6.4 Process Flow Charts

A number of flow chart software programs are available that are quite capable of clearly defined process flows. The key thing to remember, however, is that a flow chart without reference to associated documents is only half the story. In addition, not all information can be readily placed in a flow chart without obscuring its clarity. As a result, there is always room for supplemental text and complementary tables (e.g., lists of document numbers, forms to be used, and special instructions to the user).

Primary information—most importantly, if a flow chart is chosen as the means of communication, it should be the primary source of information. If it shares the same data with another document, there is an excellent chance for redundancy and its tendency to confuse the reader. We have observed flow charts used successfully in both the manual and in lower tier documents. Flow charts are an excellent technique to use to describe both process and the interaction of processes.
The combination of a supplemental text and a flow chart form the informational document. It's the same document! We have observed that this concept is difficult to grasp. As a result, we have described this issue in Figure 6.5. The details of a typical flow chart are shown in Figure 6.6. Notice the use of documentation references in both of the examples.

Figure 6.5: A typical flow-charted process structure.

Figure 6.6: Example of a flow-charted process.

Imports There is a caution on flow charts with regard to computer files for an online system. In some cases, the files for the supplemental text and the files for the flow charts cannot be readily integrated due to import issues. This complicates the search function somewhat but is resolvable with training. It is best to check out the import characteristics of the software so that the ease of flow chart usage and its inherent clarity is not invalidated. (Refer to Appendix D for an example of the text-plus-flowchart-equals-process document.)