why visio? flowchart - pmi silicon valley chapter
TRANSCRIPT
Why VISIO? â What can't you do in Excel or PPT?
â Are there cheaper drafting SW in the marketplace?
Templates Custom Data and Reports Flowchart Brainstorming Ishikawa Fishbone Diagrams Making Schedules with VISIO
â Making a WBS
â Making a Timeline diagram
Pivot Tables and Pivot Diagrams Odds And Ends
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 2
Integrating Data with Visual Objects â Create complex, collapsible diagrams
⢠Hide the data when you need to see the visuals, display the data when you need details
â Lightweight technical drawings ⢠Floor-plans, wiring diagrams
Low-end CAD â Rich library of standardized shapes â ensures consistency and facilitates easier
validation ⢠Flowcharts, network diagram templates
â Built-in intelligence â e.g., alignment
Integration with Other MS Office SW (Microsoft âEntrenchmentâ) â MS Excel, MS Project
â Sharepoint workflow (2010)
Competition â SmartDraw, AutoCAD, eDraw
â Prices are comparable, but training and support can be a problem
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 3
Evaluate your needs â Simple org charts,
timelines and process flows and even timelines can be done in PowerPoint using âSmartArtâ
â Thermometer dashboards can be made using the REPT function in Excel
The Visio Difference â Pivot Diagrams
â Swim-lane diagrams
â Network diagrams
â Cause-and-Effect diagrams
â Brainstorming
â Maps and floor-plans
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 4
1
2
Microsoft (Free) Templates â âGetting Startedâ probably has
all you need as a project manager
â Donât forget to use the free MS resources
⢠http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/visio-help/
Microsoft Partners and Vendors â Check out Visiotoolbox
⢠http://visiotoolbox.com/2010/templates.aspx
â Microsoft partner downloads
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 5
Visio Shapes Can Encapsulate Data
â Each Visio âshapeâ is an âobjectâ
⢠Data with respect to shape, location, size, font, etc.
⢠âMeta Dataâ â numeric data that pertains to the shape, but is not related to other shapes â cost, duration, etc.
⢠âConnectionâ â or information that ties an instance of a shape with other instances (same or other shapes)
Default Data
â Some shapes contain pre-defined data fields (e.g., âprocessâ, âdecisionâ, âtimelineâ
â Some shapes do not contain pre-defined data fields (e.g., âon page referenceâ, âconnectorâ, etc.)
â However, in either case, custom data can be defined
Data Types
â String, Boolean, Number
â Date, Duration, Currency
â Lists (Fixed and Variable)
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 6
Fixed List â No data can be entered that is not
defined in the list
Variable List â Choices are offered, but the
actual value in the field may be something that is not defined in the pull-down
Create Lists â Use the format field to define the
choices
â Must be separated by a semicolon
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 7
1
2
3
4 5
6
7
Annotation â Visio allows annotations (strings)
to be displayed as a screen-tip
â Use the Insert Shape ScreenTip
Comments â Similar to PowerPoint or Excel â
comments are shown in âyellow boxesâ with the name of the person making the comment
â Insert Comment
Hyperlinks â Similar to a cell in MS Excel â one
hyperlink per shape
â Insert Hyperlink
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 8
Why Reports? â Shape data entered
may need to be collated and grouped in a meaningful way
Report Types â Excel â XML â VISIO â HTML
How To â Data Reports
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 9
Flowchart Report Master Name Displayed Text Resources Cost Duration
Decision IF Count 1 Total
Document Document 1 NONE $10.00 0
Count 1 1 Total $10.00
Process Process 1 Res A $100.00 24 eh. Process Process 2 Res B $200.00 48 eh. Process Process 3 Res C $300.00 96 eh. Process Process 4 Res A $500.00 192 eh.
Count 4 4 Total $1,100.00
Grand Total $1,110.00
What is a Flowchart? â A flowchart is a visual means to show a sequence of
activities â Has a definite start and definite end point(s) â Each activity in the sequence of activities has one or more
predecessors and one or more successors ⢠Start point has a NULL predecessor
⢠End point has a NULL successor
What is the Difference Between a Flowchart and a State Machine Diagram? â State machines depict the transition (or result) of the
activity performed, not the sequence of all activities that need to happen
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 10
Follow the SIPOC
â Input
â Activity (or Process)
⢠Keep flowcharts readable by grouping processes as âpre-defined processâ
â Output
Branch Points/Decisions
â Use different colors and text to indicate desired/easy path vs. undesired or error path
â Loops â only 1 loop between 2 objects
Start, Termination
â One start and one end shape per flowchart, please!
â One âtransfer of controlâ per transferee
Annotations
â Allows a custom string to be displayed as a âscreen tipâ â use this feature as a âglossaryâ or âreasonâ
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 11
Using Standardized Shapes
â Use the standard templates
â Visio offers a rich palette of shapes
Making Layouts Intuitive
â Use the âConfigure Layoutâ to determine the âflowâ in the flowchart
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 12
Shape âMetaâ Data â Cost
â Duration
â Resource
â Custom Fields
â Prompt ⢠If you want to provide a
text prompt for someone adding data to the field, in the Prompt box, enter the text that you want
Reports â Data Reports
â Report data can be exported to Excel, XML, HTML and VISIO shapes
Excel Reports â Is grouped by data-type
to be exported â to give sub-totals
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 13
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 14
Demo: âOrg Chartâ
â Use Org Chart to build and display WBS
When To Use
â A series of connected steps â the output of each step is the input to the next step
â Each step is conducted by a different person/department
Shapes
â Business Workflow
⢠Department
⢠Workflow Objects
⢠Workflow Steps
â Rich graphics, but no default shape data
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 15
âTreeâ Structure â Similar to an Org Chart, a
brainstorming diagram is a mathematical âtreeâ
â You can add an âassociation lineâ (similar to dotted line report in org chart)
Shapes and Shape Data â You can change the shape
(form) to associate a meaning â similar to an org chart
â Shape data is fully customizable â and can be reported against â as in any other form of flowchart
â No default shape data
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 16
Use Standard (Out-of-the-Box) Template
Shapes Include â Effect
â Category
â Primary Cause
â Secondary Cause
â Caveat â Each Secondary Cause may have its own primary and secondary causes
Shape Data â No default shape
data
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 17
Rich Palette of Shapes
â Use âComputers and Monitorsâ and âNetwork and Peripheralsâ libraries
Default Shape Data
â Very rich
â Varies by shape
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 18
Rich Palette of Shapes
â Use âCubiclesâ, âOffice Accessoriesâ, âOffice Equipmentâ, âWalls, Doorsâ,
Default Shape Data
â Very rich
â Varies by shape
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 19
Timeline Template â VISIO offers a very powerful way to represent a
schedule using a (horizontal) timeline studded with milestones
⢠This feature was sorely lacking in MS Project until MS Proj 2010
â You can create nested timelines â e.g., to expound on the QA cycle in the overall release timeline
Gantt Chart â This feature is at primitive â Use only if you do not have access to MS Project
Org Chart â You can add custom data to the WBS nodes (see earlier
example) â e.g., Start, Finish, Actual Start, Actual Finish â However, this produces a ânetwork diagramâ and not
necessarily a chronological map of activities
Calendar â Schedule Calendar â Not very useful to PMs due to lack of automation
PERT Chart â Schedule PERT Chart â Not very useful to PMs due to lack of automation
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 20
What Before When
â Good practice dictates we make a WBS before scheduling work
Making WBS in VISIO
â Org Chart (previous demo)
â PERT
Summarization Structure
â No default shape data
⢠Suggested â WBS, Name, Duration, Cost
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 21
PERT Shape Behavior â These are simple boxes on
which you can type
â There is no mathematics built into the shapes!
â However, you can define custom shape data, but these cannot be displayed directly on to the shapes; you can only run a VISIO report
PERT Shape Types â âPlanningâ shape to
calculate critical path and slack
â âTrackingâ shape to enter Actual Start/Actual Finish
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 22
âCuteâ â Many cute graphics
â May be suited for social/personal events, but not vey useful for Project Managers
Shape Data â Default Shape Data
⢠Calendar
⢠Month, Week, Multiple Week, DayâŚ
⢠Multi-Day Event
â No default Shape Data for
⢠Reminder
⢠Clock
⢠Attention
⢠Note
⢠To Do
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 23
Why Use Visio?
â If you do not have MS Project, and all your data is in MS Excel, you can use this feature to draw rudimentary Gantt Charts
Gantt Chart Fields
â Same nomenclature as MS Project
â Very few fields; missing fields include work and dependency type
â Some calculation of dates
⢠Lag is supported
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 24
Timeline Basics
â Use âConfigure Timelineâ menu to adjust the length and scale of the timeline.
⢠Similar to MS Project, you can configure the starting day of the week
⢠âFiscal Year Starts OnâŚâ is a nice touch
⢠In the âTime Formatâ tab, make sure that the âAutomatically update dates when markers are movedâ is checked
â Use âChange Date and Time Formatsâ dialog box to make the data precise and readable â similar to MS Project
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 25
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 26
Timeline Default Data â Timeline Type (Fixed List)
â Start, Finish (Date)
â Be careful not to delete these fields!
Timeline Custom Data â Similar to any other shape â
you can define custom fields of type String, Number, Currency, Date, Duration, Boolean and List
Milestone Data â Default data is simple but
sufficient
â Custom data is the same as any other âshape dataâ
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 27
Use a convention â e.g., external deliverables on top, inflexible constraints as diamonds, flexible as âdoubleâ triangles
Use expanded timelines
Show overlapping tasks
Always show âTodayâ and elapsed time
Multiple Timelines
â Use multiple timelines to show separate (perhaps related) projects
â To simply âzoom inâ â use âexpanded timelineâ feature (previous slide)
Synchronize
â Milestones
â Intervals
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 28
Command
â Timeline Export Timeline Data
â This command appears ONLY if you have Microsoft Project 2000 â 2007 installed
⢠Does not work with MS Project 2010!
Export as MS Project Format
â Timelines can be exported as .mpp files
⢠Donât know why anybody would do that, since MS Project 2010 has a timeline function
Import
â You can import any .mpp file to recreate a Gantt chart in Visio â Is this a joke? MPP files are Gantt charts!
â You cannot import a .mpp file to create a timeline diagram
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 29
Pivot Diagrams â VISIO Professional Only!
â Available in the business section templates
Role of Shapes
â Each shape represents a field in the pivot table
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 30
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 31
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 32
1. Create New 2. Background Page
3. Insert Graphics
4. Page Setup of Foreground Page
5. Select Background Page
6
Š Sutanu Ghosh, June 2010 Slide 33