and readability that a flowchart does. This is especially true if you’re trying to map out different steps or stages.

So let’s answer the main questions first: what is a flowchart, and what can you use it for?

Table of Contents

What Is a Flowchart?

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A flowchart is a visual map to help explain a process for decision-making, achieving results, or projecting an outcome. Flowcharts begin at a starting point on the graphic, and as users follow through it, they will choose one of several outcomes or options until reaching the end of the process.

Flowcharts are ideal for outlining processes, which are the backbone of a strong business. A clear, repeatable process has two major hurdles to successful implementation in any business: first, the development of that process, and second, getting buy-in from stakeholders on that process. (Good luck, right?)

The best way to overcome both of these potential roadblocks is to transparently and logically outline a process.

Many businesses use flowcharts to manage this, as flowcharts visually outline a process roadmap for a full-scope understanding. They can also be easily digested by employees who need to know and follow the process.

In a business, flowcharts can be used for any of the following purposes:

• Team and organizational alignment . An organizational structure diagram clarifies who reports to whom in your team.
• Data management . A data flow diagram will help you understand how information progresses through your business up until deletion.
• Sales process mapping . Creating a sales process flowchart can help you shorten the sales cycle and increase revenue.
• Email nurturing. Email campaigns are famously dependent on workflows , which are a type of flowchart that decides who to enroll in a campaign and when.
• Customer journey mapping . A customer journey flowchart shows how customers find you and what their experience is like at your business.
• Customer or employee onboarding. A customer onboarding process flow can help you define what messaging to send and when during your customer’s first interactions with your business.
• A/B testing . When designing an A/B test , you’ll typically use a flowchart to figure out how many versions you’ll test and the potential results you’ll get.

You can also use flowcharts for QA work, mapping out your career progression, and much, much more.

To help you create actionable flowcharts for your organization, I’ve listed the best flowchart templates for you to download and start using today. These can help you to create a smoother process in any area of your business. Each one comes with a download link for you to start using that template right on Google Slides.

1. Basic Process Flowchart Template

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57 Free Flowchart Templates for Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Google Docs

By Owen McGab Enaohwo | October 26, 2017

By Owen McGab Enaohwo | May 3, 2024

Last Updated on July 23, 2024 by Owen McGab Enaohwo

Featured Bonus Content: Download 57 Flow Chart Templates for FREE! Click Here To Download It.

To improve efficiency in your organization, all team members and employees must be on the same page regarding your company’s procedures and processes.

That way, everyone will know exactly what they need to do at all times, and who they need to collaborate with on the team to complete a specific task.

While there are many systems available for working collaboratively and efficiently in a team, flowcharts have been exceptional when it comes to establishing efficiency in many organizations.

Flowcharts visualize the steps that your employees must take to complete a process or procedure in your organization. Businesses have been using flowcharts for years, and they’re still relevant to date.

In this detailed guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about flowcharts. Also, you’ll find access to 57 free flowchart templates for Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Google Docs that you can download, tweak and use for your own business.

Table of Contents: 

Chapter One: What Are Flowcharts?

Chapter Two: Types of Flowcharts

Chapter Three: Uses and Advantages of Flowchart Templates

Chapter Four: Flowchart Templates for Word

Chapter Five: PowerPoint Flowchart Templates

Chapter Six: Flowchart Templates for Excel

Chapter Seven: Flowchart Templates for Google Docs

Chapter Eight: Flowchart Templates Frequently Asked Questions

Chapter Nine: Create and Manage Your Flowchart Templates with SweetProcess

Chapter One: What Are Flowcharts?

Flowcharts are graphical representations of how tasks, processes, or systems should flow. With them, you can document, plan, refine and visualize all the available steps in a workflow. 

The best part is that flowcharts capture everything in a single chart, which allows you to easily spot overlapping tasks, assign tasks efficiently, or break down complex tasks.

Now let’s dive into more in-depth information about what flowcharts are, why you should use them, and who benefits most from them in an organization.

What is a Flowchart? 

A flowchart is simply a graphic representation of a procedure. They are frequently used to document, analyze, plan, enhance, and convey complex processes in clear, simple diagrams.

Let’s say you’re a copywriting agency that helps business owners design landing pages with high conversion rates. Some of the procedures you’ll follow include:

• Understanding the company’s use cases and features
• Interviewing their current customers
• Transcribing the interview
• Highlighting the common pain points mentioned by the customers
• Writing the first draft of the copy
• Sending it over to the client for inputs and corrections
• Adding screenshots, annotations, and videos to the copy
• Sending the final copy to the client for approval
• Designing the landing page 
• Publishing it

As you can see, this is a procedure that you follow in your agency to deliver your services to clients. By using a flowchart, you’ll turn these steps into a graphical representation that anyone can look at and understand almost immediately.

Flowcharts can range from simple hand-drawn diagrams to detailed computer-drawn graphics illustrating several processes and paths. 

They are one of the most widely used diagrams in the world. They have been adopted by technical and non-technical professionals in different industries.

Now that you have a better understanding of what flowcharts are, let’s talk about why you should use them in your organization.

Why Use Flowcharts?

Flowcharts illustrate the steps that are required to complete a specific task. Simply put, if you want your team to identify the overall structure of a system, understand how to navigate a particular task, or study a process for improvement, creating a flowchart is the best way to achieve it.

Here are some other reasons why using a flowchart makes sense for your business:

• It helps you highlight the issues that might affect the effective management of a workflow . 

For instance, if you want to find out where you should focus to increase the efficiency, quality, or performance of a job schedule or system, you should use a flowchart to display vast amounts of actual information in a single screen. The flowchart makes it possible to manage everything from one view. 

• It allows you to assign distinct color schemes to various activities and procedures to make them easier to understand.
• It helps you with concept mapping. If you have an idea that you want to communicate to the rest of your team, the most efficient way is to chart out a flow that displays how individual parts relate to achieving synergy. Doing this gives room for knowledge organization and brainstorming. 
• It simplifies fault troubleshooting, process documentation, continuous process improvement , and makes it easy for you to create training materials and workflow guides for your team.

Let’s move on to who benefits most from the use of flowcharts.

Who Benefits From Flowcharts?

Here is the fact:

Anyone from any industry can benefit from the use of flowcharts. These include:

• Manufacturing
• Construction
• Agriculture
• Transportation
• Food industry
• Telecommunications
• Real estate
• Engineering
• And so many more

By using a flowchart in your organization, you’ll provide your company’s stakeholders from all levels with information that helps them grasp the process better, and determine which steps are superfluous and where progress needs to be improved.

It can also allow you to communicate in a flash by clarifying your work progress in a simple, visual way to help your team members understand what they should do next in a step-by-step manner.

It’s important to note that there are different types of flowcharts, which are suited for specific purposes. 

Chapter Two: Types of Flowchart

• High-Level Flowchart

As the name implies, this flowchart provides a high-level picture of a specific process by outlining six to ten major steps. It shows the primary blocks of action or major system components of a process. It is particularly valuable in the early stages of a project since they aid in the identification of improvement priorities.

• Detailed Flowchart

The detailed flowchart delves deeper into the entire work process and lays down all the phases and procedures. By definition, it is a flowchart that thoroughly highlights a process by depicting individual stages in detail. Usually, these stages are in dozens or more. It simplifies the identification of complex, superfluous steps, and other issues in the process and can be used when standardizing or changing the process.

• Deployment Flowchart

The deployment flowchart shows the department and sometimes the person on the team who is in charge of each process or procedure. Flowcharts for deployment show the steps in a process as well as who or what group is involved in each step. 

For instance, if you want to build a deployment flowchart as shown above, you need to identify the groups responsible for each task at the top, i.e., production, administration, and marketing, as shown. 

This deployment flowchart combines two important characteristics which are the order in which a process’s steps are performed and the person responsible for each step. Its advantage is that it shows how work is passed from one person or group to another, and reveals possible misunderstandings and errors that often occur along the line.

Chapter Three: Uses and Advantages of Flowchart Templates 

Flowchart templates are great time savers and resource managers. Instead of having a team of designers studying and simplifying work processes across different sections, you can assign a staff to go from one department to another so they can understand the work processes better and use flowchart templates to create templates easier and faster.

Also, flowchart templates help new team members gain a better understanding of the work process so that they gradually increase team productivity.

Here are different use cases and advantages of using a flowchart template. 

Uses of Flowchart Templates

• Flowchart templates are used to create sales processes and track the progress of potential opportunities. This assists you in leveraging data to identify growth opportunities. 
• They help your team make decisions about pricing bundles or customer quotes. This is because it highlights the different tasks and shows you where to invest more resources. It also improves consistency in policy documentation and communications. 
• They are used to display and visualize items such as raw materials, chemicals, or other inputs before they go into the making of a product.
• They highlight the entire production process in detail so that you can demonstrate dependencies and figure out bottlenecks.
• They are used to create procedures for quality assurance and consistent evaluation in manufacturing.
• They are used to reduce bottlenecks when programmers align how users interact with a page or an application.
• In programming and web development, they are used to ensure consistency when describing the structure and organization of the code to your team. This leads to uniformity in the visual representation of algorithms.

Advantages of Flowchart Templates

• Flowchart templates help you save time and money. When communicating a complex task, the templates help you represent those complex entities in a very simple logic that is easier to understand, thereby saving you and your team scarce resources. 
• During analysis, flowchart templates allow for effectiveness as they simplify the problem and make solutions more comprehensible.
• They make it easier for you to debug programmatic systems and efficiently test projects. They also help in efficient task assigning as it becomes easier to connect individual skills to peculiar tasks.
• They provide consistency and uniformity in the creation of task pathways and help to reduce errors in task documentation.
• Flowchart templates increase the flexibility and efficiency of program maintenance. They ensure that operating programs have a seamless workflow.

Disadvantages of Flowchart Templates

• Flowchart templates are difficult to alter or modify, especially in large organizations. Whenever you make any changes to a flowchart template, your procedures and processes will be affected as well. In a large organization, this might result in drastic changes to your existing procedures and processes that might take months to figure out.
• If you have a complex organizational structure, your flowchart template will most likely look clumsy. This will make it difficult for your team members and management team to understand.
• Any error or oversight made from the process or procedure used to create the flowchart is costly. This will lead you to spend more time and resources to redraw or recreate the flowchart and its template from scratch.

Microsoft Word is one of the oldest and most popular tools for making a flowchart template. 

We’ve compiled 20+ free flowchart templates in Word below, which you can download, tweak, and use for your organization.

• Budgeting flowchart template

Click here to download this Flow Chart Template

The budgeting flowchart template allows the management team to define financial goals, track expenditures, and take corrective action to maximize profit potential. 

With this flowchart template, targets are defined, previous expenditures are evaluated, resources are estimated, and permissions are gained to confirm the final work output.

• Medical flowchart template

Medical flowchart templates aid in the diagnosis, investigation, and treatment of a variety of ailments in a healthcare organization. This could involve the flow of the branches of medicine, and pointers to clinical practice case studies. The flowchart shows different ailments and provides pointers and structures for treating them.

This could be used in andrology, cardiology, complementary and alternative medicine, dermatology, medications for drugs and alcohol, etc.

• Change management process map template

This change management flowchart template is a visual aid that shows you how the change management and control process is implemented across the organization. 

It entails the changes that have been made, the controls that have been implemented, and the framework that has been used to manage these changes.

• Marketing flowchart template

This marketing flowchart template is a written and graphical depiction of all the stages required to perform a set of marketing duties. From the definition of marketing goals, research and analysis, budgeting and implementation, and more, it covers all the steps to achieving great outcomes from your marketing activities. 

• Social media flowchart template

The social media flowchart template is a diagram flow that depicts the detailed steps to use when managing a social media page for your organization. With this template, users will find better ways and directions to interact with new social media platforms that may seem difficult for them. 

• Project flowchart template

The project process flowchart template is useful for visualizing the processes that must be followed during the project management process . It guides you through the stage of project creation, team selection, and task assignment.

This template provides an effective walk-through to building projects from beginning to end.

• Customer service flowchart template

The customer service flowchart template is a graphic representation of a company’s customer service procedure which includes the customer request, the initial response sent to the customer, how the issue is channeled to the appropriate department for resolution, and so on.

This template visualizes each step, hence aiding teamwork and improving the overall customer experience.

• Work flowchart template

This work flowchart template highlights the business process from beginning to end in a step-by-step, linear manner. It shows the flow of individual tasks, behaviors, or resources between individuals or groups. 

For example, when a customer calls the support unit of an organization, it explains how the support personnel can give details of the available services, and walk the customer through the process until the problem gets solved.

• Operations flowchart template

The operations flowchart template visually shows the steps in a process and the specific order it follows. For instance, in quality improvement, this flowchart guides you to identify how to create a scale that serves as a standard, and how to measure the created outcome by the scale to achieve optimal results, and reveal areas of improvement priorities.

• Patient flowchart template

The patient flowchart template captures the movement of patients through a healthcare facility. It highlights the medical care, physical resources, and internal mechanisms required to move patients from admission to discharge while ensuring quality and patient/provider satisfaction.

• Yes/No flowchart template

The yes/no flowchart template shows how different types of categories for an issue are acknowledged. This is useful when you want to present the findings of a survey. 

Sometimes called the two-fold or butterfly chart, this flowchart highlights the percentage values of the two sectors or the decision-making process.

• App flowchart template

The application flowchart template is used to create and document simple applications processes and programs. They visualize the process of planning, designing, creating, and marketing an application. 

It allows you to visualize how the app development process works, as well as identify the less-obvious elements such as defects and bottlenecks.

• Electronic design flowchart template

The electronic design flowchart template is used for electronic design flows, process activities, and user representations. Designers use these flexible shapes to depict, design interactions, and present stakeholders with easy-to-understand electronic design maps. It also includes features like lines to connect labeled, standardized symbols to represent what users can do in interactive environments.

• Sports flowchart template

This sports flowcharts template reveals how internal sports management is done. 

It shows how coaches, technical leads, and team members’ responsibilities are outlined and how processes get shared or transferred between different teams and departments. It breaks down games into recreational and professional purposes and ensures that the team gets the necessary permission to achieve its tasks.

• Email marketing flowchart template

The email marketing flowchart templates are email sequences that are triggered and delivered automatically. They highlight how you will collect email subscribers, the process of sending them emails, and the next point of action depending on how they interacted with the initial email. 

They also show the flow of sending relevant, scheduled, and triggered emails to subscribers or prospects by using the software.

• Company flowchart template

The company flowchart template is a graphical depiction of how a business interacts with its customers, vendors, and employees. It’s used to have a top-down understanding of how a process of interacting with customers works. It also highlights the steps that your team follows to interact with the different products, invoicing processes, and events affecting results. 

• Production flowchart template

This production flowchart template shows how to plan and make your product in stages, the equipment and tools you’ll need, and quality control checks to put in place. It helps you initiate purchasing orders, receive and confirm the order, then select the product line to dispense, and how to start bulk production. 

• Decision tree flowchart template

The decision tree flowchart template is an easy tool for fast decision-making. It has internal nodes that represent a certain feature test (e.g., whether a coin flip will come up heads or tails), each leaf node represents a class label (decision made after computing all features), and branches represent feature combinations that lead to those class labels.

• Sample audit flowchart template

This audit flowchart template is used to show each step an auditor must take when analyzing a company’s finances. The findings of an auditor may have financial and legal implications for a corporation. It presents when audit schedules are created, the specific process calls, file audit report, correction action, etc. If you’re an auditor, this helps you to be thorough and precise in your work process.

• Finance work flowchart template

The finance workflow template chart assists independent financial experts, risk analysts, and firms in streamlining the entire time-consuming and repetitive financial operations such as travel and purchase requests. This will then allow the personnel or team to work more productively and efficiently.

• Project management flowchart template

The project management flowchart template is best used for creating, selecting, planning, and managing projects. From idea proposition, requesting a review, creating and approving business cases, and delivering projects, it covers the entire stage. 

It also highlights the internal operations, steps in a process, and predictable outcomes of managing a project lifecycle. 

• Research project flowchart template

This research project flowchart template highlights the movements and actions within a complex system. It includes how to generate research ideas, writing out the background research and planning process, then the project draft. These qualitative research flowcharts serve as a road map to help you move from the start of an investigation to a conclusion.

• Internship flowchart template

The HR internship management system flowchart template allows you to manage the process of a candidate’s internship and industrial training in your organization. It shows how interns are to address employees’ queries, and how the employee reviews and distributes company policies to them. It also involves administration and report preparation.

• Architecture flowchart template

This architecture flowchart template abstracts the overall structure of a software architectural planning system. It includes the interactions, constraints, and boundaries between its components. It shows how the initial project discussion is, how the information gathering and documentation goes, and the schematic design, etc. 

It’s a useful tool since it gives you a bird’s-eye view of the software system’s physical deployment as well as a timeline for its progress.

Chapter Five: Powerpoint Flowchart Templates 

Powerpoint is an intuitive flowchart maker that companies have been using for years. 

We’ve compiled 13 free PowerPoint flowchart templates below which you can download, tweak, and use for your organization.

• Organizational structure flowchart template

This organizational structure flowchart template highlights a company’s structure. It shows the various positions, departments, and tasks that link different employees and the management team. It serves as a work relationship pointer to ensure that there is an effective work relationship in an organization.

• Circular flowchart template

The circular flowchart template model or diagram lets you visualize the flows of products and money between two distinct segments of the economy. It shows where enterprises sell certain goods and services, then reveals what they have produced in exchange for revenue from households.

• Data flow diagram template

This data flowchart template is typically a programming paradigm that divides computational actors into stages or pipelines that can run at the same time. It allows you to stream processing and analyze the reactive programming nodes that are present in a data flow. 

• Cylindrical flowchart template

This cylindrical shaped 3D flowchart template reflects data that has been saved. It shows how information can be saved on a hard drive, magnetic tape, memory card, or any other type of storage device. It also shows how databases are kept intact, and how a data file is represented by a cylinder.

• Behavior flowchart template

This behavior flowchart template shows how human behaviors impact numerous factors happening around them. It establishes procedures for discouraging inappropriate behavior and decides which behaviors are managed in a particular setting. In schools, these flowcharts support teachers in designing classroom management systems and consistently approach classroom-managed behaviors. 

It also helps them to explicitly re-teach the expectation of behavioral patterns, communicate with families, and provide options for replacement behavior.

• Communication flowchart template

The communication flowchart template shows how a process, system, or computer algorithm works. It involves the communication flowchart as the backbone of any corporation. It shows how important it is to ensure that workflows are feasible and easy for users to comprehend.

• HACCP flowchart template

The HACCP flowchart template depicts a food operation’s process flow from raw ingredients to finished products. It is usually used by a team called HACCP Team or the Food Safety Team. This flowchart details the process of sourcing and collecting food raw materials, cleaning and processing them, and making them into finished products.

• Manufacturing flowchart template

The manufacturing process flowchart template shows the individual steps of manufacturing a product from start to finish. It involves the logical order of describing and selecting several processes for manufacturing, then adding the other technical, tactical and strategic administration to the service delivery process and project plans.

The project management flowchart template helps you to detail the actions and roles responsible for executing them. The inputs and outputs for each step are all included in managing and ensuring quality in a given project. In addition, it keeps track of any document or other materials needed to carry out the actions.

This flowchart provides clarity and transparency by avoiding superfluous and technical jargon that may confuse stakeholders and team members from understanding the project concept.

• Sales process flowchart template

The sales process flowchart template outlines the processes that each salesperson should take to convert a prospect into a customer. It details how each employee should address customers from their respective stations, showing them who they can refer customers to, and understand the stages of the buyer’s journey.

• Supply chain flowchart template

The supply chain flowchart template is a comprehensive and action-specific template that allows you to ensure effective end-to-end product delivery. It is used by most firms to manage their supply chain procedures so they can improve the way their goods move from the raw material stage to the finishing and storing stage.

• Vertical swimlane flowchart template

In this vertical swimlane process flowchart template, users can delineate task sharing and responsibilities for sub-processes within a business process. 

Though the swimlanes flowchart can be positioned horizontally too, the swimlane map shows the process, decisions, and loops that divide events and activities into “lanes” to identify the individual or group responsible for each subprocess. 

• Service flowchart template

The service flowchart template makes service delivery seamless. It’s specific to coffee making and shows how a coffee maker could involve the coffee grinder, pot, and mug in brewing coffee for a customer. 

It aids you in examining the connections between what your clients anticipate, the service provided by skilled people, and how well the service matched those expectations. It also helps in identifying service gaps or areas that require improvement.

Chapter Six: Flowchart Templates For Excel

Microsoft Excel is an underrated tool for making flowchart templates.

We’ve compiled 12 free flowchart templates for Excel below, which you can download, tweak, and use for your organization.

• Process flowchart template

The process flowchart template shows the sequential steps of a process as well as the decisions that must be made for the process to function. It highlights every step as represented by a form and indicates the movement and direction of the process. Lines and arrows connect these forms.

• Organizational flowchart template

The organizational flowchart template is a valuable tool for firms to display their organizational structure. It helps you to present all your teams by levels, then shows how they can work together. It details how the captains of your organization steer the navigations officers and other crew members.

• Decision flowchart template

The decision flowchart template provides an easy way to make decisions. It helps to limit the numerous available options that you may have, identify and separate what’s good and bad, then help you listen to your gut to make fast decisions.

It is a planning tool that analyzes what might go wrong in a plan under development in a systematic manner, and how the countermeasures are being developed to prevent or mitigate wrong decision-making.

• Website flowchart template

The website flowchart template allows you to structure the complexity of any existing or planned website. From the UI/UX designer side to the front-end software development, and the backend developers working on the website functionalities, with this flowchart template you’ll be able to strategize the product, UX, and content teams so they can comprehend everything on a website and plan how to add or rearrange material to optimize the user experience.

• Purchase process flowchart template

The purchase process flowchart template is also known as the procurement process flowchart. It is a skeletal architecture that illustrates how purchase and procurement take place or are managed within an organization.

• Process map diagram chart template

The process mapping flowchart template illustrates the flow of a process. It starts by examining the macro level of the process and working down to the degree of detail required to discover chances for improvement. 

This template helps to focus less on job titles or hierarchy, but on the process of effectively delivering on tasks.

• Document management work flowchart template

The document management flowchart template is used for capturing, generating, tracking, editing, approving, storing, retrieving, retaining, and destroying documents related to business processes. This template uses digital document processing to allow businesses to reduce the amount of paperwork they have on hand, which can slow down day-to-day operations.

• E-commerce flowchart template

The e-commerce flowchart template process outlines several aspects of a standard e-commerce website. It covers check out and payment, abandoned cart, and delivery. It allows you to track certain circumstances that could occur. 

• Healthcare work flowchart template

The healthcare work flowchart template helps you to create an ordered and repeatable pattern for your healthcare’s agency business activity. It also helps you create a methodical arrangement of resources into processes that change materials, deliver services, or process data. 

• Construction flowchart template

The construction flowchart templates highlight how construction is managed from the idea and approval stage, to the construction preparation, land survey, analysis, excavation, and base check.  

At the basic level, it depicts the interaction between building phases, the ones that are dependent on the completion of others until the sequence reaches completion. It can be used as a subcontractor management reminder.

• Software development flowchart template

The software development flowchart template highlights how to build a software product or platform from the concept, inception, construction, iterations, to the production and retirement level.

It has a representation of a procedure and system that is frequently utilized in a variety of fields to document, analyze, plan, enhance, and convey often complex processes in clear, simple entities.

• Finance flowchart template

The finance flowchart template helps you in the planning and analysis of processes that includes developing a strong financial plan, forecasting, budgeting, and analytical reports. It allows an organization to maintain and enhance its financial situation. 

Chapter Seven: Flowchart Templates Google Docs

Google Docs isn’t just for collaborating with your team members alone. It is an effective tool for making a flowchart template. 

Below are eight free flowchart templates in Google Docs, which you can download, tweak, and use for your organization.

• Blank flowchart template

This blank flowchart template provides you with ready-made shapes and connectors that you can always use to create any flowchart of your choice. It’s simple to use and tweak for your specific use cases. 

• Business flowchart template

This business flowchart template defines all the stages and phases in the business process development. It includes ideation, planning, analysis, budgeting, etc. 

• Hiring process flowchart template

The hiring process flowchart template shows the steps in the recruitment process. It itemizes the creation of the recruitment requirements, setting the criteria for employment, job advertising, interview process, and sending the job offer. 

• Mobile app process flowchart template

The mobile app flowchart template contains the basic operations that the mobile app user will encounter while browsing through an app. The developer uses this to show how the app will operate and what the app’s major features will be.

• Quality control flowchart template

A quality control flowchart template is a useful tool for determining the cost of quality (COQ) by examining the frequency of events within a decision loop, as well as the input and output branches involved. 

This tool improves processes that are selected for the project during the quality planning phase. And when issues develop, the quality control flowchart helps to determine how far the team has deviated from the specifications and assists in error correction.

• Creative agency flow chart template

The creative agency flowchart template shows the steps taken by a creative agency or department to complete a business transaction. It wrangles the creative process and enables the construction of regular checklists, making an otherwise chaotic process easier to follow and stay on track.

• Basic flowchart template

The basic flowchart template uses diagrams consisting of rectangles, ovals, diamonds, etc. to indicate the specific step required to achieve a particular task. It also includes arrows that are used to indicate flow and sequence.

• Payroll swimlane flowchart template

The payroll swimlane flowchart template highlights the process of paying a company’s employees’ salaries. It is the procedure of calculating what is owed to employees for a given payroll cycle after deducting mandatory payments such as TDS, employee PF contributions, loans, meal coupons, and so on.

Now that we have the 57 flowchart templates, let’s proceed to the frequently asked questions about flowcharts.

Chapter Eight: Flowchart Templates Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

In this chapter, you’ll find answers to the FAQs about flowcharts and flowchart templates.

How Do You Make a Flowchart?

A good flowchart should clearly illustrate the process and express it in a way that anybody can comprehend. The first step to make a flowchart is to put down all the ideas and steps in your head into paper. Once that is done, then you can use different tools like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Excel, and so on to bring the ideas to life.

That said, here are some general steps that you should typically follow when making a flowchart.

• Determine the specific goal that the flowchart serves.
• Add the steps in the procedure or process, and use arrows to connect them.
• Split them into different pathways and add the decision trees where necessary.
• Return to the previous steps to see if there are any errors or missing points.

What is the Best Tool to Make a Flowchart?

Aside from using Microsoft tools like Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, there are several tools to make a flowchart. These include:

• SweetProcess

SweetProcess is an intuitive software for documenting your company’s standard operating procedures and work instructions easily and in one place.

Using SweetProcess, you can create a flowchart for the specific procedures that your team uses in your day-to-day activities. That way, you can become more efficient and achieve better results for your clients and customers.

For example, if you’re an email marketing agency that helps clients schedule email sequences, you can create a procedure outlining the steps that you follow to do this using SweetProcess.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to do this on SweetProcess:

Step 1: Click on “Create Procedure” from your SweetProcess dashboard.

Step 2: Name the procedure and click on the “Continue” button.

Step 3: You’ll be redirected to a new window where you can add new steps and decisions to your procedure. Click on “Step” to add a new step.

Step 4: In the new tab that pops up, you can name the step, and add some information describing what it’s about. Once done, click on “Finished Editing.” You can add as many steps as you want in the procedure here.

Step 5: If you’re creating a flowchart that requires you to add a decision tree, you can do that as well using SweetProcess. Simply click on the “Decision” button to do that.

Step 6: Once you click on the Decision button, you can choose an answer that will trigger a specific decision, and the step you’ll be redirected to if that decision is chosen. You can add as many decisions as you want here as well.

Step 7: After adding the steps and decisions, you’ll have a step list that looks like this:

Step 8: Once you’re adding steps and decisions to your procedure in SweetProcess, a flowchart is created automatically. Here’s what it looks like in the dashboard:

Step 9: If you want to visualize the steps’ list in a flowchart, simply click on the “Print” button.

Step 10: Once you do this, you’ll be able to download a flowchart for your procedure, which you can share with employees and team members. This is what it looks like.

As you can see, creating a flowchart for your procedure in SweetProcess is easy and straightforward.

Gliffy has a simple drag-and-drop system with hundreds of templates to choose from. It supports Windows and Mac and is used mostly by beginners because it’s seamless and easy to use and understand.

SmartDraw is a top-value choice for flowchart software, with over 4,500 templates and CAD-like features. The tool has tons of ready-made templates that you can choose from. It also runs in a web browser or behind a firewall, and it has top-of-the-line functionality.

Lucidchart is a simple-to-navigate online flowchart software designed for users of any operating system. It also allows for easy remote team collaboration and integrates seamlessly with nearly all popular platforms.

It is compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, and has various options for integration.

Cacoo is a leading flowchart software that makes team collaboration simple, whether in real time or asynchronously. Team members can interact anytime and from anywhere using the web platform, which includes team comments, tracked changes, in-app chat, and diagram sharing. 

This flowchart creation app connects easily with a wide variety of platforms and cloud services. It integrates with the most popular platforms and cloud services and is a good tool for software engineers.

EdrawMax is a complex flowchart software with templates and functionality options for producing mind maps, floor plans, engineering diagrams, and more. It is compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and the web, and has over 280 different types of diagrams.

It has a wide range of functions and applications available and provides a significant learning curve for advanced users. Its integration is also limited.

How Do You Create a Flowchart in Word?

Microsoft Word is one of the tools you can use to create a flowchart. The downside of using it is that it is difficult to manage your flowchart templates with it and ensure that all your team members are on the same page.

If you want to make a flowchart in MS Word, here’s a video walkthrough that shows you how to do it.

How to Create a Flowchart in Google Docs?

Google Docs does not have any built-in flowchart templates. Unlike Google Sheets, you can’t create a flowchart on it. However, you can improvise by launching the Google Drawing window to enable you to create a flowchart. Here’s a video walkthrough of the entire process.

How to Make a Flowchart in Excel?

Flowcharts can help you visualize the links between different data points in your spreadsheets. That way, you’ll be able to understand them better. If you want to make a flowchart in Excel, here’s a video that shows you exactly how to do that.

How can a flowchart template be used in Presentations?

You cannot create a flowchart using PowerPoint. However, if you want to use a flowchart template in a PowerPoint presentation, you need to create the flowchart using MS Word, Excel, or Google Docs. 

Afterward, you can save the flowchart as an image either in JPEG or PNG formats. 

Once done, you can insert the flowchart image you’ve created previously in your PowerPoint presentations and use it.

How is a Flowchart Used?

Flowcharts are used in a variety of industries to analyze, create, document, and manage a process or procedure.

The flowchart usually shows the steps in a procedure arranged in different boxes with arrows linking the boxes in a logical order. 

To use flowcharts as a solution model for a particular problem, you should carefully follow the diagrammatic representation shape by shape, arrow by arrow, and text by text.

Here’s a video tutorial that shows you how to use one:

Chapter Nine: Create and Manage Your Flowchart Templates Using SweetProcess

SweetProcess helps you to create and manage your company’s processes as flowchart templates seamlessly.

If you have several procedures you follow to accomplish a specific goal, you can add them as a process on SweetProcess.

Here’s exactly how to do that:

Step 1: Hover your mouse to the top-right corner of your SweetProcess dashboard, and click on “Create Process”

Step 2: In the new window that opens up, you can start adding procedures to your process. Simply click on “Add Step.” Then click on the “Procedure” button.

Step 3: Create a new procedure or choose from previously created procedures to add to your process.

Step 4: As you add procedures to your process, the flowchart will be created automatically in the dashboard. Here’s what it looks like:

Step 5: Click on the “Print” button to download your flowchart as an image.

Step 6: Click on the “Approve” button to make the process go live on SweetProcess, and make it easy for all your team members to manage everything on the platform.

As you can see, creating and managing your company’s flowchart templates on SweetProcess is easy and seamless.

Many of our clients have used the SweetProcess flowchart creation tools to improve their business processes and scale their profits. 

Laura Johnson from Brooks Law Group explained how our tool helped their business.

“Employees were more dependent on me, even though it was on the server. They would have access to processes, but they would still lean more heavily toward me concerning questions and directives in some things,” she laments.

So when Laura was not available, employees would either be idle or make mistakes in trying to get things done. In the end, the organization suffered the consequences of its inaction or mistakes.

She realized that empowering her team with all the information they need to do their job right, by documenting repetitive tasks in one place, is exactly what she needs. That way, there are fewer emails and no more guesswork.

Some of the remarkable benefits of SweetProcess to her company include:

• Effective business process documentation

“I’ve not known us without processes. From my perspective, we have always had processes in place. SweetProcess, though, has made it easier to access the processes. It has made it more organized because we have multiple offices,” she said.

• Standardize operations across the business

“Switching to SweetProcess simplified our systems, made us more uniformed, and gave us easier access being a cloud place where we could go at any time. It’s structured and productive.”

Today, employees across the organization’s five offices work with the same procedures despite being in different locations. They access documents in the cloud from anywhere, at any time. The management plans better knowing that everyone is in sync with their agenda.

Another client, Jamie Ramsden, pointed out their biggest pain point at Turkstra Lumber . 

The team at Turkstra Lumber was effective at doing their jobs without documented processes, but they weren’t as coordinated as they should have been. They performed tasks in different ways, creating inconsistency across the organization. 

According to Jamie: “One of the things that prevent you from being correct and doing things better than you do now is when you don’t know what your processes are or if everybody isn’t on the same page.”

But when they realized that having everyone on the same page, working with the same processes and procedures, was imperative to achieve the great results they desired, they subscribed to SweetProcess.

Interestingly, Jamie wasn’t convinced about using SweetProcess at first because he thought the system was difficult to use. But he soon realized that SweetProcess was as easy as it gets. 

“Because I didn’t understand what the project was, I thought I needed something like a better version of Excel that would just be easier to use to record things. But recording processes with SweetProcess is the easy part.”

With SweetProcess, Turkstra Lumber’s initial experience with documenting business processes shows that documentation in itself isn’t a guarantee for efficiency. While the team did the right thing by documenting their processes, choosing to do so on Excel Sheets limited their results. 

The first thing that caught Jamie’s attention about SweetProcess was the ease of documentation. Rather than creating tons of texts, SweetProcess offers a more visual approach that gives users a clear picture of what they are doing. 

Here’s what he said about the flowchart feature on SweetProcess:

“The thing that caught my attention first was just something simple and visual, which is that SweetProcess automatically makes you a little flowchart as you enter your steps for any process. People understand things in different ways and a lot of our staff like that if they can get a visual representation immediately.”

SweetProcess saved these professionals, and it can save your business too.

You can get started with a 14-day free trial of SweetProcess to create and manage your company’s procedures and processes using a flowchart.

Flowchart templates help you visualize your work process from a single document. When this is done, all the stakeholders in your organization will easily understand the workflow, identify unnecessary steps to remove and the ones to improve.

Now that remote work is rapidly gaining popularity, using flowcharts is a great way to reduce meetings in teams. 

Instead of spending long hours with your team members to explain how your procedures and processes work, you can provide a simple, visual technique for team members to grasp what they should do next in a step-by-step manner.

Click here to download the flowchart templates relevant to your industry and business.

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Business Plan Flowchart Complete Guide

Edraw content team, do you want to make your business plan flowchart.

EdrawMax specializes in diagramming and visualizing. Learn from this article to know about what is the business plan flowchart and business plan flowchart example. Just try it free now!

Do you want an organized route for your business workflow? Keeping track of your business progress can become difficult if you cannot enlist your goals. Plus, you need something that reminds you about the resources and guides you to their usage. A business plan flow chart is the solution for you. It is a graphical representation of the workflow of a business process. This simple chart shows how each step in the process gets to the finish line and how it relates to others.

1. What Is A Business Plan

A business plan is a formal statement of business goals and objectives. It's a written document that describes the company's mission, strategies, and financial information. Moreover, It is also a road map for the future.

Furthermore, this comprehensive document that outlines the business's goals, objectives, and strategies is a passage for your future success as an entrepreneur. Business plan flow charts are essential for any business owner who wants to take their business to the next level.

Elements Of A Business Plan:

The business plan is not just the name of a hard piece of paper. On the contrary, it is a mixture of diverse statistical and theoretical elements, some of which are as follows:

The first element of a business plan is its purpose. When starting a new business, you'll want to define your goals and how you intend to achieve them.

The second element is the product or service that your business provides. You'll want to describe what it is you're offering, and why it's better than those alternatives. Furthermore, it is better to target customers and answer what problems or issues it solves for them.

• Financial Statistics:

The third element of the business plan flow chart is how much capital (money) you need to get started. You'll need enough funds to cover initial expenses, such as advertising costs and lease payments on office space or equipment.

• Task Timeline:

The fourth element is a timeline for when accomplishments must meet the end. Plus, it includes milestones that indicate finished objectives and money spent on them.

• Financial Analysis:

The fifth element is a financial analysis. It breaks down the costs of running the business by category. As a result, it helps you to determine whether or not there's enough money available for everything involved in running it at once.

2. 4 Different Business Plan Types

A business plan flow chart helps you understand what your company will look like and how much money it will need to get off the ground. However, not all of them are created equal. It may vary based on the company framework, data provided, and business objectives. In this article, you'll get a comprehensive overview of 4 different business plan flow chart templates that can help you understand the overall notion of a business plan.

2.1 Business Plan Process

The business plan process flow chart type is a simple diagram. However, it is an essential one indeed. The visualization includes a top-down process enlisting for business growth. It all starts from the goal, which maps the further procedures accordingly. The end focus product is the budget. The business plan flow chart highlights specific strategic and tactical objectives throughout the journey. Each is essential for business performance and judgment for better decision-making. The overall physical presentation may not be luxurious. However, it serves a much bigger purpose, making it far more critical. Considering all the above facts, we can say that this type is a comprehensive process guide for employees and investors to look into.

2.2 Market Analysis Business Plan

The Market Analysis Business Plan is a business plan that focuses on the industrial analysis of your company. It's essential to include information about the following:

• The market, including its size and growth rate
• Your competition (including their strengths and weaknesses)
• Your target audience (what do they want?)

Unlike the above example, this business plan flow chart type gives a much more detailed overview to the business owner and investor. It focuses on the target market, and the share business has in it. This type is essentially beneficial for most companies. Whether you have a small or huge business, it will analyze your market exposure accordingly.

2.3 Business Plan Timeline

The business plan timeline visually represents the order in which tasks should be completed. It helps you visualize your progress and decide what's most important for your project. It can be of yearly timeline progress or future task procedural approach. In general, every business plan flow chart based on a timeline has four different quadrants.

The first quadrant defines what the business is all about. As a result, it sets the stage for everything else in the plan. All the goals and subjects come under this category. The second quadrant helps you assess what your company wants to accomplish, focusing specifically on customer needs or wants at a specific time. Unlike the above example, this business plan flow chart type gives a much more detailed overview to the business owner and investor. It focuses on the target market, and the share business has in it. This type is essentially beneficial for most companies. Whether you have a small or huge business, it will analyze your market exposure accordingly.

2.4 Business Strategy Diagram

A business strategy diagram is a step-by-step flowchart. This business plan flow chart helps you simultaneously visualize the process of developing and implementing your company's overall mission, vision, and goals. Moreover, it can help you evaluate potential new growth strategies and improve current ones. A business strategy diagram includes a whole architecture that summarizes your organization's overall goal.

Simply put, it is a step-by-step roadmap targeting economic departments, strategies to work, and actions performed in a business. Furthermore, it classifies how grouped, and individual actions impact business growth. All in all, this type is an in-depth value analysis chart for every small and big firm that wants ideal business automation.

3. Tips To Create A Business Plan That Stands Out

The Business Plan Flow chart is a visual way of showing the procedural roadmap of a business. It helps your team see the big picture and visualize the order in which tasks need completion. It can help them understand how to sequence their work, so they don't miss anything.

An exemplary flowchart also helps you create a business plan that stands out from competitors. It is possible by providing more information than other companies do about their company goals, services offered, and market presence. To create an ideal business plan that has the potential to visualize a complex production framework, you must follow the given tips.

• The business plan flow chart should be simple, clear, and concise so readers can easily understand it.
• The business plan should include at least one example of how each element has been completed successfully or unsuccessfully in the past. It is necessary because it shows how other people have accomplished similar tasks previously and helps increase confidence that you can do it too!
• Be honest, and do not overestimate your capabilities. Be realistic about the time it takes to accomplish your goal and what resources you need.
• It s better if the business plan flow chart references previous projects as testimonials for future projects. It shows that you have experience with similar tasks, improving customer and investor confidence.
• Make sure that you clearly understand your target audience's demographics and how they will react to your product or service.

4. Conclusion

A business plan flow chart effectively organizes your business and keeps track of the tasks due for completion. It is also a great tool for communicating with investors, bankers, or partners. The above examples show how a simple flowchart can help you communicate ideally while maintaining order in your company's growth process. With EdrawMax , creating, designing, and sharing happens all in one place. You do not have to worry about losing your files, as all the exported files from EdrawMax are highly encrypted. All in all, EdrawMax is a solid tool -- you just sit with your design ideas and explore the tons of features that this business plan maker has to offer.

Flowchart Complete Guide

Check this complete guide to know everything about flowchart, like flowchart types, flowchart symbols, and how to make a flowchart.

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Go with the flow chart template

FigJam’s flow chart templates are the perfect tool for your next brainstorm session. Whether you’re fine-tuning a complex SOP or developing a brand-new process to improve your workflow, our sample flow chart will help your team streamline and realign.

Flow chart template

Invite your team to join you in your flow as you plot out timelines and processes together.

More than “if/then”

Map out every possibility—and what to do in every outcome—with a sample flow chart you can follow all the way down.

See it to believe it: Create visual clarity for you and your entire team to increase efficiency and understanding.

Flow freely, communicate quickly: When words fail, visuals prevail. This editable flow chart conveys essential information in an easily digestible format.

Take a top-down look: Properly document your processes and analyze them in their entirety with a big-picture overview.

(Flow) chart the course toward team success

The FigJam flow chart template takes policies and procedures to the next level. Your whole team can contribute to this shared whiteboard using cursor chats, poll responses, stamps, and doodles—because every crew member should have a voice (and a paddle).

The flow chart for flexible teams

When everyone contributes, you can arrive at your destination faster. Once there, flow right into your next task with more templates from our Community.

UML diagram

Map out complex system designs that flow in every direction.

Action plan

Determine concrete next steps that align with your goals.

Other templates from the community

Keep your flow going with other project and process management templates.

What is a flow chart?

A flow chart is a visual representation of the steps in a process, whether that’s the desired user trajectory through a website or a series of if/then statements that point to different outcomes. So, what is flow chart diagramming, then? That’s the process of brainstorming, determining, and finally, plotting each of these steps on a creative flow chart template.

How do you make a flow chart with FigJam?

Start by downloading FigJam’s template flow chart to use as your blank canvas. Next, agree on the purpose of your flow chart. Are you simplifying a currently complex process, seeking to understand it, or plotting out a new pathway?

With this answer in mind, you’ll use various shapes, arrows, and colors in the flow diagram to either map out your existing process or outline the most important steps of the new system, tweaking the entire trajectory as you work.

How does a flow chart work?

Flow chart examples allow teams to visualize, understand, and make necessary improvements to their business process. They provide concrete outlines of what is currently happening or what should happen in the future. Once completed, a process flow chart example can work as a step-by-step guide that your employees follow, an illustration of website pathways to hand off to a developer, and so much more.

What makes a good flow chart? An example of flow chart success would be the simplification of a confusing process or improved understanding within your team.

Other templates you might like

Brainstorming examples

Crazy 8 template

Fishbone Diagram

Empathy Map

Reverse brainstorming template

Project retrospective template

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10 Flow Chart examples - FREE downloads [in visio & PDF]

Flow charts are a diagrammatic representation of the inputs, outputs and steps that make up a business process. stakeholdermap.com

• The Top 10 Flow Chart symbols you need to know
• Example flow charts to download

Why you need Lucidchart for Flowcharts!

[Business Process] Maps and flowcharts help make work visible. Increased visibility improves communication and understanding, and provides a common frame of reference for those involved with the work process. Damelio, R. 1996, pg. 1

Flow Chart examples from real world projects

Patient check in flow chart.

Raise Purchase Order Process

Distribution Process Flow Chart

Match Invoice Process

Get References for a New Hire Flow Chart

Project Start-up Flow Chart

Risk Management Process Flow Chart

Service Request - Call Flow Chart

Scrutiny Process

Scrutiny Process second example

Business Readiness Flow Chart

An example Data Flow diagram

Taking the Cat to the Vet - Flow Chart

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Example Flow Charts - references and further reading

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Diagramming Build diagrams of all kinds from flowcharts to floor plans with intuitive tools and templates.

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Online Flowchart Templates

Get professionally-designed flowchart templates with SmartDraw

The Easy Choice for Online Flowchart Templates

Easy to use.

Making any type of flowchart is easy and intuitive with SmartDraw. You start by picking a flowchart template. Next, you can add and connect shapes using a pop-up menu of relevant flowchart symbols. SmartDraw has just the right amount of automation to help you keep things aligned and connected when you delete and rearrange steps.

Easy to Work With Other Apps

SmartDraw is easy to work with no matter what other apps you use. You can add flowcharts to:

• PowerPoint ®
• Excel ®
• Microsoft Teams ®
• Google Docs
• Google Sheets

Easy to Save to Your Existing Storage Solution

SmartDraw works hand in glove with most file storage systems. You can save your files directly to:

• SharePoint ®
• OneDrive ®
• Google Drive ™
• Egnyte ®
• DropBox ®

There is no need to create a parallel set of common folders and permissions, SmartDraw can just save files directly into your existing set up. You can spend less time managing software and more time on making flowcharts.

Easy to Do More

SmartDraw makes it easy to add complexity to any flowchart.

It's easy to add swimlanes to your flowcharts to help clarify responsibilities and identify gaps or redundancies in your processes.

It's also easy to add data to your flowchart shapes so you can identify process owners and costs.

Easy to Share

Share your diagram with anyone, even if they don't own a copy of SmartDraw, with a link. You can also easily export any diagram as a PDF or common image formats like PNG or SVG.

Easy to Get Help

Have a question? Chat or email us. SmartDraw support is in-house and free!

Easy to Collaborate

SmartDraw makes it easy to work with your team to document processes. You can save your flowchart to a shared folder or send anyone a link. Your team can easily share comments and feedback.

SmartDraw also works where you already communicate with you team. You can collaborate on flowcharts in Microsoft Teams ® , Slack or Confluence.

SmartDraw fits right in with your existing workflows so you can plan, design, and discuss processes and your team stays on the same page.

Start with a Flowchart Template

A flowchart lets you visualize a process for your business. These processes are often unique to your specific organization so it may seem counter-intuitive to want to use a template. However, every flowchart shares some common elements like a starting symbol, a few process steps, and an ending symbol. If you just can't work with a blank screen, a basic flowchart template will help you get started.

If you're really stuck, you can go one step further and start with a more filled out template that's most like the process you're trying to document yourself. If you need a collection process flowchart, start with a collection process flowchart template. Then just modify our template to better fit your custom circumstances.

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• Infographics

Flowchart Templates

Creating professional flowcharts is now easier than ever with Visme's flowchart templates. Whether you're a marketer, engineer or educator, these sample flowchart templates are easy to customize. Simply click on the integrated fork feature to expand the flowchart in the direction you want, and add your text. Build off these creative flow chart designs to get started with your flowchart diagram.

Flowcharts 196

Choose a flowchart infographic template below to get started.

Customer Support Communication - Dichotomous Flowchart

Enhance your company’s customer support services with this thorough dichotomous flowchart template.

Product Launch Day Plan - Dichotomous Flowchart

Guarantee the success of your next product launch with this brightly colored dichotomous flowchart template.

Essentials for Starting a Startup - Dichotomous Flowchart

Launch a successful startup with the help of this informative dichotomous flowchart template.

Social Media Channel Flowchart Infographic

Use this flowchart infographic template to guide your target audience on the process of social media channels. 

Payment Service Customer Rep - Dichotomous Flowchart

Help your team effectively manage payment services with this captivating dichotomous flowchart template.

Move in Together Flowchart - Infographic

Customize this creative flowchart infographic template to explain a process or answer a question.

Website Flowchart - Infographic

Let your clients and audience rethink their website design with this soothing website flowchart infographic template.

Tweet Flowchart - Infographic

Visually explain a complex or step-by-step process with this tweet flowchart infographic template.

Kind of Pet Flowchart

Help people decide what pet they should get with this strategic kind of pet flowchart template.

Hiring Process Flowchart

Help young professionals get ready for a job interview with this hiring process flowchart template.

Act or Forget Flowchart

Have fun with your audience and help them make decisions with this enjoyable act or forget flowchart.

Project Team Organizational Chart - Infographic

Create a visual representation of your project team using this project team organizational chart infographic template.

Project Organizational Chart - Infographic

Organize your team for the next project with this organizational chart infographic template.

Small Photographic Organizational Chart - Infographic

Stylishly introduce your team with the help of this modern infographic template.

Editorial Department Organizational Chart - Infographic

Creatively share business information using this organizational chart template.

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Use this marketing organizational chart template to creatively present your team structure in an infographic.

Digital Marketing Team - Infographic

Hierarchically illustrate your team section using this digital marketing team infographic template.

Organizational Chart - Infographic

Present your organizational information using this hierarchical chart infographic template.

Organizational Team Chart - Infographic

Add a visual element to your “Meet the Team” page by using this organizational team chart infographic template.

Startup Organizational Chart

Use this organizational chart to add a brief description of your project team.

Product Organizational Chart

Clearly display your company’s product or organizational structure with this business-oriented infographic template.

SaaS Referral Program Flowchart - Infographic

Guide employees through your company’s referral program using this practical infographic template.

Text Flowchart - Infographic

Bring some levity to your content with this humorous flowchart infographic template.

Class Flowchart - Infographic

Produce more interactive content using this trendy infographic template.

Flowchart Templates by Visme

Easily create professional diagrams by tapping into a variety of shapes, lines styles and endpoints to choose from. You can also take advantage of our creative flowchart designs with a selection of pre-made flowchart blocks. From process flow chart templates to workflow diagrams, it's easy to design a flowchart that meets you and your team's needs.

The flowchart templates with a smart set of objects that stay connected even when they’re rearranged or moved. The customization settings allow you to change anything from the thickness, roundness and length of lines to the text height, letter spacing, border thickness and color. Also, the sample flowchart templates allow you to have complete control over the angle, placement and roundness of connection paths. Choose from dozens of professionally designed, editable flowchart templates. Get started today with our flowchart maker !

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10 Free Flowchart Templates

Praburam Srinivasan

Growth Marketing Manager

April 30, 2024

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When it comes to project management , performing core tasks in the right order is key to getting your project completed on time. And when multiple team members are involved in the process, things can get complicated fast.

Flowcharts simplify complex processes and makes them easier to follow. They can help identify bottlenecks, streamline workflows, and improve overall efficiency, making them a valuable tool for problem-solving and decision-making in various industries.

By using a flowchart template, you can make sure that everything happens in the right order and gain a better idea of how to prioritize tasks by representing your workflow in an easy-to-understand chart or infographic.

To get started with flowcharts, simply browse our list of 10 free flowchart templates!

• What Is a Flowchart Template?

What Makes a Good Flowchart Template?

1. clickup swimlane flowchart template, 2. clickup data flowchart template, 3. clickup project mapping flowchart template, 4. clickup process flowchart template, 5. clickup process flow template, 6. clickup user flow template, 7. clickup concept map flowchart template, 8. powerpoint simple flowchart template by slidemodel, 9. excel flowchart template by infinity excel, 10. microsoft word flowchart template by template.net.

How Can Flowchart Templates Benefit Your Workflow

A flowchart is a visual representation of a business process or structure that uses cues like boxes and arrows to show how everything fits together.

A simple flowchart diagram might show a linear process, such as a product roadmap or customer journey map , while a more complex flowchart might include multiple paths or branches to show what happens if certain conditions are or aren’t met.

A blank flowchart template is a premade flowchart design that’s intended for a specific use case, which you can fill in with your own project details.

There are many different types to choose from like an organizational flowchart template or circular flowchart template. A data flow diagram shows how data moves through your company, while an org chart depicts your organizational structure, and a workflow diagram shows a step-by-step process in depth.

You can use flowcharts to assist with brainstorming or decision-making or as a hiring process flowchart template to streamline onboarding and more.

Creating a business flow chart from scratch can be a lot of work, so start with basic flowchart templates and build out from there. Here are 10 free flowchart templates to choose from that cover data flows, user flows, process mapping , and more.

This Swimlane Flowchart Template by ClickUp uses a swimlane diagram to show a set of tasks that need to be performed by multiple departments or team members.

What’s a swimlane template ? It’s a diagram template that displays multiple responsibilities side-by-side, like parallel lanes in a swimming pool.

The biggest benefit of a swimlane flowchart is its ability to illustrate the interactions and responsibilities between different individuals, teams, or departments involved in a process. It’s easy to visualize which tasks can begin at the same time, and which tasks need to be completed before starting the next task. You can use different flowchart symbols to show the start and end points as well as decision-making tasks and checkpoints.

Moving information around your organization is rarely a simple process. You need to keep track of where data enters and exits your system, where it’s stored, and how it gets from one part of your system to another. That’s where a data flow diagram template comes in handy!

This ClickUp Data Flowchart Template helps you visualize this process using circles, rectangles, and other color-coded flowchart shapes. Rearrange the shapes and add labels to the basic flowchart template to make it your own.

An accurate data flow chart template provides a visual representation that simplifies the understanding, analysis, design, and improvement of data-driven systems and processes. They promote effective communication, facilitate error detection, and contribute to the overall efficiency and reliability of the system. 📚

A project map is one of the most effective ways to share your vision with stakeholders and ensure that everyone’s on the same page. By displaying your goals, timeline, and deliverables on a simple project map, you can reduce a complex project into concrete steps that are all linked together. 🛠️

This Project Mapping Flowchart Template by ClickUp uses icons to represent project areas like Metrics and Operations through flowchart software like Mind Maps .

A project map is just one type of mind map you can use to brainstorm ideas, manage team members, or demonstrate a scope of work to stakeholders through workflow diagrams.

Try out flowchart software for Mac !

You can use the ClickUp Process Flowchart Template to represent almost all kinds of business processes. This hiring process flowchart template is for HR teams, with separate columns for the recruiter, hiring manager, and prospect, but you could also use it for your onboarding process, exit process, or another organizational structure or flow chart process.

The template visualizes the process or flow chart as the arrows show the order and direction of tasks, while the rectangles show key tasks such as “Send rejection email” or “Schedule final interview.”

You can use flowchart templates like this in ClickUp to customize your workflow diagrams.

Learn how to create a flowchart in Google Docs !

This ClickUp Process Flow Template uses color-coded squares to show the key steps in a business process, including Planning, Execution, and Evaluation. The biggest benefit of a process flow chart is that it provides a visual representation of a workflow, allowing for easy identification of bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and areas for improvement.

Although flowchart templates like this keep it simple, you can find more process map templates for ClickUp, Excel, and Word for more complex projects needing detailed workflow diagrams to visually represent a process.

And whether you need to visualize a hiring process, sales process, or something else, using process flow chart templates like this is a great place to start.

User flowchart templates help you improve the user experience by visualizing what a user encounters when they visit your website or use your app.

Do you want them to sign up for your email list or purchase a product? Lay out the steps—one by one—so you can see how many actions it takes them to get there with visual workflow diagrams.

User flow visualization simplifies the understanding of the customer journey and helps teams optimize the user experience to improve upon their KPIs . It also enhances communication and collaboration among team members by providing a clear representation of the user journey.

You can use this ClickUp User Flow Template to get started. Replace the images with screenshots of your own website or wireframe to visualize the user experience in your process flow chart templates.

This ClickUp Concept Map Flowchart Template is all about creativity. It’s perfect for brainstorming sessions and early-stage planning. The creative flowchart designs break large concepts down into subconcepts and see which ideas lead to which results.

Flowchart templates like these use ClickUp’s Whiteboards feature, which means you can drag and drop elements into the chart, embed Word documents, and even draw. Use it for creative flowchart designs so you make an appealing visual explanation of the concepts you have in mind.

Bonus: Context Diagram Templates !

If you need presentation-ready flowchart templates for Microsoft PowerPoint, this PowerPoint Simple Flowchart Template by SlideModel may fit the bill. This format works in the style of a management process map template and uses simple shapes and colors to help you distinguish between different ideas and arrows so you can see how they’re linked.

Simply replace the text with your own ideas and images with its flowchart templates made for PowerPoint.

Although this is a free flowchart Powerpoint template, you’ll need to pay for Microsoft PowerPoint to use all of its features. Once you do, you’ll also get access to an image library, and you can choose from eye-catching animations and transitions.

Excel may have a reputation for number-crunching, but it also has a range of flowchart templates that you can use alongside other software.

If you don’t know how to create a flowchart in Excel , use this Excel Flowchart Template by Infinity Excel to get started. It will show you how to create new shapes, connector lines, and anchor points to add more pizazz to your Excel spreadsheets. ✨

Microsoft Work may primarily be a word processor, but it’s useful to know how to make a flowchart in Microsoft Word so you can incorporate flowcharts into documents.

This Microsoft Word Flowchart Template by Template.net is available in several sizes, so you can print it, download it, or export it as a PDF.

A good flowchart template is easy to customize and depicts complex processes in a visually interesting way. That’s the whole point of using a flowchart! In fact, flowchart templates that are cluttered, use unusual flowchart shapes or colors, or contain mysterious flowchart symbols won’t serve their intended purpose.

Choosing the best flowchart templates for each use case is important, especially if you’ll be sharing it with new team members or external stakeholders who are absorbing this information for the first time. They should be able to “get” your flowchart right away.

You may also want to look for flowchart software that integrates well with your existing tools or apps and allows you to embed or link to other external resources.

Improve Your Productivity With Free Flowchart Templates

These free flowchart templates aren’t just about adding life to your presentations. When you document your processes in a flowchart, you can better visualize what needs to get done and use workflow automation to increase your productivity .

Plus, these handy visual aids help you get a big-picture view of what’s going on and ensure that all of your stakeholders and collaborators are on the same page.

Start with these 10 free flowchart templates or head to the ClickUp Template Center , where you’ll find even more great templates organized by category.

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Business Process Flow Chart Template | 3 Free Design Tools

Running a B2B eCommerce business or a restaurant business can be challenging without the proper business process flow. Operations like the inventory management process , payment processing , and customer service management can be optimized with a business process flow chart.

A business process flow chart template helps you map your business process flow. A flow chart template will also make it easier to improve workflows and streamline your restaurant operations without the stress of drawing from scratch.

The flow chart template you choose depends on the business process you want to automate. As you know, creating business process flows optimizes daily company operations.

While having a template handy is excellent, it is essential that it is editable and fits your business process flow. This will make it easy to input business operations and workflow processes unique to your online marketplace .

Before we show you the three best free business process flow chart templates for your restaurant business, let's discuss the basics of business flow chart templates.

What Is a Business Process Flow Chart ?

A business process flow chart is a sequential representation of your operations and restaurant workflow. It maps out the steps in a process to achieve a goal or complete a task. An example of this would be the steps in the hiring process for a company used by their human resources department.

Process flow charts depict individual workflows and business processes. A typical flow chart has a starting point, a series of steps, conditional logic, decision-making points, and a final endpoint. You may come across a more complex process, but using a process map template will ensure you cover all of the bases.

Each component of a data flow chart is represented by symbols and arrows. The color-coding on these workflow diagrams makes it easy for anyone to understand each process.

Understanding these flow chart symbols and components is essential to creating a customizable template for your business. So, what are the components of a business process flow chart template? Let's find out.

What are the Components of a Process Flow Chart Template?

The simple and short answer is symbols, lines, and arrows. A process flow chart is made entirely of symbols and shapes coming together to draw the map of your business workflow processes.

Each shape and symbol in a flow chart diagram represents a step. For instance, a rectangle represents a single action or process, while a diamond shape represents the decision-making points.

The table below shows some common flow chart symbols and what they represent:

What are Best Practices for Making Process Flow Diagrams?

Before you can make a process flow diagram, it is necessary to create a business process flow . You may use a business process flow chart template to do so. A flow diagram explains, optimizes, and potentially automates your process flow. Therefore, when you design one or choose an editable template for your business, this should be on your mind.

Remember, the flow diagram represents each workflow. This means that your business operations can be affected by a poorly visualized process flow.

Quickly, let's run through the five best practices for making process flow diagrams for your business:

1. Consistent Design Elements

When creating your process flow diagram, it is crucial to use consistent design elements. For example, the lines, shapes, and colors must be consistent.

An inconsistent design of your business process flow chart will beat the essence of the flow chart. For instance, it may be difficult for team members to understand crucial decision-making points.

The flow diagram below shows a kitchen fire waiting to happen. Unfortunately, it has inconsistent colors for each process, and the start/end points are not clear.

2. Make Clear Instructions

For workflow processes that involve many team members, it is essential to depict who does what and when. In this case, you can use horizontal or vertical lines to separate different team members' tasks in the process flow.

Each horizontal or vertical line depicts a team member's lane in the process flow diagram. The lanes can also represent tasks performed by a group or department within the restaurant.

You can draw specific instructions on how a team member can perform a task with their lane on the flow chart. This makes it easier to track efficiency and performance.

3. Break Long Processes Into Multiple Flows

Long workflows and business processes often get confusing. You can break these down into multiple, continuous flows in your diagram. Here's where your flow chart symbols come in.

Remember the connector symbol (a solid circle)? It can help break down your flow chart into sub-flows. As a tip, stick with simple color codings and add a side note for team members.

4. Explain How to Use the Business Process Flow Chart Template

This is the most crucial tip so far. After creating your business process diagram, you need to take some time to train your team on how to use it.

Explaining the features of the business process flow chart template will eliminate the need for trial-and-error by team members. It will also make training new team members on your workflow operations easy.

5. Try Using an Editable Business Process Flow Chart Template

Not everyone has the time to go through the tedious process of drawing symbols and arrows in different colors. If you fall into that category, you can consider using an editable process flow chart template.

Trending restaurant technologies have made it possible to create a process map chart that will fit your business needs. Nowadays, you can research and download a free business process flow chart template for a restaurant business.

It's that simple. However, ensure the template is easily accessible and can be edited with Excel, Word, or PowerPoint. Some flowchart-making platforms offer tools for editing pre-made templates.

However, these tools do not come free. Plus, you still need to understand how to use the platform and the tool to edit your chosen template.

To make creating your business process flow chart template easier, we designed some ready-to-use and editable restaurant business process flow chart templates. You can download these flow chart templates in Excel or PDF and fill in your workflow.

3 Best Free Programs to Create a Flow Chart Online

1. smartdraw.

This flowchart-making tool offers an easy-to-use platform for creating your restaurant business flowchart templates. SmartDraw offers over 70 pre-made flowchart templates that can fit any workflow or business process. It's one of the most used business process flow chart template platforms.

In addition, SmartDraw can be added to your list of eCommerce automation tools . It integrates seamlessly with other platforms such as Google Drive, Microsoft Office, and Atlassian's Confluence and Jira.

2. Creately

Creately offers a single connected visual workspace to optimize restaurant business processes and operations. In addition, the platform gives you access to a powerful flowchart creating and editing tool and hundreds of templates to choose from, including ones for social media.

In addition to this, Creately optimizes project management technology in restaurants . The platform allows you to create workflows, assign tasks to team members, and monitor the progress of each process.

3. LucidChart

LucidChart is another platform that can equip a restaurant manager with the right tools to visualize and optimize complex work processes efficiently. 

The platform offers an intuitive drag and drop interface for creating your unique business process flow chart template. You can also integrate LucidChart with other workspace platforms, including Atlassian, Google Workspace, and Slack.

Frequently Asked Questions About Business Process Flow Chart Template

Creating a flow chart for your business is essential and should be included when you write a business plan or work with an eCommerce business guide . Consider using a business process flow chart template to ensure that you include all of the necessary components. Here are commonly asked questions about flow charts.

Can I Create a Process Flow Chart In Excel?

Yes, you can create a process flow chart in excel. Excel remains one of the simplest platforms for creating a flow chart. 

You can also create a business process flow chart template using Microsoft Word or Google Docs, as well as PowerPoint. In addition, various options exist to create a flowchart when using Excel. 

Here are some detailed steps on how to create a flowchart with Excel:

• Create a new spreadsheet.
• Go to the Insert tab.
• Select the Drawing option.
• In the drawing sheet, the top corner provides you with the option to add shapes, arrows, texts, and colors.
• Select a flowchart symbol following the components table above.
• Edit each symbol selected to account for uniformity and consistency.
• Once it's ready, save and close.
• It will appear on the spreadsheet.
• You can edit the layout of the spreadsheet or leave it as is.

How to Measure Business Process Effectiveness

You can measure business process effectiveness by setting key performance indicators. One example is the inventory KPI . Below are some key business metrics you can use to measure if your process flow chart is working or not:

• Process Effectiveness
• Process Alignment
• Process Reliability
• Process Cycle Time
• Process Cost
• Process Efficiency
• Resource Productivity
• Process Compliance

What Are The Eight Basic Symbols of a Flowchart?

The eight basic symbols of a flowchart are:

• Start/end symbol
• Decision point symbol
• Input/output symbol
• Process symbol
• Connector symbol
• Document symbol
• Manual input symbol

How Do I Create a Business Process Flow Chart?

To create a business process flow chart, following these six steps: 

• Identify the main components of the business process.
• Put the activities in order
• Assign the correct symbols for each individual activity.
• Make a connection between each of the activities
• Identify the beginning and end of the business process.
• Review and publish your business process flowchart

The Only Flow Chart Template a Business Owner Needs

Using a business process flowchart template for your restaurant business will eliminate the tedious exercise of designing a flow chart from scratch. However, if you prefer having a customized flowchart, you can try any of the free platforms and tools described above.

Remember to follow the best practices discussed earlier. This will help you create an automated and optimized workflow for your restaurant.

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Top 5 Business Plan Chart Example Templates with Samples

Kavesh Malhotra

Tim Fargo once said,  " Good intentions might sound nice, but it’s positive actions that matter. "  

This quote highlights the importance of not only creating a business plan but also executing it effectively. This is where business plan charts come in; they provide a roadmap for businesses to follow which ensures that they stay on track in achieving their goals.

There is no doubt that business planning is an essential element of any successful venture, and a well-executed plan can make a significant difference to business success. As mentioned above, one of the most critical components of a business plan is the use of charts to display information in a visually appealing and easy-to-understand manner. 

SlideTeam is delighted to present its selection of the Top 5 Business Plan Chart Templates with Samples . These templates are designed to assist owners, managers, and other professionals involved in business management to create a comprehensive and effective business plan that fulfills the needs of end-users and stakeholders alike.

Utilizing these top 5 business plan chart templates can help companies in prioritizing tasks, creating a clear and concise communication plan , focusing on their strategy and critical goals, tracking their progress toward achieving their revenue targets, and expanding into new markets. 

Unlock your true potential as a business manager with our pre-designed PowerPoint Slides. These templates are the ultimate solution to all your business needs, providing you with the power to customize your tasks and plans in ways you never thought possible. With our structured content-ready slides, you'll have everything you need at your fingertips to streamline your workflow and optimize your productivity. 

We're here to have a closer look at each of our business plan ppt templates and help you choose the one that suits your specific business requirements. So, what are you waiting for? Download one of these templates today and become a master in designing a breakthrough plan!

Check Out our Top 5 Business Plan Chart Templates

Template 1: initial six-month business plan gantt chart.

This PowerPoint Slide presents a comprehensive roadmap for developing a successful business plan. It covers critical areas such as strategy, finance, personnel, customers, and finances. This PPT Template allows you to create a clear project plan by outlining important details like project start and end dates, status updates, and assigned teams. This chart facilitates effective collaboration among team members, enables you to share your product plans, and provides a platform for discussing project progress with executives. Additionally, the task management chart helps align your activities efficiently, while the template's versatility allows for high-level resource planning and flexible implementation, benefiting your business. Seize the opportunity to elevate your business plan with this top-rated template.

Download Now!

Template 2: Strategic Business Plan Flow Chart with Key Goals

This chart is an essential tool for an organization's strategic business planning. Its comprehensive set of slides covers key areas such as marketing strategy, SWOT analysis , and other vital tools that can help businesses identify their target customers and develop a successful business strategy . With this chart, companies can create a clear and concise communication plan that outlines their process and how it aligns with their target customers and market evaluation . Download this set of slides and take your business to the next level.

Template 3: Marketing Gantt Chart for Business Plan

This chart is ideal for businesses focusing on their digital marketing strategy and revenue sources . With this chart, companies can create a timeline for their marketing initiatives, such as advertising campaigns and social media promotions, and track their progress in achieving the revenue targets. This PowerPoint Template is a valuable tool for digital managers and social media team members for monitoring project progress and highlighting key milestones. It features a Gantt chart design that effectively showcases different social channels, timelines, and progress percentages. This template is a must-have for anyone looking to stay organized and efficiently manage their social marketing projects.

Template 4: New Business Development Planning Chart with Market Evaluation

This PPT Chart is perfect for enterprises looking to expand into fresh markets or launch new products or services. With this PPT Layout, businesses can conduct a SWOT analysis to identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and create a clear plan for entering new markets. It also clearly defines the New Business snapshot , Market evaluation , Expense Sources, and expected Revenue Sources . Download now and unleash the full potential of your new business development efforts.

Template 5: Business Plan Chart for Data Flat PowerPoint Design

This chart is perfect for businesses wanting to create a snapshot that provides a quick overview of their business plan. With this chart, businesses can display key information such as their target customers, revenue sources , and market evaluation in a visually appealing and easy-to-understand format. Download these templates via the link below, and start executing your business plan with confidence.

Bottom Line

Business plan charts are crucial for any business owner or manager looking to create a roadmap for success. Whether you're looking to visualize your business strategy, set key goals , conduct a SWOT analysis , plan a task timeline , develop strategies, or communicate plans to team members and stakeholders, we have a business plan chart template that can help you achieve your goals. By incorporating these templates into business planning, professionals can easily create visual representations of their plans, track progress, and make informed decisions based on their business snapshot , market evaluation , and revenue sources .

Professional Note:

Please visit here for more information on strategic business plan templates, business approaches, and other related topics. These templates incorporate many resources, including samples, descriptions, and USPs (unique selling points), to help professionals develop effective business plans and management strategies.

FAQs on Business Plan Chart

How do i make a business plan chart.

Making a business plan chart involves several steps that can be streamlined using pre-designed PowerPoint templates. Start by identifying the purpose of your business plan and defining key goals and objectives. Then, create a task timeline and identify the resources needed to achieve those goals. This can be done using a Gantt or flow chart, which helps you visualize your plan and track progress.

What Are The Four Types of Business Plans?

There are four types of business plans: strategic plans, operational plans, internal plans, and growth plans. 

Each plan serves a different purpose, such as outlining the company's business strategy , setting key goals , or evaluating market opportunities. A business plan often includes a SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Why is a Business Plan Important?

A business plan is vital because it is a roadmap for the company's success. It outlines the company's key goals , strategies, and revenue sources and helps in identifying potential challenges and risks. A business plan also serves as a communication plan , allowing stakeholders to understand the company's vision and goals.

What Are the Elements of Business Plan?

The key elements of a business plan include:

• Business snapshot- It outlines the company's mission and values. 
• Market evaluation - It analyzes the target customers and competitors.
• Revenue sources - It identifies the company’s sources of income. 
• Marketing Gantt - It outlines the company's marketing strategy and task timeline.  

Other essential elements include financial, operational, and risk management plans. 

Related posts:

• Top 10 Business Development Strategy Templates with Samples and Examples
• Top 5 Business Plan Timeline Template with Samples and Examples
• Top 7 Corporate Strategy Templates with Samples and Examples
• Must-Have Freelance Business Plan Template to Achieve Long Term Success

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Business process flow template

Map out your business process in a flowchart using our template! Once your process map is built, easily embed the business process flow into a SharePoint page.

What is the business process flow template?

Process flow diagrams (PDFs) are flowcharts that illustrate how major components of a business relate to each other. You usually see them used in industrial plants, like in the fields of chemical engineering and process engineering, but you can use a PDF for other processes as well.

Use our free business process flow template to map out your business process from start to finish. This free template was created in collaboration with SharePoint.

Benefits of using the business process flow template

When you use this template to document a process, you can better:

• Understand, standardize, and improve your process flow
• Train employees
• Align shareholders and promote ongoing communication

You can also use the template to create a brand new process.

The business process flow template is perfect for remote and hybrid teams because you can collaborate on it in real time, no matter where you are, and you can share it at the click of a button. You can also link the template to data so that it automatically updates, ensuring you always have the most recent information.

How to use the business process flow template in Lucidchart

After you brainstorm your business process in Lucidspark, map out the steps of the process flow in Lucidchart. You can also embed your business process flow on a SharePoint page for added convenience.

To reformat a shape, click on it, then click "Shape Options." Choose the fill and line color that you want. To add lines, hover over a shape and click on any red circle. Add text to existing lines by double-clicking and typing. You can also format lines by selecting them and using the properties bar at the top of the canvas.

If you need to adjust the swimlanes, click on the swimlanes shape, then use the advanced shape bar to adjust the number of lanes, text orientation, header, and lane color. For more information about swimlanes, or about Lucidchart in general, click the tutorial buttons on the right side of the document.

Related templates

API flowchart example

SDLC functional process flow example

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Use this flow chart to track processes to a decision and then follow up with additional steps and results. It is useful for a variety of business applications.

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Sample Project Management Flow Chart

In project management, a flow chart is a visual aid to understand the methodology you’re using to manage the project. The diagram shows the interdependent and parallel processes over the course of the project’s life cycle.

Project managers use a flow chart to offer a clear picture of process and to find ways to improve project efficiency. A flow chart displays graphically the project’s objective and seeks to more logically order the activities therein. But, a flow chart can also help with monitoring progress and even status reporting.

A flow chart is one of the many project management charts and tools you need as a project manager to control a project. With the right project management software, your management can be even more productive and efficient. But before we get to that, let’s look a little more closely at what a flow chart is outlining.

What Does a Project Flow Chart Outline?

A project management flow chart can outline whatever you want to outline. You can have one for the initiation process, which would start with the initiation and flow to the project charter.

That would then lead to two different streams: if the project charter isn’t approved, you must either adjust or cancel the project, which leads back to the initiation, or it results in the cancellation of the project. If the project charter is approved, then you can continue with the planning process.

The Project Plan

The planning process is complex. It starts with planning, collecting requirements and the development of scope. That can go either to project-level indicators or a project scorecard, both of which lead to the project plan. That plan, of course, leads to resources, budgets, schedules, etc. Each of those subsets leads to another point in the flow chart, such as the communications or risk plan, which in turn flows into the change control plan and quality management. Eventually, you reach approval which leads to the execution process, or no approval, sending you back to the beginning.

The Execution of a Plan

Executing can be a whole other flow chart, leading to the development of the project team, securing resources for quality assurance and the manner of communication distribution. Again, you either adjust, cancel or continue, and depending on which you choose, you’re back at the beginning, cancelling that phase or moving on to the next procedure.

Monitoring and Controlling the Project

There is naturally a flow chart to note the monitoring and control processes of the project, which starts with monitoring and control and leads to an integrated change control plan. That leads to quality control, which flows into reporting risk and issues, and so forth.

Closing the Project

Even closing a project is a process , and therefore can be visualized in a flow chart. Start with the close of the project, and then the activities that flow from that, including the verification and acceptance of project deliverables and operations, and then the transition to what lessons you’ve learned. Then, you’re ready to sign off!

The Whole Project Process

If you prefer, the whole project process can be captured in a project management flow chart that can be used in congress with the others or as a standalone visual. This macro-flow chart would start with the whole project, leading from the project creation, documentation, task assignments, meetings, agendas, reports, etc. Each of these can lead to its own stream, such as project creation flows into monitoring the project status, while documentation leads to budget, schedule, etc.

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Flowchart Template

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Why Is a Visual Diagram to View Process Important?

Visual diagrams are important because they aid in the understanding of complex systems, which helps you easily drive projects to successful ends. As noted, a flow chart is flexible and can suit your needs, whatever they might be. In fact, a flow chart can help you like your Gantt chart does, by creating a visual that helps you see progress more quickly and intimately than a stack of documents can.

The flow chart can assist in all manner of project processes, such as the planning of a new product, documenting that process and modeling the business process for the project. It can also help you manage workflow, data, the auditing process and anything else that is process-based.

Example of a Process Management Flow Chart

Below is an example of a process management flow chart that allows you to better manage your workflow. You can use it from project concept and initiation all the way through to the end of your project.

Types of Project Flow Charts

There are different types of flow charts that you can use to diagram your process. A basic flow chart is a simple diagram that represents a series or sequence of steps that involve a decision. Here are some common variations on the theme.

Process Flow Chart

This is used to analyze the flow of activities when making a product or service. It shows the relationship between all the larger components needed to complete the project.

Workflow Diagram

This is used to illustrate and manage workflow. You can focus on process integration, team tasks or both. The objective is to create quality that is consistent by standardizing the process.

The Swimlane Flow Chart

This breaks up the flow into columns, which is helpful for organizing activities into separate visual categories that illustrate different responsibilities or roles.

Value Stream Mapping

This is a lean flow chart used to analyze and design the flow of materials and information at the system level, mostly used in manufacturing and product development.

Data Flow Chart

This is a great tool when doing a structural analysis. It shows the way data is processed and can be used in data management, modeling and more.

Common Elements in Flow Charts

There are many more types of flow charts, but they all share certain elements, such as visualizing a process to understand that process at a glance. Flow charts offer the visual clarity you need to make multiple processes clear and easy to communicate. They can be used to replace meetings in many cases as they clarify processes.  A flow chart also sequences events to reduce the possibility of over-tasking your team, which saves time and resources. This leads to increased efficiency and effective analysis, which makes for better problem-solving.

Free Flowchart Template for Word

While the example above is great for illustrating a flowchart for a project process, it’s merely an image. To get started with your own flowchart, download this free flowchart template for Word . Customize it however you see fit to make a flowchart for your project.

Best Practices for Making a Project Management Flow Chart

The purpose of a flow chart is to simplify the process and make it easy to see how one thing in your project leads to another. To make that as clear as possible, you’ll want to do the work beforehand. That is, have your activities clearly detailed and break down your project into phases.

In terms of design, you want to stay constant. Every shape, line and even text box must not distract from the overall design. Keep the shapes the same size and the spacing between them similar. Use the same font. You don’t want to call attention to the design, but rather the process.

Again, since clarity is the goal, you don’t want your flow chart to spread over more than one page. That might not always be possible, and certainly don’t reduce the chart to fit if it interferes with the readability. But it’s a good rule of thumb to aim for one page.

Free Tools for Making a Flow Chart

If you want to try your hand at creating a flow chart, there are many free tools that can help you get started. The following are a couple of the more popular ones.

Google Drawings

Google Drawing is an extension for Chrome and allows you to create shapes and diagrams in any color. You can build your diagrams together online and then add them to documents and websites.

Pencil Project

Pencil Project is another open-source prototyping tool that can be used on all platforms. The newest version is from 2019 and is great for making a simple, fast flow chart. It has lots of built-in options, or you can create your own shapes.

How Do Project Flow Charts Differ from Work Breakdown Structures?

A work breakdown structure (WBS) shows the tasks in a project. It’s not good for showing processes, like a project flow chart. Work breakdown structure software displays your tasks as a hierarchical decomposition of the project scope that must be done by the project team to create the required deliverables.

A project management flow chart is better equipped to handle the project process. They better communicate the process to everyone involved in the project and can be more effective in analyzing problems. They also serve as a good source of documentation and guide through the project’s process. Flow charts even help in the debugging process and maintenance by placing effort where it’s most needed and in a more efficient fashion.

Work breakdown structures have their place in your project plan, but they are designed for a more specific task. The flow chart is a more flexible tool, but it is also an instrument for the overall process of the project as opposed to the individual tasks that make up the project.

ProjectManager Can Help Optimize Project Work Flow

Your project management flow chart is just a map, really, a guide to how you’re going to proceed over the course of your project. To best implement it you need ProjectManager. With our PM software features, you’re able to better plan, implement, monitor and close your project, and follow the flow chart. For example, with our real-time dashboard, you can track a project as it progresses through your planned flow chart.

Task Management to Stay Productive

Your workflow can also be facilitated with ProjectManager’s award-winning task management tool , which gives your team the power to see what tasks are due, and when, on their personal task list. Those tasks can be assigned over multiple projects, which you can monitor to make sure that work is progressing as planned on your flow chart.

Kanban for Visualizing Those Tasks

ProjectManager even has kanban boards so you can visualize your tasks as cards on a board. Move the tasks along the board as the team completes them. This is a great way to see which tasks haven’t been touched, are in production or are already finished. This is a classic way to track workflow on a project.

Flow charts help you visualize the project, and project management software gives you the tools to take those visuals and execute them as planned. Use our sample project management flow chart as a template to start using flow charts in your own projects.

If you’re looking for project management software to help you implement your flow charts and keep projects on track, then look no further than ProjectManager . Our online tool has features to steer each phase of your project to a successful end. See for yourself by taking this free 30-day trial.

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Maybe you are on the road of creating a business flowchart and are searching the Web for flowchart templates. You’re on the right road. Our website is ideal for you since we give a wide exhibit of Flow Chart Templates for you to look over and utilize.

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What Is a Business Flowchart?

• A flowchart makes it possible to look at the bigger picture and consider all types of scenarios that may surface and create a plan to resolve these.
• A flowchart helps in the research and understand the process entirely so that any inconsistencies can be fixed and improved.
• A flowchart provides a good visual where all members of the team can agree on and discuss.
• A flowchart can help in reducing potential errors and prevent changes that can tear the organization down.

How to Create a Business Flowchart

• Create an initial diagram based on the topic and issue. This is the overview of what the business flowchart will look like. A diagram where members will look at to have a baseline of the actions needed to be exected and what comes next.

Business Development Process Flowchart Template

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• Gather intruments and data to be able to fully compose your diagram. Obtaining the requirements and information needed to be able to create a proper type of document. This part is where questions such as, What is the overall goal of the flow chart? What triggers the start? What activities are needed to be involved? Are there any other routes in the process? will be answered. This determines the staff and departments that need to participate.
• Incorporate the diagram with topic and steps needed to include. Each requirement should have a purpose in the diagram because a diagram will become useless unless it is detailed and correct. Make sure the team members have discussed and agreed to the format cosisted in the flowchart. Brainstorm the steps in the process.
• Create detailed work. Construct the chart using rows, columns, or arrows with the associated healthcare work unit laid out in a way that they placed to work with one another. Arrange the steps beginning with the highest priority toward the least priority.
• Review the flowchart and validate its accuracy with other staff members who are part of the team.

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What is a process flowchart.

Process maps, also called process flowcharts, are used to illustrate the sequential steps in a complex process. By mapping out an entire system, teams can document each specific stage within it, delineating areas of responsibility – and clarifying who does what.

For teams that need to showcase any type of business process, our ready-to-use process flowchart templates are a fast and effective solution.

Business process mapping increases performance and profitability

Process flowcharts help companies understand how different aspects of their business function – and how their systems’ component parts work in unison. Transparent process-mapping can empower employees to optimize efficiency, improve performance, meet quotas, and increase business profitability.

Mapping out business strategies can be useful for any company, regardless of size or industry – and for any department within that organization. For instance, Human Resources can use our Process Map Template for Employee Onboarding to streamline their hiring process. Or Legal can create contingency plans for client conflicts – and prepare a timely and comprehensive response – with our Client-Dispute Process Map Template .

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Blog Graphic Design 21+ Flowchart Examples for Business Use

21+ Flowchart Examples for Business Use

Written by: Jennifer Gaskin May 17, 2023

Process flowcharts can be used to visualize the steps in a process, organize the flow of work or highlight important decisions required to complete projects.

These amazing flowchart examples with their many use cases may help you apply the format to tackle problems in your organization.

Once you’ve gotten a bit of inspiration, head over to Venngage’s Flowchart Maker to begin creating engaging and effective flowcharts for your organization. We offer hundreds of engaging, fully customizable flowchart templates that are easy to edit.

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• Flowchart examples  

What is a process flowchart?

How do i make a flowchart with venngage, 21 flowchart examples.

Process flowcharts can come in many types and styles, but the basic format created by the Gilbreths a century ago remains the most popular.

If you’re planning to create a flowchart but not sure where to begin, here are some sample ideas to get you started.

Health and safety flowchart example

Keep your team safe in the event of inclement weather or another urgent situation with a health and safety flowchart.

For flowcharts that will apply to all members of the team, be sure you’re not using lingo that folks may not know. (This version also has the added benefit of being a cross-functional flowchart— more on that later .)

Flowcharts are particularly useful in implementing new procedures or training team members on your existing ones, as in the sample flowchart below.

This example applies to a finance department, but it could be adapted for any other industry or process.

Decision flowchart example

Let’s take a closer look at some process flowchart examples.

Some process flowcharts will be organized in a decision format, while others will follow a workflow.

There’s no one right way to do it, so it’s often a good idea to experiment with the format to get the best result.

The flow of information in this process flowchart is guided by the arrows, and there’s no need for the reader to make any decisions along the way.

On the other hand, this process flowchart is simple but requires the reader to make many decisions until they reach their logical conclusion.

Process flow diagrams example

Process flowcharts are sometimes referred to as flow diagrams. The term diagram may be more appropriate in technical fields like programming or engineering. Regardless of the terminology used, charts and diagrams serve the same purpose in organizing and visualizing a process flow.

Related :  How to Diagram a Business Process [Process Diagramming Templates]

Let’s take a look at some examples of process flow diagrams.

This process flow diagram was designed to assess the level of risk team members assume based on their jobs within the organization.

This flow diagram was designed for troubleshooting, but it could apply to any process flow in which the reader will need to make a series of choices, and can be used for both internal and external communications.

Here’s an example of a process flow diagram designed with customer service in mind. It’s easily customized for any job, especially those that deal with clients, customers or members of the public.

Workflow diagram example

Whether you’re dealing with new employees or you’re instituting a new policy that your existing team members will need to master, workflow diagrams can be helpful.

Workflow charts and workflow diagrams are useful in any industry, even one as familiar as food service. After all, everyone is new to a workflow when they first begin.

This workflow diagram example introduces a new student to the various offices they’ll need to know to be successful. It’s easy to customize this example to ensure that new team members get the lay of the land quickly.

As this workflow chart example illustrates, workflow charts do not have to be vertical to be effective. In fact, creating a horizontal workflow diagram is better in some cases, as it may be more intuitive.

Simple flowchart example

We’ve touched upon this already, but flowcharts do not necessarily require a complex structure with questions and answers. Some of the most effective flowcharts are also the most simple.

This simple, easy-to-read flowchart focuses on varying levels of risk in an organization. But it could be modified to organize information across teams or departments in any business.

Consider creating flowcharts for your team members to solve common problems. This simple flowchart is about troubleshooting a computer issue, but it could be customized to apply to any of the repeated issues your team has with systems or processes.

Related:  What is a Problem-Solving Flowchart & How to Make One

Website flowchart example

One of the first industries to fully embrace flowcharts was the computer programming industry. Flowcharts continue to remain popular among programmers, designers and developers. They can aid with troubleshooting or even organizing content on a website.

This flowchart example covers troubleshooting server problems to ensure a website remains up and running.

Website flowcharts are often referred to as site maps. Site maps are critical tools for visualizing all the content and the structure of a website.

Cross-functional flowchart example

Process flowcharts are at their best when they are organizing complex and potentially confusing information. Often, that means ensuring the flow of information across departments in an organization and detailing who is responsible for which task.

This cross-functional flowchart shows the departments or teams impacted at the top. When creating a cross-functional flowchart, it’s best to err on the side of a subdued color palette, as these types of flowcharts and process diagrams can become confusing.

We mentioned this flowchart earlier as a great example of a simple approach. That’s particularly notable considering that it’s also cross-functional thanks to the color-coded key distinguishing which teams or individuals will need to make each decision.

Circular flowchart example

Many processes are circular in nature, meaning they repeat themselves again and again. That’s why it’s useful to have a circular process flowchart template to visualize repeating processes.

Use a circular flowchart like this one to visualize the steps a lead takes to become a regular customer or, as this one does, visualize the revenue cycle of a doctor’s office.

Here we see a slightly different approach to a circular flowchart. In this case, the content is similar, but the circle takes on a pie chart shape.

Fun flowchart example

While flowcharts are excellent tools for internal communication and organization, they are also popular among the general public. Pop culture, sports and lifestyle are all topic areas that lend themselves to flowcharts in content marketing or other external communications.

Help readers determine if they’re ready to buy a house with a fun process flowchart like this one. This type of content is useful for organizations in real estate, transportation, home design and more.

While flowcharts are known for their utility, they can also just be pure fun like this one. You can customize this fun flowchart for internal communications or resize it to use for social media.

Use a process flowchart to engage in the cultural debate. And bonus points if you can be extra snarky with it, like this example that went viral on social media a few years ago.

A process flowchart, also known as a process flow diagram, is a type of flowchart that illustrates the steps involved in the completion of a task or process. In a process flowchart, various shapes and symbols represent different components of the process.

Flowchart software can be particularly useful in creating and customizing these diagrams efficiently.

The most commonly used flowchart shapes include:

• Parallelograms.

The invention of the flowchart can be traced back to husband-and-wife researchers Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, who in the early 1920s developed what they called a process chart to diagram and improve workflows.

Process flowcharts soon caught on across many industries, particularly in computer science.

IBM used flowcharts to help engineers with early computer programming. Flowcharts have evolved along with businesses’ needs, and modern flowcharts can cover just about any area.

They can improve decision-making, allow for visualization of processes or help organize the flow of information.

One of the most popular uses for flowcharts is to make decisions. Even when the topic is flowcharts themselves like in this example, the basic structure of a decision flowchart is simple and clear.

Process and decision flowcharts can take on serious issues like this one that covers a disciplinary process. Similar to the previous example, lines and color variation are crucial aspects to ensuring the flow is obvious.

Some flowcharts are designed to focus on information organization. This sales pipeline flowchart example illustrates the steps involved in turning a lead into a sale, and the funnel-style flowchart keeps this complicated process on track

Related :  12+ Organizational Chart Examples and Templates

Venngage’s Flowchart Maker is simple and easy to use. Within 5 simple steps, you can create dazzling flowcharts to organize your team and keep your projects on track. No design experience required.

Step 1: Sign up for a free Venngage account

You can sign up with your email, Gmail or Facebook account.

Step 2: Select a flowchart template from our templates library

Aside from the ones we’ve shared above, we also offer hundreds of flowchart templates that are easy to edit even if you have no design skills.

Step 3: Start editing your flowchart

Most of our templates are created with the simple drag-and-drop editor that lets you design in minutes, even if you have no design skills.

We’re also rolling out new smart templates with the smart diagram editor which makes it easy for you to add new nodes/branches to your flowcharts.

You can add, edit, delete or drag nodes, texts, icons around in one click, and the node will automatically adjust to whatever content you add to it as well.

Step 4: Liven up your flowchart with icons, illustrations and branding elements

We offer over 40,000 icons and illustrations for you to visualize any information you want on your flowchart.

If you upgrade to a Business account, you can enjoy My Brand Kit —the one-click branding kit that lets you upload your logo and apply brand colors and fonts to any design.

Step 5: Share a public link for free or upgrade to download

Once you upgrade, you can download your flowchart in PNG, PDF, Interactive PDF or PowerPoint format—if you want to use it for your presentation.

Use process flowcharts to simplify your business communications

Explaining how things get done in your organization only goes so far. People are visual creatures, and visualizing processes, procedures, workflows and more through flowcharts can help make sure nothing gets lost in translation.

Organize your team, improve existing workflows, devise new ways of doing things and more with flowcharts using Venngage’s Flowchart Maker . Start creating your own flowchart for free, no design skills required.

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A guide to business process mapping

Kazyna turdibayeva september 2, 2024 process mapping.

Table of Contents

Just like navigators use maps to get through vast seas, businesses can use process maps as a key step in process analysis to navigate complex processes and relationships.

Being able to clearly design your business processes helps you understand how your business process works. Process mapping helps you learn what needs improvement, along with your strengths. By using business process mapping symbols, such as ovals for start and end points, rectangles for tasks, and diamonds for decision points, businesses can clearly represent different components of a process. 

Process mapping can also help businesses identify risks and compliance issues, optimize resources and workflows, and improve customer experience. Additionally, business process mapping can be used to develop process improvement initiatives and identify potential areas for intelligent automation.

What exactly is process mapping?

Business process mapping is a technique used to visually display how work is done in workflow steps from start to finish. A process map can also be called by different names, such as a flowchart, functional process chart, or workflow diagram.

Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) is often used in formal diagrams to provide a structured way to represent tasks and workflows, allowing for clearer communication and understanding of complex processes.

Process mapping helps organizations understand and improve their work processes by displaying a visual representation of their workflow. By mapping out processes, teams easily communicate priority issues and identify where time and resources are wasted.

With a detailed process map, teams must identify and understand individual steps, devise precise timelines, and identify task owners. Business process mapping brings lots of helpful insights but is just one step in the overall goal of a business process analysis.

What is business process mapping used for?

Process mapping is executed to establish an order for procedures, a necessary prerequisite for any Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). Certain enterprises use process maps as templates, guidelines, or diagrams for tasks. These are meant to help guide employees on how to carry out procedures. 

Understanding the current process is a foundational step in business process mapping. Gathering information about the current process helps identify areas for improvement, engage stakeholders who manage and implement the process, and utilize process mapping tools for accurate documentation.

Relying solely on process maps without a business process management (BPM) platform often results in missed opportunities for improvement due to untracked metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs). Process mapping comes before a BPM platform and is the basis of the whole workflow engine .

With a BPM platform, your enterprise can track the amount of time it takes to complete a process, spot bottlenecks or time-consuming tasks, reinforce defined execution standards, automate work, and more.

How to create a business process map

Below is a step-by-step guide to help you map your business processes.

1. Meet with all of your process stakeholders

Before you begin process mapping, you will want to gather all of the stakeholders that will be affected by a process together. Changing processes will affect the way people work. Make sure your staff is prepared mentally for the transition and that you are establishing workflows that are conducive to their work.

2. Define the starting and ending points

Establish where a process starts and where it stops. Some processes are more complex than others and thus have multiple endpoints. Thinking of all possible outcomes is critical to avoid confusion later on.

3. List which actions are making the process actually work

List the steps that drive your process forward. An active voice with action verbs should be used to describe each task, such as “fill out request form” or “contact supplier.” 

4. Determine a sequence order

After defining the tasks that move your process from start to finish, now you need to put them in chronological order. Each action is supposed to trigger the following step in the sequence.

Common BPMN symbols. Sourced by Lucidchart.

5. Mark with appropriate symbols

When marking workflows, you’ll want to ensure you are following BPMN 2.0 , the universal notation for business process modeling . BPMN consists of three main elements: events, activities, and gateways. To connect these three main elements, a fourth element can be used, something called the “sequence flow.” These are the black lines with arrows that connect everything together.

Once your diagram is complete, ensure each process works as originally designed. Are your employees following the correct steps?

Once you’ve completed the main steps of business process mapping, it’s time to go one step further and implement the culture of continuous improvement with the next concluding steps. 

7. Analysis 

The analysis phase is about working through the map to identify opportunities for improvement. Good questions to ask in the analysis are: can steps be eliminated? Can tasks be completed more efficiently? Are there potential bottlenecks slowing down the throughput time? Analyzing the entire process is crucial to identify dependencies and inefficiencies. 

8. Develop new methods of work 

Once you have worked out the areas for improvement in work processes, it’s time to eliminate unnecessary actions and manual work, rearrange or automate business process steps, and develop more effective workflows.

9. Process management

This final phase is about maintaining effective processes with regular reviews and progress monitoring . The most effective process map is one that is kept fresh and used actively.  

The biggest benefits of process mapping

1. sharing visual information, data, and ideas.

Process mapping allows teams to communicate complex information more effectively. By creating visual representations of processes, it becomes easier to convey information, share ideas, and discuss potential improvements. Visual maps enable stakeholders to grasp the workflow steps and understand the relationships between different tasks, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing.

2. Providing digestible information for effective problem-solving 

Complex processes can often be overwhelming, making it challenging to identify bottlenecks or areas for improvement. Business process mapping breaks down these intricate workflows into easily understandable symbols and steps. This simplification helps stakeholders gain a clear understanding of the process, enabling them to identify inefficiencies and propose solutions more efficiently. Different mapping techniques, such as flow charts and swim-lane diagrams, facilitate this understanding by providing visual representations of the processes.

3. Breaking complex processes down into universally understood symbols

Process mapping utilizes universally recognized symbols and notations, making it easier for individuals across different departments and teams to comprehend the workflow. Regardless of their expertise or background, employees can understand the process represented on the map, facilitating cross-functional collaboration and fostering a shared understanding of the organization’s operations.

4. Providing a visual representation of the process from start to finish

One of the primary advantages of business process mapping is its ability to provide a comprehensive visual representation of a process, from its initiation to its completion. This end-to-end overview helps stakeholders identify dependencies, redundancies, and potential areas for optimization . It also enables them to track the progress of tasks, ensuring accountability and timely completion. A value stream map, a specific type of detailed flow chart used in Lean Six Sigma methodology, is particularly effective for illustrating complex processes and identifying areas for improvement. 

5. Building alignment and prioritization between various individuals and teams

Business process mapping brings individuals and teams together by providing a shared understanding of the organization’s objectives and processes. By visualizing the workflow, stakeholders can align their efforts, identify interdependencies, and prioritize tasks accordingly. This alignment enhances collaboration, minimizes misunderstandings, and improves overall efficiency.

Invoice payment process flowchart

Who maps the processes?

In most companies, the job of mapping processes is usually given to the Business Analyst or Process Improvement teams. These teams have the knowledge and expertise needed to understand the complexities of different business processes and turn them into visual representations. 

The Business Analysts work closely with stakeholders from different departments, having discussions, conducting interviews, and gathering data to fully grasp the existing processes. Using this information, they can create business process maps that accurately show the steps, dependencies, and interactions involved in each process.

Process mapping is a collaborative effort that involves the participation of individuals who have a deep understanding of the processes being mapped. This ensures that the process maps truly reflect how work is being carried out in the organization. While Business Analysts or Process Improvement teams usually take the lead, the involvement and input of stakeholders from various departments are crucial to ensuring the business process maps are both accurate and relevant. 

Process Mapping vs. Process Modeling

Process mapping is a valuable technique used to gain a comprehensive understanding of established processes within an organization. It involves creating visual diagrams that depict each activity, providing a clear and tangible representation of the overall business process landscape. This approach allows teams to identify the current state of processes, highlighting their sequence and dependencies. Process documentation plays a crucial role in supporting business operations by creating a clear blueprint of core processes, ensuring consistency, and facilitating process improvement initiatives.

On the other hand, process modeling takes a broader perspective by focusing on the desired state of processes within the entire organization. It enables teams to envision and design an optimized workflow that supports the lifecycle of processes and fosters continuous improvement. Business process modeling goes beyond simply mapping out the existing processes; it aims to create an ideal representation of how processes should be, considering factors such as efficiency, effectiveness, and resource allocation.

In simple terms, business process mapping provides a visual snapshot of the current state of business processes, while process modeling delves into the realm of optimization and simulation. Process mapping and business process modeling are complementary techniques. The former provides a foundation for understanding existing processes, while the latter enables organizations to optimize and simulate improved workflows. Both methods go under the larger Business Process Management effort.

6 typical process map types 

Start with the basics. Flowcharts are easy-to-follow visual maps that almost everyone can understand. Flowcharts provide basic process details such as inputs and outputs. 

• Deployment maps

Deployment maps (or cross-functional flowcharts) are ideal for finding those pesky bottlenecks. Deployment maps display relationships between different teams and use swimlane diagrams to illustrate how a process flows through your organization. 

• Detailed process maps

As the name suggests, detailed process maps show a deeper version of a process and contain information about sub-processes. 

• High-level process maps

High-level process maps are all about seeing the bigger picture. Otherwise known as value-chain or top-down maps, high-level process maps include the key process elements such as a supplier, process, output, input, or customer.   

• Rendered process maps

Rendered process maps show current and/ or future state processes. This information highlights areas for improvement. 

• Value stream maps

The final step is documenting the steps needed to develop products and services for an end user.

Process mapping symbols and their meanings 

Process symbols are a representation of individual elements in a process map. Otherwise known as flowchart symbols, flowchart shapes, or flow diagram symbols, process symbols have specific meanings. Like the musical notes printed on piano sheet music, process symbols are universal and have specific meanings.

Common process mapping symbols

7 popular process mapping tools

There are many business process mapping tools to choose from, but five of the most popular tools are: 

ProcessMaker

ProcessMaker offers an AI-powered process mapping functionality within its larger business process automation platform. 

Microsoft Visio 

Now part of the Microsoft Office pack, Visio is a diagramming and vector graphics application initially released in 1992. Microsoft Visio is widely used to create flowcharts and process maps.

Lucidchart 

A popular web-based diagramming application for visual collaboration and drawing. Users can revise and share charts and diagrams to improve processes, systems, and organizational structures. 

Diagrams.net

This freeware design tool can integrate with Google Documents and other online-based tools providing flexible diagram visualization options. While it does not offer an advanced collaboration functionality, its ease of use and zero cost make it a popular choice for beginners.

Users diagram via an HTML5 cloud-based app and can create UML diagrams, floor plans, Venn diagrams, flowcharts, and more. Users can share and edit diagrams in real time.

Launched in 2009, this web-based software is for designing and drawing diagrams. The tool creates flowcharts, wireframes, organizational charts, and more. 

SmartDraw  

Teams use this collaborative web-based diagramming tool to work on flowcharts, mind maps, and many other business visuals.  

Bottom line

Process mapping helps companies become more efficient with clear insights and defined goals to save time, money, and staffing. However, business process mapping was often a time-consuming and complex endeavor. Thankfully, things have changed.

With ProcessMaker, you can automatically track processes without the hassle of slow, manual work. What’s more, you’ll get real-time actionable insights from day one thanks to AI-powered process intelligence software. 

So steer your company in the right direction today by booking a meeting , and make business process mapping a breeze.

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Business plans and templates: How to get started

Starting a new business? A business plan & template can make all the difference. Learn how to use these tools by exploring ANZ's resources.

2023-11-23 00:00

What is a business plan?

• Business plans are an essential for all businesses
• What you need to include in your business plan
• Tools and templates to get you started

If you’re looking to start a new business, one of the first things you should do is put together a business plan. Like with anything in life, you can save yourself a lot of stress and grey hairs down the track if you take the time to set goals, think things through properly and implement systems from the get-go.

In its simplest form, a business plan is a document – physical or digital – that explains the goals of a business, how it will achieve them and generally how it will function. A business plan can also contain essential information, such as organisational structure, key staff and your product or service offerings.

While typically just an internal document,  a business plan can be very useful when trying to secure funding.  Both potential investors and banks will be interested in seeing it when considering if they should invest in your business.  So, it pays to have a plan in place.

Why is a business plan important?

Business plans can help you dig a little deeper and get a better understanding on different areas of your business. For example, it might help you understand how you’ll collect customer data or how to manage risks.

Another great reason why a business plan is a must-have is that it can help you refine how your business can make money. These plans give you the opportunity to conduct market research and identify gaps or work out what your value proposition truly is and how you can get an advantage over your competitors.

Filling out this document can also help you streamline other areas within your business, such as your finances and marketing. By having a holistic view of your business, you can make confident choices that are consistent with its values and direction.

What should you include in a business plan?

No two business plans are alike, but there are some things that all business plans should have, regardless of your business’ industry and type. As a starting point, we’re going to explain the different types of information that you might include in your business plan. You can also download our business plan template and follow along as we go through this list.

Business description

You need to describe the fundamentals of your business. Begin by asking yourself, "What industry am I in?" Answer this question with details about your products or services and the markets you intend to target.

Goals and objectives

Any business plan must have your business’ goals for the short-, medium- and long-term periods. These goals should be clearly and carefully defined and explain where your business intends to go and by when.

Objectives are the actual steps that your business will need to take to reach each goal. They tell you how to get where you want to go, helping your business focus on what matters. When writing your objectives, consider the different ways you will achieve your goals. What will you do? Who will be involved?

Risk management

Identifying the risks your business might face, and how you manage those risks, is essential for any business plan. By including risk management into your business plan, you can adopt a consistent approach to managing risks as a business, and all staff understand what they need to do should a risk occur.

Price positioning and strategy

How are you going to position your product or service in the market? Will you price low and compete on price with the aim of selling large volumes, or will you position your goods as luxury items? Your customers will want to get what they pay for, so it is important to be consistent with your price positioning.

Core competitive advantage

A core competitive advantage will help your business differentiate its goods or services from those of your competition. Conduct competitor research and compare your business to your competitors – think about how your offering can stand out from the crowd.

Cash flow forecast

It's vital to have an idea of your financial liquidity over a certain time period, say 12 months. Get a plan underway with a cash flow forecast (xlsx) that outlines each month’s projected cash on hand, receipts, payments and overall cash balance.

Ensure that you include every item and consider seasonal changes in sales. In addition, plan multiple scenarios such as an optimistic sales forecast and a pessimistic sales forecast.

Market research

Market research should be a core component of your business plan. Whether you get customer feedback through a short survey or face-to-face focus group, quality research can help you understand what your target market wants and enjoys about your offerings.

Both primary research (surveys, interviews and speaking to customers) and secondary research (government statistics, trade publications and information that's already been gathered) can be useful for improving different areas of business, such as the product itself, product distribution and your marketing channels.

Marketing plan

Now that you’ve conducted market research, you can use those findings to develop a comprehensive marketing strategy . You can determine which channels will work best for your product and market. For example, a fashion boutique targeted towards Gen Z might focus on social media and online marketing, whereas a professional services consultancy might focus more on local area marketing or networking events.

Ongoing development strategy

Your business plan may be most useful when establishing your business, but reviewing and improving your strategy as your business moves forward is just as important.

For your business to continue to develop and grow, you'll need to consistently check its foundations and structure while looking for areas that could do with a little refinement.

If you’re ready to start developing your own business plan, then you can download our Business plan template (PDF) . Or you can download and our Growing your business checklist (PDF) as a starting point.

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Important information

This is general information only, so it doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. ANZ is not giving you advice or recommendations (including tax advice), and there may be other ways to manage finances, planning and decisions for your business.

Read the  ANZ Financial Services Guide (PDF)  and, if applicable, the product  Terms and Conditions . Carefully consider what's right for you, and ask your lawyer, accountant or financial planner if you need help. 

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