The title of this post is an age old adage that is as true today as it was when it was first coined, and you can find no better example of this than in today’s workplace. Probably the perfect example of this is the way that Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint have become so deeply integrated in our day to day activities. However, I’d like to focus on an area where I think the use of pictures is vastly underrated: The use of process flow diagrams in non-technical formal documentation.

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Yes, it’s Monday. Think of it this way: We only have four more days until the weekend (wait, that’s depressing, grab yourself a Pepsi instead).

Here are the updates:

• Thinking about seeing the Da Vinci Code? Check out today’s Tip of the Day before you spend the money at the theater.
• Make sure to give the fresh new article on embedding Visio objects in Word documents a read.

One of the more common things I’ve seen done with Microsoft Visio is to create something in it (such as a flowchart, graph, or diagram) and then embed this creation into a Microsoft Word document. A good example of this occurs when creating a software design document. It’s pretty standard to include both a written description of how the software should work, as well as a visual flowchart of how software should work. Visio is the tool of choice for creating this flowchart. However, once this flowchart is created in Visio, what is the best way to include it in your document?

There are multiple ways to include your Visio object into a document. I’m going to go over two of the ones I’ve seen most commonly used:

• Copying the Visio contents into the document.
• Inserting the Visio contents as an object icon.

Copying the Visio contents

This is the method that I use the most, as it is both quick and easy. To do this, simply select the parts of your Visio project that you want to include in your document and then paste your selection into the document. Need a simple way to select everything on a Visio page? Simply use CTRL+A. This will select everything in the current window.

Once you have pasted your selection into the document, you can size the Visio object to fit your needs using the sizing handles. I like to use this method because it’s easy to perform inline edits. For example, say that you are revising a design document that was created a long time ago. It’s more than likely that you don’t have access to the original Visio object. However, you can edit the embedded object. To do so, follow the steps below:

1. Right click on the object.
2. Select Visio Object.
3. Select Open.

Visio will then open, and you’ll be able to perform any changes you want to the object. To save your changes, select Update from the File menu. Also, if you want to save the object from your document into a separate Visio file, you can go to the File menu and select Save Copy As….

*Note: Instead of selecting Open from the Visio Object menu, you can select Edit. This will open the embedded object for inline editing in Word. However, I find this hard to use, so I recommend that you use the method described above.

Inserting the Visio contents as an object icon

This is a good option if you need to attach your Visio object to the document as a reference or appendix. Including an icon instead of the entire diagram can cut multiple pages from your document.

All you have to do to insert your Visio object this way is follow these steps:

1. Go to theInsert menu.
2. Select Object.

A dialog box will then appear. For our purposes, we will be using the Create from File tab. Browse to the location of your Visio file to select it. Then, click on the Display as icon checkbox. This will enable the Change Icon button. You can use this to change the caption and picture for your icon. Once you’ve finished, click Ok and your object will show up as an icon in your document.

*Note: If you enable the Link to file checkbox, any changes made to your source file will cause the object in the document to be updated.

Important drawback to this method: If you choose this route, your audience will need to have Visio installed on their computer to be able to read it. It’s for this reason that I don’t use this method very much. Visio is not a common Microsoft Office install, so you’ll have to make the call on whether or not your audience will have access to it.

Embedding Visio objects is relatively simple, you should decide which way to do it based on who your audience is and what you are trying to accomplish by using your Visio object.

What are some common tasks you use Visio to accomplish? If you only use it on a limited basis, or don’t even use it at all, check out this article on three common uses for Visio to see if you could use it to make your life at work easier.

One of the reasons I think a lot of people don’t use Visio more often is because they simply don’t know what to use it for. To help this problem, I thought it would be a good idea to share some common ways that I’ve used Visio.

Here are three common projects where using Visio has worked well for me:

• Software Design - This is a pretty obvious one, just because you can easily diagram both how the software will function and what the inputs and outputs will be using a Flowchart. For instance, if you are creating a software module that calculates the taxes for several different companies, you can use Visio to plan out how these taxes will be calculated and how the module will handle calculating them for each company. Even if you are writing a description of the design, you should include a Visio diagram as it’s easier for some people to understand a visual representation than a written one.
  
  
• Process Diagrams - If you have any kind of defined process, it can almost always be represented in Visio. An example of such a process would be how a product goes from the design phase to the production phase. While a “warehouse” type example easily comes to mind, another process could be financial in nature, such as how someone applies and gets approved for a credit card or loan. Visio offers a wide variety of tools for creating these kinds of diagrams, giving you lots of options to work with.
  
  
• Hierarchy Structures - To expand, what I’m talking about here in particular would be personnel hierarchy structures, such as how your project is laid out. For example, at the top could be your boss, then you, then the three people that work for you. This also works well for client personnel structures. These kinds of diagrams are essential for new people to your project, as well as for everybody else if you have a large or often-changing project.

These are just three of the projects that I have used Visio for in the past, and continue to use it for today. Once you have used Visio a few times, you’ll get a better feel for the best ways it can work for you.

I thought I would write an article on Microsoft Visio since I haven’t written one for awhile, and also because it seems that a lot of people are not very familiar with this great tool. Visio is an extremely powerful application, and more people should take advantage of it (*steps off soap box*).

This article will focus on some common Visio Flowchart shapes and what kinds of uses you should put them to. You can find a detailed definition for a Flowchart from this link to the Wikipedia definition.

Here are the shapes we will be discussing:

1. Process Block - You can use this shape to describe “processes”, which can be defined for our purposes as a certain action being taken. Some examples of a process could be:
   • Performing a calculation, such as “Calculate the average of all the sales”.
   • A group taking an action, such as “The Product Test group validates the software modules”.
   • A generic action, such as “Document is placed in the tray”.

   These are normally the building blocks of your Visio diagrams.

2. Decision Symbol - As the name implies, you would use this symbol to branch out your diagram based on a decision that is made. You can think of this as an “If” statement (for those familiar with programming concepts).

   There are two basic ways to use this symbol:

   • Yes/No Path - This has two outcomes, Yes or No. An example would be “Is the average greater than 0?”. Based on the answer, you would either go down a “Yes” path or a “No” path.
   • Multiple Path - The flow can go multiple ways based on the outcome. For example, if could you “Choose location to check”, and then each location could be a path.

   The key here is to make sure you label each path, even if it is with a “Yes” or a “No”. Otherwise, you won’t be able to navigate your diagram.

3. Terminator Symbol - This is what you use when you want to end or start your diagram. Normally, you would have one at the beginning labeled “Beginning of (process)”, and one at the end labeled “End of (process)”. However, if your diagram can end in many places, you should have a terminator for each place it can end. This also works if you have multiple beginning points, but this is less common. Make sure to give them descriptive names instead of just “Begin” and “End”.

4. Document Symbol - Pretty obvious explanation here, but you might find yourself using it a lot. If you have any kind of document that you are trying to represent in your diagram, you should use this symbol. For instance, if the input to your process is a file, it would be represented by this symbol. Another example would be if the output of your process is a file.

5. On Page Reference - This should be used if you need to “jump” back to another part of your process in a different part of the diagram, but can’t connect them using a standard connector. Also, this can be used to modularize your diagram. For example, if you have a repeatable process (like a “Function” for those familiar with programming terms), you could reference that process by just using this symbol instead of repeating that part of the diagram multiple times. You should use this when what you are referencing is on the same page as this symbol.

   Another important point is that these symbols work in pairs, like two ends of a connector. The key is to label them both the same thing so that you know which reference goes where. I use numbers, which seem to work fairly well for small diagrams. However, if your diagram is more complex I recommend using more descriptive text like “Determine customer payment information function”.

6. Off Page Reference - This has pretty similar uses to the On Page Reference, however the key difference is that you would use this when what you are referencing is on a different page than the symbol. Using an example above, if you were to have repeatable functions in your diagram, you might just have one page where the details for it reside and then use this reference when you want people to skip to it. This way you don’t have to repeat the same set of symbols multiple times in your diagram. This also creates a cleaner, less cluttered diagram.

7. Database Symbol - I think you would use this more when designing software processes, as it represents a connection to a database or more specifically a table in that database. For example, say part of your diagram writes a value to a table, then that table should be represented by this symbol. This symbol should be labeled with the name of the table if there is only one database, if there are multiple databases than the name of the database should preface the table name.

Shape Location

Shapes 1-6 are located on the Basic Flowchart Shapes menu, while Shape 7 is located on the Miscellaneous Flowchart Shapes menu. Both of these menus can be accessed by clicking on File -> Shapes (”Stencils” in some older versions of Visio) -> Flowchart.

These are just some of the more common shapes used when creating a Flowchart. As you design your diagram, explore the different shapes available to you in order to better tailor your diagram to your project’s needs.

Two new articles and a Tip of the Day fresh out of the factory, see details below:

• Having trouble moving your shapes around in Microsoft Visio?  Check out this article on How to Group Your Visio Shapes on tips for creating easy to move shape modules for your project.
• If you’ve ever received an embarrassing email at work (blind links from friends *shudder*), you should pass this article on What does “Work Safe” mean? to the offending parties.
• Our Tip of the Day category has a new Tip Site suggestion that I’ve found to have a ton of useful information on many different topics.

One of the most frustrating aspects of working with Microsoft Visio is trying to get your shapes in exactly the right places on the page relative to each other.  This can be both a time consuming and stressful process.  However, there is light at the end of the tunnel.  By grouping shapes that share a common function, you can break your project into easier to manage modules instead of a bunch of individual shapes.

This is a pretty easy process (much easier than you are probably thinking).  For starters, find some shapes that you want to group together.  Some examples where this could be useful are:

• A Legend on a map or process flow.
• A block of similar design elements, such as a backend design for an application or the front end modules for the application.
• Any “shape” that is built out of multiple shapes, or really anything that goes beyond the simple shapes you can drag onto your pages.

For example purposes let’s say that we want to group multiple shapes that make up the Legend on our project.  We’ll assume that all of the shapes for the Legend are in place, and it looks exactly how we want it.  However, how do we easily move them all at once without changing the positions of the component shapes? Simple. 

First, select all of the shapes in the Legend; this includes any Text components that you have.  The resulting shapes should look something like this:

Then, right click and select Shape from the resulting menu.  From the Shape menu, select Group.  This is shown below:

Now, your shapes should be grouped and look like this:

There you have it, your Legend module is now complete.  You can move the entire group just like you would a single shape by dragging it around your project.  Also, if you want to modify individual shape position within the group, all you have to do is select that shape and move it.  It really is just that simple.

Lastly, if you want to ungroup your shapes, select the group, right click, and select Shape -> Ungroup.  Now all of the shapes are individual objects again.

This should save you tons of time (it’s been a lifesaver for me many a time), and make your projects easier to update in the future.