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In a world where there is an expectation that people should continually be learning and growing, flowcharts actually have great value. They show the what, when, and who when trying to explain various aspects of systems and organizations. Flowcharts are helpful whether you’re trying to explain certain aspects of the ecosystem, or the most complicated workflow of bureaucracies.
And before you question if flowcharts are really that important, you should know that 65% of us are visual learners. Most of us are learning through graphs, videos, pictures, and flowcharts.
Since that’s the case, it’s important that when you create flowcharts that you create ones that people can understand. Keep reading and will share seven tips on how to create a flowchart that’s efficient and effective.
How to Create a Flowchart
The following tips will be most helpful to you in your quest to make an amazing visual tool.
1. Know Your Goal
This point seems easy enough, but once you start connecting shapes and lines, it’s not that hard to forget why you’re doing it in the first place. As you develop a flowchart, always remember what message you’re trying to convey, and what audience is supposed to understand what you’re presenting.
USC MCM provides excellent advice on how to properly know your audience and how to effectively communicate to it
2. Be Consistent
Nothing will confuse an audience more than inconsistency with your flowchart. If you start using large squares to represent your bigger concepts on the chart, don’t all of a sudden start using large circles to represent bigger concepts. Individuals will instinctively think there is a difference of importance between those concepts in squares and those in circles, even if there is not.
And while we understand the need for an attractive flowchart, too many different colors and fonts often prove distracting for your audience, and give individuals the room to misconstrue some of your points.
3. Stay Away from Overflow
Do your best to constrict your flowchart to just one “readable” page.
In the rare cases where you’re flowchart is absolutely too large to fit on a single page, then divide your flowchart into multiple pages with clear links and hyperlinks.
4. Remember You Read Left to Right
As you create your flowchart, be sure that it makes sense as you follow it from left to right. Your audience shouldn’t look at your chart like a word jumble.
5. Have a Clear Start and Finish
We know you’re intelligent, but you’d be surprised how many people forget to include a definitive start and finish in their flowcharts. It’s recommended you actually place your start and end points on your flowchart first, then fill in the steps to get from A to B.
6. No Matter How Complex the Sequence, Strive for Simplicity
Regardless of the complexity of the concept you are trying to explain, keep things as simple as possible. Your goal is to enlighten someone, not leave them confused with more questions than answers.
7. Get a Second Pair of Eyes
The best way to know if your flowchart makes sense is to have someone who didn’t help you develop it to read over it. If that person can make sense of the chart, then we’d say you have a pretty good visual tool on your hands.
You Can Do It While there are some guidelines you should follow on how to create a flowchart, don’t let the guidelines scare you into not making one. You’re more than capable of creating one. But should you have questions, be sure you contact us