How to Create a Workflow Chart [+ Templates and Examples]

Workflow charts are a way of visualizing complex information involved in each step of a process with the overall goal of making things easier to understand.

This method isn’t so different from the way we learned in our school days, whether it was the scientific management of an experiment’s process, or referring to a poster that shows the steps of gathering information to take an idea from brainstorm to final essay. When you create a workflow diagram or chart, you’re essentially executing a process to improve your final outcome.

In this article, brush up on the basics workflow charts, including definition, examples, and how to draw inspiration from unified modeling language to map out and streamline your processes.

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Key takeaways

• Make work visible across teams: workflow charts expose every step, decision, and project handoff so nothing gets stuck in hidden queues or assumptions.
• Clarify ownership at every stage: assigning responsibility to each step eliminates finger-pointing and speeds up execution when work moves between teams.
• Choose the right workflow type for the job: project, approval, swimlane, automation, and client workflows solve very different operational problems.
• Turn diagrams into execution engines with monday.com: connect workflow charts directly to live boards, automations, and dashboards so work moves forward without manual follow-ups.
• Use workflows as improvement tools, not documentation: track real performance, identify bottlenecks early, and refine processes based on data — not guesses.

What is a workflow chart?

A workflow chart or diagram exists to visualize a process. It uses well-known symbols and shapes to identify different stages of a process, and arrows to connect them all. The end result is a picture that allows you to see how you’ll progress from start to finish.

Workflow charts are used to help team members understand where their tasks fit into the big picture. Once created, you have a sort of map that gives you an overview of a business process. While they do have standardized symbols in place to help you best understand a process’s steps, they aren’t always the best representation of a business process.

In fact, there are many other visual tools that make workflow management a lot easier—like dynamic tables, Gantt charts, timelines, and Kanban boards:

In fact, 76% of executives say project management tools like monday AI Workspace will be the new normal for businesses in the future. To better understand how a workflow chart could be an excellent foundation for your team, let’s explore more.

Workflow chart: terms to know

Here are a couple of terms that will be helpful when preparing your workflow chart.

• Process Documentation
• Business Process Mapping

What’s the difference?

Documentation usually focuses more on the step-by-step details. It’s often used to provide training materials for new hires, so they can follow every step in a process. Process mapping tends to be more about the flow. It covers less of how to do each step and more about the sequence of steps and how they all fit together. It’s good for identifying bottlenecks and potential for improvements.

Workflow chart vs. diagram, data flow diagram, and flowchart

There are a lot of terms that describe a workflow chart, including flowchart and data flow diagram. A flowchart simply leads you through the steps. It’s built on basic cause and effect. Once A happens, B will happen next, and so on. Data flow diagram (DFD) takes into account the bigger picture. It leads you through the steps, while also taking into account where things come from, where they end up, and whether or not steps will need to be repeated.

Feature	Workflow chart	Flowchart
Primary focus	People, roles, ownership, deliverable movement	Logic, sequence, algorithms, decision trees
Business goal	Operational accountability and resource allocation	Process logic troubleshooting and technical documentation
Complexity	High (cross-functional handoffs and time variables)	Variable (simple linear steps to complex loops)
Best application	Managing team operations, onboarding, project delivery	Coding logic, troubleshooting guides, instruction manuals

Not sure which one you need? Ask yourself this: If you need to understand who does what and when, choose a workflow chart. If you need to document how a system makes decisions, choose a flowchart.

When to use a workflow chart:

• Cross-functional processes where work moves between marketing, sales, and legal.
• Resource planning to identify workloads and balance capacity.
• Process optimization to reduce cycle time or improve team efficiency.

When to use a flowchart:

• Technical documentation for software logic or data flows.
• Decision trees that guide users through troubleshooting scripts.
• Simple sequences outlining linear instructions with no handoffs.

How do you create a workflow chart?

Building a strong workflow chart starts with strategy and ends with execution. Follow these steps, and your chart will actually solve problems instead of gathering dust.

Step 1: define measurable objectives

Start by nailing down exactly what you’re trying to fix. Whether you want to cut onboarding time by 20% or hit 100% compliance in procurement, set clear KPIs so your chart tackles real problems.

Step 2: document the current state

Before you fix anything, figure out what’s actually happening now. Interview stakeholders and observe actual work to capture the “as-is” process, including informal workarounds teams use.

Step 3: assign ownership

Every step needs someone who owns it. Frameworks like RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) make it crystal clear who does what.

Step 4: select the right workflow software

The platform you pick determines whether this scales or breaks. Whiteboards are fine for brainstorming, but real operations need software that handles collaboration, integrations, and version control. The best platforms link your charts directly to live boards, automations, and dashboards so teams can actually execute.

Step 5: draft the initial diagram

Map the “happy path” first — the ideal flow of work — before adding exceptions and error loops. Use the right symbols, and your diagrams stay clean and easy to read.

Step 6: collaborate and validate

Build a chart alone, and you’ll miss what’s really happening. Show your draft to the people doing the work. They’ll tell you what’s wrong and where you can improve.

Step 7: Test and refine

Workflow charts aren’t set in stone. Once it’s live, track how it performs against your goals and adjust based on what the data shows.

Pick something that’s driving your team crazy right now. Fix a real pain point, and people will actually want to use workflow charts.

Want to create workflows automatically and manage them all in one platform? You need a workflow automation software.

Understanding the symbols and shapes of a workflow chart

In a workflow chart, the shapes are meaningful — not just pretty. Here’s the standard lexicon:

• Oval: Your start and end points.
• Rectangle: Instructions or actions on behalf of a team.
• Diamonds: Decisions, which typically lead to a yes or no, and create a fork in the chart at horizontal or vertical points.
• Arrows: What connects actions and decisions.
• Circles: Connectors used to bypass other steps, and also explain why.

You can of course define the meaning of your own shapes if it makes more sense for your project. We’ll walk you through some examples so you can see how the shapes all fit together.

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How workflow charts drive operational excellence

Running a tight operation means seeing what’s happening and building solid processes. Workflow charts give high-performing teams a solid foundation by solving three problems that hit your bottom line.

Transparency creates alignment

Workflow charts show you what’s actually happening behind the scenes. Map every step and handoff, and leadership can finally see how work moves across teams. This visibility eliminates the “black box” effect where requests enter a department and disappear, reducing miscommunication and enabling data-backed resource allocation.

Proactive bottleneck identification

Visualizing workflows shows you where work piles up before it becomes a real problem. Managers can instantly see where work stacks up or where someone’s drowning. You can step in before deadlines slip or customers get disappointed.

Foundation for continuous improvement

If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. A workflow chart establishes your baseline for current performance. Once you nail down the standard process, teams can test changes, track results, and make improvements that actually scale. Recent NIST case studies demonstrate that process mapping can deliver a 15% increase in operational efficiency, while value stream mapping has reduced lead times by 33% in manufacturing environments.

Types of workflow diagrams (with templates and examples)

There are several types of workflow charts or diagrams, some of which allow for more detail for particularly complex projects. Here are some of the most common, with examples and templates that you can use to get started.

Workflow type	Complexity	Primary audience	Key benefit
Project management	Medium	Project managers, teams	Aligns timelines and deliverables
Business process (BPMN)	High	Operations managers, auditors	Ensures consistency and compliance
Swimlane (cross-functional)	High	Department heads	Specifies cross-team handoffs
Approval request	Low	Leadership, finance	Accelerates decision velocity
Client project	Medium	Account managers, clients	Ensures consistent customer experience
Automation	Very high	IT, developers	Enables digital transformation

Process flow

This type of workflow chart is the most commonly used to make sure team members are kept on track when there are multiple people (or even teams) that need to take part in a single project.

In this example, you can see the process from request to implementation, including the review of the request and what happens if it’s not approved. Download the template here.

(Image Source)

Swim lane diagram

A swim lane flowchart is built as a metaphorical pool, where every step stays in its “lane.” These lanes add another layer of organization. For instance, you could have steps in a process, and each “lane” is dedicated to a particular employee or team.

The following example uses a swim lane diagram to depict the process of creating a pizza, while adding another layer of organization by attributing an area of the kitchen to each “lane.”

(Image Source)

Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN)

A BPMN is a detailed version of a flow chart or swim lane chart that follows a very specific set of rules put in place by the Object Management Group (OMG), which is currently the standard for business modeling. The following depicts a white-label example of how a company might handle the sale of product from order, to manufacturing, to shipment:

(Image Source)

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Suppliers Inputs Processes Outputs Customers (SIPOC)

A SIPOC specifically focuses on the inputs and outputs of a business process. When complete, it looks like a hybrid between a flowchart template and a swim lane diagram, only the lanes are always used to organize the process by supplier, input, process, output, and customer.

It’s most typically used in manufacturing, like the following example, which depicts the process to create a paint product from supplier to the customer:

(Image Source)

No matter what type of flowchart you use, they’re all static images that make it hard to drill down into specific tasks, or to see how a particular project is progressing in real time. monday AI Workspace is the remedy to this challenge.

Replace your workflow chart with monday AI Workspace

monday AI Workspace Work OS provides project managers with everything they need to be successful, including creating a dynamic and visual breakdown of their projects like:

• 11+ views
• Customizable colors
• 34+ columns
• Multiple assignees
• monday workdocs
• Dynamic dashboards and widgets

All of these — and more! — combine to form a easy-to-use and beautiful user interface (UI) that your team will be excited to log into every day. monday AI Workspace can eliminate time wasted having to constantly refer to a hard copy to see who is in charge, or nudging someone to take the next step. Our boards allow you to quickly see owners and even set up automations according to date or status change to send helpful notifications and reminders.

You can also integrate with tons of other tools and platforms so that operations run smoothly within your tech stack.

 

The best part, which is consequently the hardest part of working with a workflow chart, is that making changes on the go is incredibly easy and non-disruptive. Our drag and drop interface means that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel if you realize along the way that tweaking your process will make you more efficient. You can even create your own templates to be used again and again or get started with one of 200+ we offer in our Template Center.

Workflow charts for the future of work

The workflow chart is a traditional — but outdated — way to visualize your business processes. If you’re considering a workflow chart to streamline your projects, there’s a better way that won’t require recreating an image every time you need to make a change.

Workflow charts are strategic assets that define how organizations deliver value. The difference between charts that gather dust and those driving real value comes down to execution — static diagrams describe processes while living workflows enable them.

When weighing up workflow chart creation and management, consider how diagrams connect to daily work. Effective workflow solutions bridge visualization and execution gaps, turning process maps into actionable workspaces where collaboration, automation, and intelligence converge.

The future of workflow management is intelligent, unified, and real-time. Organizations embracing AI-powered insights, eliminating tool sprawl, and building adaptive workflows will move faster and more efficiently than those stuck with static documentation. Start by mapping one critical process, involve the people doing the work, and choose tools that grow with you.

Remember: the best workflow chart is one your team actually uses.

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