Flow Chart Template in Excel
Use a flow chart to define and document your processes.
Flow Chart Software
There are lots of flow chart software packages but did you know you can easily draw a flow chart using Excel's drawing tools? QI Macros Add-in for Excel includes two flow chart templates to help you get started:
Swimlane Flow Chart
How to Create a Flow Chart
- Using square Post-it® notes (use squares as activities, rotated into a diamond, they represent a decision), begin listing activities (verb-noun) and decisions (questions?).
Once you have all of the notes on a sheet of easel paper, order them, from the first to the last.- Then identify the group or department that does each set of steps on the top of the flowchart. Realign the activities to fit under the appropriate group.
- Identify the major steps of the process on the left side (planning, doing, checking, acting to improve). Realign the activities to coincide with the main steps of the process.
- Use arrows to connect the activities and decisions. (We found Sticky Notes shaped like arrows on Amazon.)
