Workflow visualization: benefits and steps to create one for success

To effectively manage a series of tasks in a project or business process, it is very important to understand how they are connected. Workflow visualization helps you visually illustrate those tasks to gain clarity of their relationships. The enhanced visualization also helps track the progress, identify bottlenecks early on, and make changes to complete a project on time and budget.

In this post, we will cover the benefits of workflow visualization and understand how to create an effective workflow visualization to transform complex workflow into clear and easy-to-understand visuals.

What is Workflow Visualization?

Workflow visualization is a technique of visually mapping out the steps of a workflow using diagrams, boards, or flowcharts. It empowers project managers, team members, and stakeholders to view the workflow at a glance, resulting in a clear understanding of the steps and how they interact. This makes it easier to plan tasks, set dependencies, assign roles and responsibilities, identify bottlenecks, and optimize workflow.

The most common ways to visualize a workflow are to create a flowchart diagram, create an expandable list of tasks on a spreadsheet, or use a Kanban board in project management software.

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Benefits of workflow visualization

Workflow visualization offers numerous benefits to improve any business process or project operations. Here are the key benefits:

1. Enhanced understanding of processes

The human brain can interpret images 60,000 times faster than text. Visualizing workflow provides clear, graphical representations of tasks and processes of a project, making it easier for team members to understand each step. This clarity reduces confusion and ensures everyone knows what needs to be done and how their work aligns with the project’s objectives.

2. Increased efficiency and productivity

Visual workflows help identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies in a process. By pinpointing areas of improvement, organizations can ensure faster identification and resolution of issues and remove unnecessary steps to optimize operations. This leads to increased productivity, reduced wasted time and resources, and focus on more value-added activities.

3. Improved communication and collaboration

Workflow visualization makes it easier to explain work processes, communicate task requirements, and assign responsibilities to team members. It eliminates ambiguity, ensuring everyone is on the same page.

This is especially beneficial for cross-functional teams that need to communicate ideas and processes. Teams from different departments can easily understand and work together clearly to ensure project success.

4. Better resource management

Assigning sufficient resources to tasks is necessary for moving them through a workflow efficiently and ensuring timely completion. With visual workflows, project managers can see how resources are allocated and utilized across different tasks and projects, enabling better planning and management of resources. This ensures each task has enough resources and resources are used optimally and not overburdened.

5. Easier onboarding and training

New employees often face challenges in understanding complex processes within an organization. It simplifies onboarding by providing a clear and visual guide on how tasks need to be performed. This accelerates the training process and helps new team members become productive quickly.

6. Enhanced problem-solving and decision-making

Visual workflows make it easier to identify problems and their root causes. When issues arise, teams can quickly refer to the workflow visualization diagram to identify the potential bottlenecks. This visual approach aids in decision-making by providing a clear overview of processes, locating where things went wrong, and taking corrective action based on analysis.

7. Greater accountability and transparency

Visualizing workflow makes it easier to assign responsibilities and track progress. Each team member’s role is clearly defined, which fosters accountability. Additionally, visual workflows provide transparency, allowing stakeholders to see the status of tasks and projects at any given time. This transparency helps build trust and ensures everyone is aware of progress and deadlines.

8. Facilitation of continuous improvement

Visual workflows support continuous improvement initiatives by providing a baseline for measuring performance. Organizations can regularly review and update their workflows to incorporate best practices and optimize processes. This continuous improvement cycle leads to sustained efficiency gains over time, fostering a culture of ongoing enhancement and innovation.

9. Adaptability to change

Visual workflows enable quick adjustments to processes in response to new challenges or opportunities. This adaptability is crucial for staying competitive and meeting evolving business needs. Being able to swiftly modify workflows ensures organizations can pivot when necessary without disrupting operations.

How to create a workflow visualization diagram?

Here is a step-by-step guide to creating a workflow visualization diagram:

Step 1: Identify the processes and tasks that need to be visualized

Creating a workflow visualization diagram starts with identifying the key processes or phases to be visualized and establishing the starting point and the endpoint of the workflow. This sets the boundaries for the workflow diagram.

Engage with team members and key stakeholders to create a list of tasks, processes, and activities to be involved in the workflow, define the sequence of activities, identify dependencies, add constraints, and define how they interact.

Step 2: Define the input, process, and output of each step

Breaking larger tasks into smaller ones makes it easier to determine the correct flow of work from start to end. Arrange the tasks according to the diagram’s three major segments:

• Input: Includes tools, resources, information, and other elements needed to start and finish the transition
• Process: Actions and modifications needed to produce the output using the input
• Output: Represents the end result

Step 3: Understand the elements of a diagram

The most common way to create a workflow diagram is to use a flowchart. You need a general understanding of the elements of the flowchart to visualize a workflow appropriately.

Here is what different shapes and symbols refer to:

• Oval: Represents the start and end points of the flow diagram.
• Rectangle: Indicates an instruction or command.
• Diamond: A decision-making block with paths representing ‘true’ and ‘false’.
• Arrow: Represents the flow of information.
• Circle: Indicates a connection between flow elements.
• Clock: Represents a time delay

Step 4: Choose the best workflow visualization tool

To collaborate on a workflow, you need to visualize it on a collaboration tool such as a spreadsheet or project management software. The visualization tool you choose must be easy to use, have an intuitive user interface, and support drag-and-drop features.

Opt for a cloud-based project management software like ProofHub where the entire team can collaborate and share information in real time.

What is ProofHub?

ProofHub is a powerful project management tool that helps you visualize a project or process workflow. You can create a detailed project plan including phases, tasks, and subtasks, and design a custom workflow to fit a project plan on a Board or Gantt chart.

With Board view, you can set the different steps in a workflow, and use a Gantt chart to understand the dependencies of these stages and tasks.

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Step 5: Map out the workflow

Once you have the right workflow visualization software, it’s time to visually map your workflow. The goal is to create a clear and easy-to-understand flow diagram that provides an overview of your work processes.

Step 6: Analyze and improve workflow

After mapping your workflow, analyze the data to identify areas for improvement. Look for patterns and dependencies that might impact your task processes.

This analysis will help you determine where to optimize the workflow. Implement improvements to make your workflow more efficient, productive, and aligned with your business objectives.

Step 7: Share and collaborate

Invite stakeholders, managers, and team members to view and leave feedback. Make the workflow collaborative by allowing team members to edit and improve the visualization. This collective input can enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of the workflow.

Best practices for workflow visualization

To create an effective workflow, it’s good to follow some best practices.

• Collaborate with stakeholders: Involve stakeholders in the visualization process to gain a complete picture of the business process before creating the workflow. Collaborating with team members and project managers helps gather insights and create accurate visualizations
• Create simple workflows: Design your workflow in a simple and easy-to-understand format. Use labels, symbols, and colors to represent different steps, dependencies, and statuses. Avoid adding unnecessary details that could complicate the workflow
• Review and update regularly: It is not a one-time activity. It must be reviewed and updated regularly to adapt to changing business processes. This ensures your workflows remain accurate and relevant to your organization

Conclusion

Incorporating workflow visualization into business processes is a transformative approach to achieving operational excellence. The benefits are manifold, including enhanced process clarity, streamlined processes, and improved collaboration.

Visualizing workflows also enables teams to identify shortcomings, collaborate effectively, and make decisions that drive success. By embracing workflow visualization, you equip your organization with a powerful tool to navigate the challenges of modern business landscapes.

Creating a visual workflow may seem daunting, but it’s an effort worth undertaking. Simplify the process of creating workflow visualization with workflow visualization software like ProofHub.

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Author Bio:

With over 25 years of experience in project management, I have helped hundreds of startups and enterprises to optimize workflows and enhance team collaboration. My passion lies in implementing efficient project management solutions that drive productivity and success.