Workflow Diagram
A workflow represents the transferring of data, documents or tasks during a work process. To make it easier to study and analyze working processes, and to present them in a simple visual manner, workflow diagrams are used. Diagrams allow you to follow the path of a task in a workflow, identify the person who responsible for its execution at each stage, show which documents the task is accompanied by and the resources it needs. By knowing this, it is possible to optimize the workflow and to discover its weak points. A workflow diagram is a type of flowchart. These diagrams consist of three types of blocks:
During study and analysis, the accuracy of decisions made earlier and the availability of all necessary information and resources are checked. For example before beginning production, the fulfilment of product repayment terms, product quality and completeness are evaluated. When analysis stage is complete, decision making is required. The making decision block has two outputs - YES and NO. If the task can’t be solved unambiguously, several conditions are studied and analyzed, leading to several decision variants, meaning several consecutive decision making blocks are applied. Answers to all questions of each block lead to necessary actions. After making a decision, the process representing the totality of events starts. If a negative decision is made, the workflow may be stopped or even a return to a previous point in the workflow can occur. When building a work flow diagram it is necessary to create a list of all processes constituting the working process so that connecting them to each other with blocks of study and analysis, and block of decisions, creates a complete picture of the workflow. Below is an example of a workflow diagram showing the payment process of an account for electricity consumed by an enterprise. Example 1. Workflow Diagram The received account is checked by an enterprise power engineering specialist to control its correspondence with regards to the electricity consumption report. Then a decision on signing the account by the specialist is made. If the account data corresponds with the report data the account is signed, otherwise it is necessary to correct the account details. After this, the account is signed by the enterprise accountant general, who makes a decision on signing the account relying on the presence of the power engineering specialist signature and the analysis of the enterprise financial statements. After the account is signed by the accountant general, it is signed by the enterprise chief who makes a decision on the account signing and payment relying on the presence of signatures of the accountant general and power engineering specialist and current financial priorities of the enterprise. As shown, a workflow diagram built correctly and competently can represent any workflow in your company quickly, clearly and visually. |
Example 2. Workflow Diagram - Taxi Service
The following features make ConceptDraw DIAGRAM extended with the Workflow Diagrams Solution the most effective diagramming software:
- You don't need to be an artist to draw professional looking diagrams in a few minutes.
- Large quantity of ready-to-use vector objects makes drawing your diagrams quick and easy.
- Extensive collection of pre-designed templates and samples give you a great start for your own diagrams.
- ConceptDraw DIAGRAM provides you with the possibility to use the grid, rules and guides. You can easily rotate, group, align, and arrange objects, and use different fonts and colors to make your diagram stand out.
- All ConceptDraw DIAGRAM documents are vector graphic files and are available for reviewing, modifying, and converting to a variety of formats: image, HTML, PDF file, MS PowerPoint Presentation, Adobe Flash, MS Visio.
- Using ConceptDraw STORE you can navigate through ConceptDraw Solution Park, managing downloads and updates. You can access libraries, templates and samples directly from ConceptDraw STORE.
- If you have any questions, our support is free of charge and always ready to come to your aid.