Book Image

Visualize Complex Processes with Microsoft Visio

By : David J Parker, Šenaj Lelić
Book Image

Visualize Complex Processes with Microsoft Visio

By: David J Parker, Šenaj Lelić

Overview of this book

Every business has process flows, but not all of them are fully described to or verified for accuracy with each stakeholder. This not only presents a risk for business continuity but also removes the ability to make insightful improvements. To make these complex interactions easy to grasp, it’s important to describe these processes visually using symbology that everybody understands. Different parts of these flows should be collaboratively developed and stored securely as commercial collateral. Visualize Complex Processes with Microsoft Visio helps you understand why it is crucial to use a common, systematic approach to document the steps needed to meet each business requirement. This book explores the various process flow templates available in each edition of Microsoft Visio, including BPMN. It also shows you how to use them effectively with the help of tips and techniques and examples to reduce the time required for creating them, as well as how you can improve their integration and presentation. By the end of this book, you’ll have mastered the skills needed to create data-integrated business flowcharts with Microsoft Visio, learned how to effectively use these diagrams collaboratively, but securely, and understood how to integrate them with other M365 apps, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Power Automate.
Table of Contents (14 chapters)

Getting started with BPMN in Visio

For the purpose of this chapter, we will work in Visio Plan 2; however, Visio Professional will work equally well – there is no difference between these two editions regarding the descriptions in this chapter:

  1. Start Microsoft Visio.
  2. Select Templates | Flowchart | BPMN Diagram (i.e., the BPMN-related template).
  3. Create a diagram.

Important note

We do not recommend (although it is possible) starting with the Empty Diagram template and then adding the BPMN stencils. Invoking the the BPMN Diagram template will make sure you have all the extra functions, toolings, and settings set so that you can create a correct BPMN diagram.

Now, we are ready to start creating the BPMN-based diagram type.

Please also note

This chapter is not intended to teach you the basics and principles of BPMN. There are whole courses and books that deliver training on this, and it would by far exceed the scope of this chapter to provide full...