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)

Adding Duration to shape data

All of the flowchart shapes have Start Date and End Date Shape Data rows, and we can add another row, Duration, to calculate the number of days between the two. We can use the Define Shape Data dialog to add, delete, or edit rows, but we cannot use it for entering formulas in the Value cell. The following screenshot shows the Define Shape Data… command, which is available from the right-click menu of the Shape Data window header:

Figure 10.14 – Using the Define Shape Data dialog

Figure 10.14 – Using the Define Shape Data dialog

So, we need to go back into the ShapeSheet to enter a formula for the Value cell:

Figure 10.15 – Entering a formula in the ShapeSheet

Figure 10.15 – Entering a formula in the ShapeSheet

In this case, we protect the value by enclosing the calculation with the GUARD(…) function, as shown here:

=GUARD(Prop.EndDate-Prop.StartDate)

The Define Shape Data dialog can be used to enter the formula into the Format cell, as shown here:

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