Hi, I'm Bear. And I'm Amy. And in today's Lucid Labs, we're going to teach you everything
you need to know about flowcharts. That's right. First, we'll provide you
with a high level overview. Then we'll dive deeper
into flowchart symbols and their meanings. And finally, walk through
how to make one together. Now, if you're watching this video,
you're probably asking what exactly is a flowchart? Well, a flowchart is a type of diagram
that depicts a process or system using conventional symbols
like rectangles and diamonds to provide additional context
and improve user comprehension. These shapes are connected with lines
or arrows that are used to visualize the direction or flow of a particular
sequence of steps or processes. They're widely used to document,
study, plan, improve and communicate processes and systems,
which can often be very complex. These types of visuals are essential,
particularly when trying to communicate something a little more complicated,
like a cross-functional business process or a diagram of how you plan to connect
your app to another program's API. But flowcharts are useful
in many roles and use cases even when they aren't complex
because they make abstract concepts like process
steps and system connections. Very easy for even non-technical audiences
to understand. To help us understand this concept,
I'm going to give you a challenge. When I say go, you'll have a few seconds to read through a set of instructions
from start to finish. Let's see how far you can make it. Are you ready? Set, Go. Nice work. How did it go? If you weren't able to make it to the end,
don't sweat it. We're going to try it again. Except this time we're going to visualize
the instructions using a flowchart. Let's see if it makes a difference. We'll reset the timer and ready, set, go. Well, how was it this time? Did you notice any difference? Most people do. In fact, most find that
the simple addition of symbols and lines helps them to do three things:
One, identify specific steps Two, simplify complex information, and Three,
communicate ideas faster. Exactly. A flowchart literally changes
how you interact with information. But knowing which symbols to use
and when to use them can also impact the effectiveness of the flowcharts
we create. So let's walk through some of the most
common flowchart symbols are shapes. This flowchart uses four different symbols
to represent a morning routine. Let's see how they work together. The first is a symbol
called the terminator, or sometimes the start or end shape. In flowcharts, this symbol represents
anywhere a process or system terminates. That is the start and endpoints, even potential outcomes
of a particular flow. The next symbol we see
is called a process symbol. It represents a process action or function and is the most widely used symbol
in all of flowcharting. We can see
it used as three different steps. Alarm rings, Hit
the snooze button, and Climb out of bed. Next up is the decision diamond. This indicates a fork in your flow,
which is the result of a decision or condition that changes the processes,
actions, or functions that follow it. Most of the time these are written
in a yes/no or true/false format. The flowchart path
may split off into different branches. In this flowchart,
it asks us whether we're ready to get up. And then gives us two possible outcomes. The last symbol used in
this flowchart is the delay symbol. This symbol is used to depict
any passage of time during a process. In this case, it's
being used to show the snooze duration. And finally, to connect all of our shapes together, we use lines or connectors. These indicate
the process, direction or sequence and can be used as straight
lines, unidirectional arrows or double sided arrows, depending on the connection
or relationship you'd like to show. In our example here, they point us
in the direction of the next step we should take
until we reach the end of our process. All right, Bear. I think they're ready to take things up
a notch with another example. At first glance, do you notice
any of the same symbols Bear explained? Take the “Sales call” step, for example. You should now know
that this is the place to start because it uses the start and end symbol Or maybe you recognize that “Customer buys
product” and “Order entry” are both process
symbols used to showcase an action, but there may be a few new symbols
as well. Check out the “Credit form step.”
This is called the document symbol. It represents the input
or output of a document. For example, in this step, a credit form
document is being inputted
or received as a part of the order entry. While later in the “Credit issued report
step,” it is an output or in other words, it is being sent out to management
at the end of this diagram. You'll notice another new shape. This is called the off page connector
or link shape. It is frequently used within complex
charts and connects separate elements across multiple pages
for easy reference. And finally, we have swim lanes
using the metaphor of lanes in a pool and swim lane provides
clarity and accountability by placing process steps
within a horizontal or vertical swim lanes of a particular
employee group or department. Now that we've
walked through some of the most common flowchart symbols,
it's time to try creating one yourself. But before you do, let's talk
about what you're going to need to create these flow charts. You could use a pen or paper,
but it's going to be way easier for you
to use a Diagraming application. Today we're going to use Lucid's
Intelligent Diagraming application, Lucidchart. And you can too, for free actually. By clicking on the pop up link,
you can access Lucid's website and have a free account
in just a few seconds. That way you can follow along with us and begin
creating your own flowcharts as well. All right. There are five steps you need to think
about when you're creating a flowchart. They are: First,
define your purpose and scope. Second, identify the tasks and then place them
in chronological order. Three format tasks by type and correspond that to the correct symbol. Four, draw your chart and Five,
confirm your flowchart. All right, let's build out a flowchart
together using those steps. First, we need to define the purpose
and scope of our flowchart. In other words, we need to answer the question of why
we're making one in the first place. For this example, we're going to be visualizing
the first steps of an onboarding process. This will help new hires
know exactly what to expect, and it will make sure that our
department stays consistent. Step two, we need to identify our tasks and
then place them in chronological order. For this onboarding scenario,
let's add the following tasks. So if you're following
along in Lucidchart, navigate to the flowchart library
and then begin dragging and dropping the process shape
onto the board. Don't worry about the other shapes
right now as we're really just focused on getting our steps on the board. Once you've got them added,
we can focus on getting them in chronological order. All right. Your steps
should look something like this. Our third step is to format the tasks by type and corresponding symbol. Now is where we need to review our steps and change the shapes to match
what's actually happening in the process. So for our first step, we know that it's
the start of the process. So we'll want to use the terminator shape. Our next step involves
sending our documentation, so we'll want to use the document symbol. The background check is a process
that takes place, so we're going to leave it as a process
shape. Now, we know the background check
takes time, so we'll adjust it to the delay shape because it holds
up the rest of our process. Next up,
we have a decision that takes place. Did the employee pass the background check
or was there something found that would require us
to rescind the offer? If they passed,
we can continue and send the employee new documentation
as shown with the document shape. If they didn't pass the onboarding
process ends and we'll rescind the offer. So we'll demonstrate this
with the end or terminator symbol. Because employee setup is the next part
of the process, we'll continue with the process shape and connect it
to an off page link so that others know they need to go to another page
or document to find that process. Now that everything's in order,
we can finish our flowchart by adding the flow. To do this, connect the shapes with lines, by dragging the red node
on to the next shape. You'll notice an arrow appears,
giving our flowchart a direction. The last step is to confirm
your flowchart. This last step is where Lucidchart
really shines. Invite others to review your diagram. Test it out. Find other ways to improve it. See if you forgot anything. The power of visual collaboration
really comes to life whenever you work with others to see a process
and then build it together. Unfortunately, completing this final step means that our time together
is coming to a close. So to keep things brief, let's do a quick
recap of what we've learned. First,
we learned that a flowchart is a visual representation of a process or system. Second, we learned that flowcharts
help us identify specific steps, simplify complex information,
and communicate ideas at faster speeds. Third,
we reviewed common flowcchart symbols and walked through a few examples
to see how they're used. And fourth. Finally, we followed the five steps
to building a flowchart together. And if you liked this video
and would like to learn more about Diagraming
or other methods of visual collaboration, check out training.lucid.co
Thanks for watching and happy diagraming.
