Creating a flowchart: From a rough sketch to an automated process

What is a flowchart?

A flowchart visually represents workflows and acts as a clear roadmap of business processes for companies.
It shows you at a glance how tasks, decisions and responsibilities are linked.
Whether it’s holiday requests, dealings with public authorities or quality assurance – flowcharts bring structure to organisations and ensure that nobody loses track of what’s going on.

Flowcharts form the detailed level within a process map or process landscape: whilst these show the big picture – that is, all of a company’s core and support processes – flowcharts make the individual workflows understandable in detail.

With linqi, you can create flowcharts very easily using drag-and-drop.

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Advantages of flowcharts

• Creating transparency: Everyone knows what needs to be done.
• Avoiding errors: No tasks get overlooked.
• Efficiency: Fewer queries, faster workflow.
• Documentation: Processes are clearly documented – including for audits and certifications.
• Onboarding: New staff get to grips with things more quickly.

How do you create a flowchart?

Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating a flowchart:

1. Select a process:
   Think about which process you want to illustrate with the flowchart.
   Example: ‘Holiday request within the company’ 
2. Define the start and end points:
   Where does the process begin? Where does it end? 
3. List the steps and decisions:
   List all the tasks, events and decisions in sequence that you want to include in the flowchart. 
4. Draw the diagram:
   Use user-friendly software such as linqi to create the flowchart digitally, without any programming knowledge.
   With just a few clicks, you can visualise workflows and customise them straight away.
5. Review, approve and test:
   Get feedback from colleagues. Are the processes correct? Are all stakeholders involved?
   With linqi, flowcharts can be adjusted and optimised at any time using drag-and-drop. 

Would you like to find out more about the various possibilities offered by workflow diagrams?

Discover the basics of workflow

BPMN 2.0: The international standard

linqi uses BPMN 2.0 (Business Process Model and Notation) – the globally recognised standard for business processes – as the basis for its intuitive modelling interface. This ensures that your models remain interoperable and reusable.

What does this mean for you?

• Future-proof: Your processes can be exchanged with other systems
• Professional: You work to an international standard – ideal for audits and certifications
• Flexible: Import and export as XML are possible

But don’t worry: you don’t need to study BPMN. linqi automatically translates your clicks into the standard – you simply work visually.

More about BPMN

Practical example: This is what a flowchart for a loan application looks like

Practical example: From paper chaos to automated credit assessment

Initial situation: A bank processes loan applications manually across various departments. Applications are sent by email, documents get lost, and queries delay processing. Data is transferred to the ERP system manually – a process that is error-prone and time-consuming.

With linqi:

• 20 minutes’ effort: flowchart created and process activated
• Result: Every credit application is automatically checked, further information requested where necessary, transferred to the ERP system and documented
• Time saved: Approx. 45 minutes per application – with 20 applications per week, that’s over 750 hours a year

And that was just one process. Imagine if you could also automate account openings, credit approvals or compliance checks.

Start creating a flowchart straight away with linqi

Practical tips 

• Less is more: Keep the flowchart as simple as possible. 

• Involve stakeholders: Get feedback from those who work with the process. 

• Digitalisation instead of paper chaos: With linqi, you can implement flowcharts directly as digital workflows – without any programming knowledge. 

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Conclusion

Flowcharts are a tried-and-tested tool for presenting business processes in a clear and understandable way. They create transparency, help prevent errors and make it easier to train new staff.
The crucial step is implementation: Modern no-code platforms such as linqi make it possible not only to document flowcharts, but also to deploy them directly as automated workflows. Thanks to support for the BPMN 2.0 standard, processes remain future-proof and can be exchanged with other systems as required.
Creation is done visually via drag-and-drop – without any programming knowledge and without relying on the IT department. Changes can be made at any time, allowing processes to evolve in line with the company’s requirements.

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FAQ – Creating flowcharts

Any questions?
Request a free live demo and see how you can easily create flowcharts yourself using linqi and digitise your processes.