A flow chart shows sequential steps in a task or process. There are many different SmartArt layouts that you can use to illustrate the steps in a process, including layouts that can contain pictures. This article explains how to create a flow chart that contains pictures.

The Basic Flowchart template in Visio comes with shapes that you can use to show many kinds of processes, and it is especially useful for showing basic business processes like the proposal development process shown in the following figure.

If you want to diagram a process and you don’t have a specific methodology you need to follow, one of the following templates should work well. Basic flowchart. Cross-functional flowchart. To find these templates. Open Visio for the web and select All templates.

The flowchart templates include shapes you can use to show many kinds of processes. Open the basic flowchart template. Select File > New. Select Basic Flowchart. Select Create. Add and connect shapes. Select the Basic Flowchart Shapes stencil, if necessary. Select a flowchart shape and drag it onto the drawing page.

Would you like to automatically create a detailed, polished Visio flowchart from an Excel workbook? You can do this by using the Data Visualizer templates. Each template has an associated Excel workbook used to convert process data into a flowchart in Visio.

Explore hundreds of diagram examples and flowchart templates for Visio. Open or download them here, or go directly into Visio and find them there.

Use cross-functional flowcharts to show the relationship between a business process and the functional units (such as departments) responsible for that process.

A cross-functional flowchart reveals who does what and when in a grid-like diagram organized into sections. It goes beyond a basic flowchart to show the relationships between functions (such as a stakeholder or department) and phases (such as milestones) in a process.

In the Choose a Template pane, under Template Categories, click Flowchart. Click Microsoft SharePoint Workflow, and then click Create. On the Process tab, in the SharePoint Workflow group, click Import. In the Import Workflow dialog box, click the .vwi file you want to import, and then click Open.

In this video, watch how to get a flowchart diagram started in Visio. Drag and connect shapes to build the sequence of steps or elements that make up the process you’re drawing. Use text to add information, and add visual touches to add impact and clarity.