What Is a Process Flow Chart?
- Process Flow Chart
- A visual diagram that maps the sequence of steps, decisions, and flows within a process, using standardised symbols to represent activities, decision points, inputs, and outputs. Also known as a process map or flowchart, it makes an invisible process visible — enabling teams to analyse, communicate, and improve how work actually happens.
Process flow charts are one of the foundational tools of the quality and process improvement movement. Originally developed by industrial engineer Frank Gilbreth in 1921 and later standardised by ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), they became central to quality methodologies including TQM, Lean, and Six Sigma. Their enduring relevance lies in a simple insight: you cannot improve what you cannot see.
A Harvard Business Review analysis of process improvement initiatives found that organisations using visual process mapping tools resolved operational problems 30–50% faster than those relying on written procedures alone. The act of drawing a process forces clarity, surfaces hidden complexity, and aligns team understanding in a way that verbal description rarely achieves.
What Are the Main Types of Process Flow Charts?
1. Basic Process Flowchart
The simplest form — a linear sequence of steps from start to finish, showing activities and decision points. Ideal for straightforward processes with a single owner and limited variation. Best used for documenting standard operating procedures or training new team members.
2. Swimlane Flowchart (Cross-Functional Map)
Organises process steps into horizontal or vertical “lanes”, each representing a different person, team, or department responsible for that step. Swimlane charts are particularly powerful for identifying handoff points — where one team passes work to another — which are the most common location of delays, errors, and miscommunication in cross-functional processes.
3. SIPOC Diagram
A high-level map showing Suppliers, Inputs, Process steps, Outputs, and Customers. SIPOC is used at the beginning of a process improvement project to establish scope and agree on boundaries before detailed mapping begins. It is a standard tool in DMAIC (Define phase) and Lean improvement projects.
4. Value Stream Map
A specialised Lean tool that maps both the process steps and the information flow alongside each step, adding time data (cycle time, wait time, changeover time) to show where value is being added and where waste accumulates. Value stream mapping goes beyond process flow charts by quantifying efficiency at each step.
What Do the Standard Flowchart Symbols Mean?
| Symbol | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Rectangle | Process / Activity | A task or action performed in the process |
| Diamond | Decision | A yes/no or if/then branch point in the process |
| Oval / Rounded Rectangle | Start / End (Terminator) | The beginning or end of the process |
| Parallelogram | Input / Output | Data entering or leaving the process |
| Arrow | Flow | Direction of process flow between steps |
| Circle | Connector | Links separate parts of a flowchart across pages |
| Document symbol | Document | A report, form, or output document generated |
When Should You Use a Process Flow Chart?
Process flow charts deliver the most value in these situations:
- Process documentation — Creating a clear, visual standard operating procedure for training or compliance purposes
- Problem investigation — Identifying where in a process a defect, delay, or error is occurring
- Process redesign — Mapping the current state (“as-is”) before designing the future state (“to-be”)
- Kaizen events — Facilitating group analysis of a process with the people who actually perform it
- Handoff clarity — Resolving confusion about who is responsible for each step, particularly at department boundaries
- System or software design — Mapping logic flows before development begins
How to Create a Process Flow Chart: Step-by-Step
- Define scope — Agree the start and end points of the process with all stakeholders. A process without clear boundaries will expand to encompass everything and analyse nothing.
- Assemble the right team — Include the people who actually do the process, not just managers who manage it. Operational knowledge is irreplaceable.
- Walk the process, not the procedure — Map what actually happens, not what the procedure manual says should happen. The gap between these two is often where problems live.
- Use sticky notes first — Write each step on a separate sticky note and arrange on a wall or whiteboard. This allows easy reordering before committing to a diagram.
- Add decision points — At each decision diamond, ensure both branches (yes/no) are mapped. Missing branches are a common source of errors in live processes.
- Validate with the team — Walk through the completed map with the whole group. The discussion this generates is often as valuable as the map itself.
- Identify improvement opportunities — At each step, ask: Is this step necessary? Does it add value? Where do errors occur here? What causes delays?
- Assign actions and owners — Convert improvement opportunities into specific actions with named owners and deadlines.
- Digitise and standardise — Transfer the validated map into a digital tool (Lucidchart, Miro, Visio, or even PowerPoint) and store it as the official process document.
Common Mistakes When Creating Process Flow Charts
- Mapping the ideal, not the reality — The “as-is” map should reflect actual practice. Idealised maps cannot identify real problems.
- Too much detail too soon — Start at a high level (5–10 steps) before drilling into sub-processes. Over-detailed maps become unreadable and unmanageable.
- Missing decision branches — Every decision point must show what happens in both outcomes, including error conditions and exceptions.
- Creating maps without action — A process map that sits in a folder has zero value. It must lead to improvement actions, updated SOPs, or training changes.
- Excluding frontline staff — Managers mapping processes they do not perform produce inaccurate maps. Always involve the people doing the work.
Related Process Improvement Resources
- 5 Step Problem Solving Approach
- Fishbone Diagram: Mapping Root Causes Visually
- Plan Do Check Act (PDCA): The Improvement Cycle
- Lean Manufacturing: Principles and Tools
- 5 Business Process Improvement Steps
The following section contains our original introduction to process flow charts.
A tool, which emanated from the TQM movement, process flow charts are an illustrative and useful technique to allow a person or team to visualise a process.They are a simple and effective tool and are made even more powerful during a Kaizen activity in a group setting, whereby the team are either designing a new, or ‘walking’ an existing process.
In quality movements, they are a good tool to understand possible escape points; that is identifying the points in the process where easy mistakes can be made or indeed pass through without being detected.
Visualise the Process!
It comes as no surprise then, that process flow charts are invaluable in helping visualise what is going on and also what parts of the process are going wrong, thereby helping the viewer to understand a process, and, if the goal permits, also finding flaws, bottlenecks, and other less-obvious features within each step.
There are many different types of process flowcharts, and each version has its own catalogue of boxes and notations, however, they all provide the same remit:
To visually show the process in order to make improvements.
The two most common types of boxes in a flowchart are:
- A processing step, usually called an activity. – This is displayed as a rectangular box
- A decision, – This is displayed as a diamond.
How to Do it
- Discuss the process with the group and agree the start and end of the process under investigation
- Take a bunch of post it notes
- Walk the process with the team and for every activity, write the task on one post it note
- Continue to walk the process, adding each activity on another post it.
- When completed, map the post-its, in order, on large plotter paper on the wall.
- Review the process with the team and verify the steps have been captured.
- For each step, identify opportunities to make the process better – this could be in the form of quality, cost, lead time, or anything else. – Write these onto the flowchart as you go.
- Once complete, agree actions and owners to improve the process steps identified in step 7.
- Review the actions until all have been closed out.