In this instance, we have the option to add a shape before, after, above or below. These options will change based on which SmartArt graphic you’re using. Select Add Shape and then choose from the available options for placement of that shape. Just right-click on a shape close to where you want to insert the new object. You can also add new items to an existing chart with a great degree of flexibility. This allows you to remove an item from anywhere in the diagram without affecting the rest of the objects. Note that any shape following a deleted object will be repositioned, attaching itself to the same point where the deleted object was cut. If you need to delete a shape, right-click on the shape and choose Cut. It’s highly unlikely that any of the SmartArt graphics is going to include the exact number of components in the correct position for the workflow process diagram that you’re trying to construct. However, if you want to make changes to the appearance or shape of the text boxes themselves, you’ll need to go to the Design and Format tabs found under SmartArt Tools on the Excel Ribbon. You can format this text in the same way you would any other text in Excel 2007.

Once you’ve inserted the chart, you can make any modifications to the text simply by clicking on the placeholders and replacing the information with your own text. In addition to the SmartArt graphics that come preloaded with Excel, you can download several other designs at Microsoft Office Online.Īs an example for now, I’ll select the Labeled Hierarchy chart found in the Hierarchy grouping. If you want to get more information about one of the objects, click on the item and a preview of that graphic along with a short explanation of its use will be shown on the right-hand side of the window. (Click any image in this article for a larger view.)įrom here, you can scroll through all the available SmartArt graphics in Excel.

You can access this feature by going to the Insert tab on Excel’s ribbon and clicking on SmartArt. If the workflow process diagram that you’re trying to create is fairly straightforward and basic, try using Excel’s predesigned SmartArt charts as a foundation for your diagram.

Here, we’ll take a look at some of those tools. There are a number of project management applications that have special utilities for creating workflow process diagrams, but you can also construct some very professional-looking ones using only the tools found in Excel 2007. In any case, these project planning forms can be extremely helpful, especially if you are trying to analyze existing processes to look for inefficiencies or other problems. These diagrams can be very basic and simple or they may prove to be quite complex, depending on the process you are trying to describe. One of the best ways to provide a graphic representation of a chain of tasks is to use a workflow process diagram.

Business process mapping tools excel