It is important to complete all tasks and meet deadlines. There are many project management tools that are available to help project managers manage their tasks and schedule and one of them is the flowchart.
A flowchart is one of the seven basic quality tools used in project management and it displays the actions that are necessary to meet the goals of a particular task in the most practical sequence. Also called as process maps, this type of tool displays a series of steps with branching possibilities that depict one or more inputs and transforms them to outputs.
The advantage of flowcharts is that they show the activities involved in a project including the decision points, parallel paths, branching loops as well as the overall sequence of processing through mapping the operational details within the horizontal value chain. Moreover, this particular tool is very used in estimating and understanding the cost of quality for a particular process. This is done by using the branching logic of the workflow and estimating the expected monetary returns.
A basic flowchart can help project managers most especially during the planning phase. When a chart is created, it shows the method that the organization uses to reach a particular milestone of the project. This will make it easier for project managers to move through the process of determining, delegating and scheduling each task to the team members.
The best thing about this particular project management tool is that it is very easy to make and project managers can keep a template to use again for other project planning activities. It can also be easily made using computer software to design a customized flowchart that suits the needs of the project manager and the project itself.
This term is defined in the 5th edition of the PMBOK.