Tool 203: Top-Down Flow Chart

AKA

N/A

Classification

Planning/Presenting (PP)

Tool description

A top-down flow chart illustrates the major steps in an organizational work process or project. It shows the essential requirements, sequenced from left to right, with a number of substeps listed below each step. This flow chart has an advantage of showing the complete process without too much detail, therefore allowing a team to quickly understand the problem solving or process-improvement opportunities of the process.

Typical application

• To display all necessary steps in a work process or project.

• To provide an overall picture of a top-level process.

Problem-solving phase

	Select and define problem or opportunity
→	Identify and analyze causes or potential change
→	Develop and plan possible solutions or change
	Implement and evaluate solution or change
	Measure and report solution or change results
	Recognize and reward team efforts

Typically used by

	Research/statistics
	Creativity/innovation
1	Engineering
2	Project management
4	Manufacturing
	Marketing/sales
	Administration/documentation
	Servicing/support
	Customer/quality metrics
3	Change management

links to other tools

before

• Storyboarding

• Systems Analysis Diagram

• House of Quality

• Process Selection Matrix

• Information Needs Analysis

after

• Basili Data Collection Method

• Process Analysis

• Action Plan

• Resource Requirements Matrix

• Gantt Chart

Notes and key points

• Designations of Top-Down Flow Chart elements:

Step-by-step procedure

• STEP 1 A facilitator explains the purpose of a top-down flow chart to the team participants. The team identifies the process.

• STEP 2 The participants identify essential, major process steps.

• STEP 3 Team consensus is reached to select a final 5–7 process steps to be drawn on a whiteboard or flip chart. See example Motorola's Model of "Six Steps to Six Sigma Quality".

• STEP 4 The facilitator draws the top-down flow chart and asks participants to provide 4–5 sub-steps for each process step drawn.

• STEP 5 Identified substeps are discussed, changed, and finally listed under each major step.

• STEP 6 Finally, the facilitator provides numerical identification numbers and substep level numbers and dates the flow chart, as shown in the example.

Example of tool application