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)

Validating the structure of flowchart diagrams

If we follow the advice in this chapter about connecting and labeling shapes, then we should have a well-structured flowchart diagram. However, if there are issues, such as missing labels and connections, then they can be easily revealed with the Process | Check Diagram button, as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 3.38 – Validating the diagram structure

Figure 3.38 – Validating the diagram structure

Visio Plan 2 and Visio Professional include validation rules for flowcharts, and they can be modified or new rules created. This is the subject of the still valid book from Packt Publishing, Microsoft Visio 2013 Business Process Diagramming and Validation by David J Parker, and it can be referred to for more detail.

The SharePoint Workflow group in the Process ribbon tab will not be addressed in this book because it is superseded by the last ribbon group, Microsoft Power Automate, which will be covered in the next chapter. The other group...