Creating Process Maps in Visio 2003

Hi there,

In work, we've got a copy of Microsoft Visio 2003 which we're using to
create a process map. We're trying to show all the work that each person in
our office does over the course of the year.

The problem is that I'm finding this very tedious to do - so much so that
I'm wondering if I'm even using the correct software for the job? I'm
basically drawing the process shapes on a blank page and fiddling around
until it looks right, but it is very awkward and messy to edit. I thought
that Visio was the right software for this job, but surely there's an easier
way to do it than this? At the moment, I could probably do just as good a
job using PowerPoint and the autoshapes.

Is Visio the right tool for this job? And if so, are there any free online
tutorials anywhere that may help me to complete this task? If it is the
right tool, then I'm certain that I'm doing it wrong!

Thanks for any help, it's appreciated.

Regards,

Stephen

Visio shoulod be the right tool. What sort of problems are you having?

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://www.mvps.org/visio/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://www.mvps.org/visio/VBA.htm
Common Visio Questions http://www.mvps.org/visio/common_questions.htm
"ste©" wrote in message
...
Hi there,

In work, we've got a copy of Microsoft Visio 2003 which we're using to
create a process map. We're trying to show all the work that each person
in
our office does over the course of the year.

The problem is that I'm finding this very tedious to do - so much so that
I'm wondering if I'm even using the correct software for the job? I'm
basically drawing the process shapes on a blank page and fiddling around
until it looks right, but it is very awkward and messy to edit. I thought
that Visio was the right software for this job, but surely there's an
easier
way to do it than this? At the moment, I could probably do just as good a
job using PowerPoint and the autoshapes.

Is Visio the right tool for this job? And if so, are there any free
online
tutorials anywhere that may help me to complete this task? If it is the
right tool, then I'm certain that I'm doing it wrong!

Thanks for any help, it's appreciated.

Regards,

Stephen

Hi John,

The problem is that nothing is done automatically for me. I find that I'm
having to draw the processes on using the Process shapes, and that I'm
having to draw the lines on manually etc. Then when I have this big
complicated process map that runs over 3 pages, my boss edits the print-out,
and it makes editing this very tedious.

I just can't figure out what benefit Visio has over, say, PowerPoint; apart
from the connecting tools which snap to shapes quite nicely.

Also, for each person in the process map, i've drawn a horizontal rectangle
for their work. It gets very messy when different people have work which
overlaps, yet they aren't next to eachother. So I have to manually draw
dotted lines along the rectangle to show who doesn't do the work. I would
feel a lot better about this if I knew I was doing it right, but I feel as
though I'm just doing it the long way around.

At the moment, it looks something like the simple 'diagram' below. But
instead of three people, we've got about 12 people, and the 'process shapes,
lines, etc' should be replaced with different tasks that people are doing,
all connected by lines:

|----------------------------------------------------------
| Joe | process shapes, lines, etc
|----------------------------------------------------------
| Dave | process shapes, lines, etc
|----------------------------------------------------------
| Sue | process shapes, lines, etc
|----------------------------------------------------------


Thanks for any help, advice, or tutorials you can point me to.

Ste




"John Marshall, MVP" wrote in message
...
| Visio shoulod be the right tool. What sort of problems are you having?
|
| John... Visio MVP
|
| Need stencils or ideas? http://www.mvps.org/visio/3rdparty.htm
| Need VBA examples? http://www.mvps.org/visio/VBA.htm
| Common Visio Questions http://www.mvps.org/visio/common_questions.htm
| "ste©" wrote in message
| ...
| Hi there,
|
| In work, we've got a copy of Microsoft Visio 2003 which we're using to
| create a process map. We're trying to show all the work that each
person
| in
| our office does over the course of the year.
|
| The problem is that I'm finding this very tedious to do - so much so
that
| I'm wondering if I'm even using the correct software for the job? I'm
| basically drawing the process shapes on a blank page and fiddling around
| until it looks right, but it is very awkward and messy to edit. I
thought
| that Visio was the right software for this job, but surely there's an
| easier
| way to do it than this? At the moment, I could probably do just as good
a
| job using PowerPoint and the autoshapes.
|
| Is Visio the right tool for this job? And if so, are there any free
| online
| tutorials anywhere that may help me to complete this task? If it is the
| right tool, then I'm certain that I'm doing it wrong!
|
| Thanks for any help, it's appreciated.
|
| Regards,
|
| Stephen
|
|
|
|

See, I told you it was a tough one! :-)

Ste

"ste©" wrote in message
...
| Hi John,
|
| The problem is that nothing is done automatically for me. I find that I'm
| having to draw the processes on using the Process shapes, and that I'm
| having to draw the lines on manually etc. Then when I have this big
| complicated process map that runs over 3 pages, my boss edits the
print-out,
| and it makes editing this very tedious.
|
| I just can't figure out what benefit Visio has over, say, PowerPoint;
apart
| from the connecting tools which snap to shapes quite nicely.
|
| Also, for each person in the process map, i've drawn a horizontal
rectangle
| for their work. It gets very messy when different people have work which
| overlaps, yet they aren't next to eachother. So I have to manually draw
| dotted lines along the rectangle to show who doesn't do the work. I would
| feel a lot better about this if I knew I was doing it right, but I feel as
| though I'm just doing it the long way around.
|
| At the moment, it looks something like the simple 'diagram' below. But
| instead of three people, we've got about 12 people, and the 'process
shapes,
| lines, etc' should be replaced with different tasks that people are doing,
| all connected by lines:
|
| |----------------------------------------------------------
| | Joe | process shapes, lines, etc
| |----------------------------------------------------------
| | Dave | process shapes, lines, etc
| |----------------------------------------------------------
| | Sue | process shapes, lines, etc
| |----------------------------------------------------------
|
|
| Thanks for any help, advice, or tutorials you can point me to.
|
| Ste
|
|
|
|
| "John Marshall, MVP" wrote in message
| ...
| | Visio shoulod be the right tool. What sort of problems are you having?
| |
| | John... Visio MVP
| |
| | Need stencils or ideas? http://www.mvps.org/visio/3rdparty.htm
| | Need VBA examples? http://www.mvps.org/visio/VBA.htm
| | Common Visio Questions http://www.mvps.org/visio/common_questions.htm
| | "ste©" wrote in message
| | ...
| | Hi there,
| |
| | In work, we've got a copy of Microsoft Visio 2003 which we're using to
| | create a process map. We're trying to show all the work that each
| person
| | in
| | our office does over the course of the year.
| |
| | The problem is that I'm finding this very tedious to do - so much so
| that
| | I'm wondering if I'm even using the correct software for the job? I'm
| | basically drawing the process shapes on a blank page and fiddling
around
| | until it looks right, but it is very awkward and messy to edit. I
| thought
| | that Visio was the right software for this job, but surely there's an
| | easier
| | way to do it than this? At the moment, I could probably do just as
good
| a
| | job using PowerPoint and the autoshapes.
| |
| | Is Visio the right tool for this job? And if so, are there any free
| | online
| | tutorials anywhere that may help me to complete this task? If it is
the
| | right tool, then I'm certain that I'm doing it wrong!
| |
| | Thanks for any help, it's appreciated.
| |
| | Regards,
| |
| | Stephen
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|

I posted a separate reply about using the Cross Functional Flowchart
template to assist with some of this. If you want automatic connection when
you drag out new process shapes, select the Connector Tool before dragging
out shapes rather than the Pointer Tool.

--
Mark Nelson
Microsoft Corporation

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"ste©" wrote in message
...
See, I told you it was a tough one! :-)

Ste

"ste©" wrote in message
...
| Hi John,
|
| The problem is that nothing is done automatically for me. I find that
I'm
| having to draw the processes on using the Process shapes, and that I'm
| having to draw the lines on manually etc. Then when I have this big
| complicated process map that runs over 3 pages, my boss edits the
print-out,
| and it makes editing this very tedious.
|
| I just can't figure out what benefit Visio has over, say, PowerPoint;
apart
| from the connecting tools which snap to shapes quite nicely.
|
| Also, for each person in the process map, i've drawn a horizontal
rectangle
| for their work. It gets very messy when different people have work
which
| overlaps, yet they aren't next to eachother. So I have to manually draw
| dotted lines along the rectangle to show who doesn't do the work. I
would
| feel a lot better about this if I knew I was doing it right, but I feel
as
| though I'm just doing it the long way around.
|
| At the moment, it looks something like the simple 'diagram' below. But
| instead of three people, we've got about 12 people, and the 'process
shapes,
| lines, etc' should be replaced with different tasks that people are
doing,
| all connected by lines:
|
| |----------------------------------------------------------
| | Joe | process shapes, lines, etc
| |----------------------------------------------------------
| | Dave | process shapes, lines, etc
| |----------------------------------------------------------
| | Sue | process shapes, lines, etc
| |----------------------------------------------------------
|
|
| Thanks for any help, advice, or tutorials you can point me to.
|
| Ste
|
|
|
|
| "John Marshall, MVP" wrote in message
| ...
| | Visio shoulod be the right tool. What sort of problems are you having?
| |
| | John... Visio MVP
| |
| | Need stencils or ideas? http://www.mvps.org/visio/3rdparty.htm
| | Need VBA examples? http://www.mvps.org/visio/VBA.htm
| | Common Visio Questions http://www.mvps.org/visio/common_questions.htm
| | "ste©" wrote in message
| | ...
| | Hi there,
| |
| | In work, we've got a copy of Microsoft Visio 2003 which we're using
to
| | create a process map. We're trying to show all the work that each
| person
| | in
| | our office does over the course of the year.
| |
| | The problem is that I'm finding this very tedious to do - so much so
| that
| | I'm wondering if I'm even using the correct software for the job?
I'm
| | basically drawing the process shapes on a blank page and fiddling
around
| | until it looks right, but it is very awkward and messy to edit. I
| thought
| | that Visio was the right software for this job, but surely there's
an
| | easier
| | way to do it than this? At the moment, I could probably do just as
good
| a
| | job using PowerPoint and the autoshapes.
| |
| | Is Visio the right tool for this job? And if so, are there any free
| | online
| | tutorials anywhere that may help me to complete this task? If it is
the
| | right tool, then I'm certain that I'm doing it wrong!
| |
| | Thanks for any help, it's appreciated.
| |
| | Regards,
| |
| | Stephen
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|

Thanks Mark, my problem is that I'm just new to the software and need some
training. My company are paying for this, but it won't be until about
September. In the meantime, I've got to learn as much as I can for some
Process Maps we're creating. I can 'botch' this task, but was trying to
learn the proper way of doing things. For example, how to create a process
that is carried out by more than one person - I can make it bigger, but
don't know how to exclude other people from it by having dotted lines in the
process rectangle! :-S

Thanks,

Ste


"Mark Nelson [MS]" wrote in message
...
| I posted a separate reply about using the Cross Functional Flowchart
| template to assist with some of this. If you want automatic connection
when
| you drag out new process shapes, select the Connector Tool before dragging
| out shapes rather than the Pointer Tool.
|
| --
| Mark Nelson
| Microsoft Corporation
|
| This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
|
| "ste©" wrote in message
| ...
| See, I told you it was a tough one! :-)
|
| Ste
|
| "ste©" wrote in message
| ...
| | Hi John,
| |
| | The problem is that nothing is done automatically for me. I find that
| I'm
| | having to draw the processes on using the Process shapes, and that I'm
| | having to draw the lines on manually etc. Then when I have this big
| | complicated process map that runs over 3 pages, my boss edits the
| print-out,
| | and it makes editing this very tedious.
| |
| | I just can't figure out what benefit Visio has over, say, PowerPoint;
| apart
| | from the connecting tools which snap to shapes quite nicely.
| |
| | Also, for each person in the process map, i've drawn a horizontal
| rectangle
| | for their work. It gets very messy when different people have work
| which
| | overlaps, yet they aren't next to eachother. So I have to manually
draw
| | dotted lines along the rectangle to show who doesn't do the work. I
| would
| | feel a lot better about this if I knew I was doing it right, but I
feel
| as
| | though I'm just doing it the long way around.
| |
| | At the moment, it looks something like the simple 'diagram' below.
But
| | instead of three people, we've got about 12 people, and the 'process
| shapes,
| | lines, etc' should be replaced with different tasks that people are
| doing,
| | all connected by lines:
| |
| | |----------------------------------------------------------
| | | Joe | process shapes, lines, etc
| | |----------------------------------------------------------
| | | Dave | process shapes, lines, etc
| | |----------------------------------------------------------
| | | Sue | process shapes, lines, etc
| | |----------------------------------------------------------
| |
| |
| | Thanks for any help, advice, or tutorials you can point me to.
| |
| | Ste
| |
| |
| |
| |
| | "John Marshall, MVP" wrote in message
| | ...
| | | Visio shoulod be the right tool. What sort of problems are you
having?
| | |
| | | John... Visio MVP
| | |
| | | Need stencils or ideas? http://www.mvps.org/visio/3rdparty.htm
| | | Need VBA examples? http://www.mvps.org/visio/VBA.htm
| | | Common Visio Questions
http://www.mvps.org/visio/common_questions.htm
| | | "ste©" wrote in message
| | | ...
| | | Hi there,
| | |
| | | In work, we've got a copy of Microsoft Visio 2003 which we're
using
| to
| | | create a process map. We're trying to show all the work that each
| | person
| | | in
| | | our office does over the course of the year.
| | |
| | | The problem is that I'm finding this very tedious to do - so much
so
| | that
| | | I'm wondering if I'm even using the correct software for the job?
| I'm
| | | basically drawing the process shapes on a blank page and fiddling
| around
| | | until it looks right, but it is very awkward and messy to edit. I
| | thought
| | | that Visio was the right software for this job, but surely there's
| an
| | | easier
| | | way to do it than this? At the moment, I could probably do just
as
| good
| | a
| | | job using PowerPoint and the autoshapes.
| | |
| | | Is Visio the right tool for this job? And if so, are there any
free
| | | online
| | | tutorials anywhere that may help me to complete this task? If it
is
| the
| | | right tool, then I'm certain that I'm doing it wrong!
| | |
| | | Thanks for any help, it's appreciated.
| | |
| | | Regards,
| | |
| | | Stephen
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|