This series of excerpts introduces advanced features within Microsoft Visio, guiding users through the creation of cross-functional flowcharts with swimlanes for process and team organization. It then demonstrates how to construct network diagrams, illustrating insecure and secured network routes with various components. Furthermore, the material covers customizing Visio by creating and saving personal stencils for frequently used shapes. Finally, it explains how to enhance diagrams with hyperlinks to external documents and internal page linking, as well as generating organizational charts and pivot diagrams directly from Excel data, concluding with methods for sharing Visio drawings.

Vizio Advanced Study Guide

Quiz

1. What is the primary purpose of a cross-functional flowchart?
2. How do you access the swim lanes and separators in Vizio for creating a cross-functional flowchart?
3. Explain the difference between a vertical swim lane and a vertical separator in a cross-functional flowchart.
4. What is the benefit of grouping objects together in a network diagram? How do you perform this action?
5. Describe the steps to create a dashed line connector in a network diagram and why you might use one.
6. How do you save a custom shape to a personal stencil in Vizio? Why might this be useful?
7. What are the steps to create a hyperlink from a shape in a Vizio diagram to an external document? How do you know if a shape has a hyperlink?
8. Explain how the “Create New Page” feature in the Process tab works in Vizio and its advantage.
9. What are the three essential columns required in an Excel file to create an organizational chart using Vizio’s wizard? Which column is most crucial for establishing the hierarchy?
10. Briefly describe how to create a pivot diagram in Vizio from an Excel file and what type of information it can display.

Quiz Answer Key

1. The primary purpose of a cross-functional flowchart is to visualize processes across different departments, teams, or phases, showing who is responsible for each step and how different parts of an organization interact within a workflow.
2. To access swim lanes and separators in Vizio, you first open a basic flowchart template. Then, in the “Shapes” pane, you click on the “Cross-Functional Flowchart Shapes” stencil, where you will find the various lane and separator options.
3. A vertical swim lane defines a distinct functional area or phase within the flowchart, spanning the entire length. A vertical separator is used within a swim lane to further divide it, often to represent different teams or sub-phases within that broader function.
4. Grouping objects in a network diagram allows you to treat multiple shapes as a single unit, making it easier to move, resize, or manipulate them together without altering their relative positions. To group objects, select the desired shapes while holding the Ctrl key, then go to the “Home” tab, find the “Arrange” group, and click “Group.”
5. To create a dashed line connector, first draw a standard connector between two shapes using the “Connector” tool. Then, select the connector line, go to the “Shape Format” tab (or right-click and choose “Format Shape”), navigate to the “Line” options, and choose a dashed style from the “Dashes” dropdown menu. Dashed lines are often used in network diagrams to represent wireless connections.
6. To save a custom shape, first select the shape you want to save. Then, go to “More Shapes” in the “Shapes” pane and click “New Stencil.” Drag the selected shape into the new stencil. Right-click the shape in the stencil to rename it. This is useful for quickly reusing frequently used or custom-formatted shapes in different diagrams without recreating them.
7. To create a hyperlink, select the shape, go to the “Insert” tab, and click “Link.” In the dialog box, browse to the desired file under the “Address” section and click “OK.” A shape with a hyperlink will typically display a change in cursor to a hand with a link icon when hovered over, and a tooltip may appear indicating the linked file.
8. The “Create New Page” feature in the Process tab allows you to link a sub-process shape in your current diagram to a brand new, separate Vizio page. When you select a sub-process shape and use this feature, Vizio automatically creates a new page and establishes a link between the shape and the new page, allowing for more detailed workflows to be developed on separate pages while maintaining the overall flow.
9. The three essential columns are “Name” (of the employee), “Reports To” (the name of their manager), and “Position” (their job title). The “Reports To” column is the most crucial as it defines the hierarchical relationships and how the shapes in the organizational chart will be connected.
10. To create a pivot diagram, go to “File” > “New” and search for “Pivot Diagram.” Select the template and create it. The Data Selector will appear, prompting you to choose your Excel file and worksheet. After importing the data, you can drag and drop fields (columns from your Excel data) onto the diagram to visualize summaries and breakdowns of your data, such as total sales by region or units sold by product category.

Essay Format Questions

1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using cross-functional flowcharts in process analysis and improvement within an organization. Provide specific examples of scenarios where they would be particularly beneficial.
2. Compare and contrast the creation and utility of network diagrams versus organizational charts in Vizio. In what situations would you choose one over the other, and why?
3. Explore the ways in which Vizio facilitates collaboration and information sharing through features like hyperlinks, the Process tab’s new page creation, and sharing options. How can these features enhance project management and communication within a team?
4. Analyze the process of creating diagrams from external data sources in Vizio, such as organizational charts from Excel files and pivot diagrams. What are the key benefits and potential challenges of this data-driven approach to visualization?
5. Evaluate the importance of customization and stencils in enhancing efficiency and maintaining consistency in creating various types of diagrams in Vizio. Provide examples of how creating and utilizing custom stencils can improve workflow.

Glossary of Key Terms

• Cross-Functional Flowchart: A type of flowchart that visualizes the steps of a process across different functional areas (departments, teams, roles).
• Swim Lane: Horizontal or vertical sections in a cross-functional flowchart that represent different departments, teams, or responsibilities.
• Separator: A line or boundary used within a swim lane to further divide it, often representing different phases or sub-teams.
• Stencil: A collection of related shapes that can be used in a Vizio diagram.
• Network Diagram: A visual representation of a computer or telecommunications network, showing the components and their connections.
• Wireless LAN (WLAN): A local area network that uses wireless radio signals to connect devices.
• Hyperlink: A clickable link in a document that directs the user to another location, such as a webpage, another document, or a different place within the same file.
• Sub-process: A self-contained part of a larger process, often represented by a separate flowchart for greater detail.
• Organizational Chart (Org Chart): A diagram that shows the structure of an organization and the relationships between different positions or departments.
• Pivot Diagram: A dynamic diagram created from data, allowing users to analyze and summarize information from sources like Excel by arranging and displaying different data fields.
• Hierarchy: A system in which members of an organization or society are ranked according to relative status or authority.
• Data Graphics: Visual representations of data associated with shapes in a Vizio diagram, such as icons, color coding, or text labels that change based on the underlying data.

Visio Advanced Course Briefing Document

Date: October 26, 2023 Prepared By: Gemini AI Subject: Review of Visio Advanced Course Content

This briefing document summarizes the main themes, important ideas, and facts presented in the provided excerpts from the Visio advanced course. The course covers a range of topics, including creating cross-functional flowcharts, network diagrams, personal stencils, using hyperlinks and the Process tab for sub-processes, generating organizational charts and pivot diagrams from Excel data, and sharing Visio drawings.

1. Cross-Functional Flowcharts

Main Theme: Creating visual representations of processes that involve multiple departments or phases.

Key Ideas & Facts:

• Purpose: To separate tasks and responsibilities by different phases or departments within a project.
• Template: Utilizes the “Basic Flowchart” template as a starting point, accessible via “More Templates” if not immediately visible.
• Swim Lanes: The “Cross-functional Flowchart Shapes” stencil provides “Vertical Lane” (vertical swim lanes) and “Separators” to delineate different functional areas or phases.
• Instructor Joe demonstrates dragging and resizing swim lanes onto the canvas.
• Swim lanes include a title that can be edited (e.g., “Phase One,” “Team A”).
• Separators: Vertical separators are used within vertical swim lanes to further divide them into specific teams or responsibilities within a phase.
• The text in the separator can be changed by double-clicking (e.g., from “Phase” to “Team A”).
• Basic Flowchart Shapes: Standard flowchart shapes (Start/End, Process, Sub-process, Decision, Document) are used within the swim lanes to map out the process flow.
• Shapes can be named by clicking into them and typing.
• Basic editing tools (resizing, font changes) are applicable.
• The “Ctrl D” shortcut can be used to duplicate shapes.
• Connectors: The “Connector” tool is used to link the flowchart shapes, indicating the flow of the process. Static point-to-point connections are used in the example.
• Customization: Users can customize the appearance of the flowchart by changing the colors of shapes and connectors, as demonstrated by the instructor.

Quotes:

• “What I want to start off with today is creating what’s known as a cross-functional flowchart.”
• “This will allow us to separate things by different phases or even different departments that are going to be working on these different flow charts.”
• “For this I’m going to use the vertical Lane for the vertical swim Lane and I’m going to click and drag it right here…”
• “I’m going to use what’s known as a separator now if you’re using a vertical swim Lane you’re going to use a vertical separator…”

2. Network Diagrams

Main Theme: Visually representing the structure and components of a network, including both secure and insecure routes, WLANS, and internetworking.

Key Ideas & Facts:

• Template: Starts with a new file and searching for “Network Diagram.” Users can choose from pre-built templates (e.g., “Basic Network Diagram,” “Small/Medium Business Network Diagram”) or start from scratch. The instructor chooses to start from scratch.
• Insecure Route: Depicted with a bounding box (using a basic rectangle with no fill), a “Cloud” symbol (from “Network Locations” stencil) labeled “Internet,” and a connection to a “Building” symbol (also from “Network Locations”).
• The cloud and internet label are grouped together as a single object.
• A text box labeled “Insecure Network space” is added.
• Secure Route: Involves a “Router” and “Firewall” (symbols found in network-related stencils). The firewall is placed behind the router using the “Send Backwards” command.
• Duplication: The instructor emphasizes the use of duplication (Ctrl D) to create multiple shapes (e.g., routers, secure network boxes) efficiently.
• Network Components: Includes representations of servers, computers (laptops are chosen in the example), and WLANs.
• WLAN Representation: Created using rectangles with no fill and gray lines, labeled with “WLAN” and numbers (e.g., WLAN 01, WLAN 02).
• Wireless Access Points: Symbols are placed within the WLAN boundaries.
• Connections: Solid connectors are used for wired connections between network devices.
• Dashed Lines: Used to represent wireless connections between routers and wireless access points. This is achieved by changing the line style of the connector to “dashed.”
• Labels: Text boxes are used to label different parts of the network (e.g., “Secure”).

Quotes:

• “Now this network diagram will show the hierarchical network design using wlans and also internet working.”
• “I’m actually going to just simply search for a network diagram…”
• “Now inside this box I do want to have the internet… we can use whatever we like whether we want to do wireless access point or maybe we want to create a cloud…”
• “The next thing we need to do is now create the secured route so in order to do that we’re going to actually create the router and the firewall right here…”
• “The last thing that I’m going to want to do is create some dotted lines to show that this is going to be a wireless connection…”

3. Creating and Using Personal Stencils

Main Theme: Saving frequently used or custom-formatted shapes into a personal stencil for easy access in future diagrams.

Key Ideas & Facts:

• Creating a New Stencil: Accessed via “More Shapes” -> “New Stencil” and choosing a unit of measurement (e.g., US units). The new stencil will initially be named something like “Stencil 3.”
• Adding Shapes to a Stencil: Shapes can be added by selecting them in an existing diagram, duplicating them, and then dragging the duplicate onto the new stencil.
• Renaming Master Shapes: Right-clicking on a shape in the stencil allows you to “Rename Master” to give it a descriptive name.
• Renaming a Stencil: The stencil’s name can be changed by clicking the “Save” icon (diskette), and in the dialog box, renaming the stencil file. The location of the file does not need to be changed.
• Accessing Personal Stencils: When opening a new Visio file, personal stencils are found in “More Shapes” -> “My Shapes” (or a similar category depending on the version).
• Benefits: Allows users to reuse custom shapes and formatting without having to recreate them each time, improving efficiency and consistency.

Quotes:

• “Sometimes what we want to do is create an actual shape and then save it to a personal stencil that way we can use them over and over and over again without having to worry about what kind of formatting we did to it.”
• “The first thing you’re going to do is go to more shape and you’re going to go to new stencil…”
• “Now it’s going to say stencil 3 and I can quickly start to drop shape right here…”
• “Now of course it calls it a master 0.2 so we can right click and we can actually edit this name…”
• “Once I click save it’s now in the system so if I do decide to open up a brand new file… it’s actually going to be in more shapes and then I could go to my shape and I could see ghost stencil…”

4. Using Hyperlinks and the Process Tab for Sub-Processes

Main Theme: Creating interactive diagrams by linking shapes to external documents or other Visio pages representing sub-processes.

Key Ideas & Facts:

• Hyperlinks:Selected shapes can be linked to external files (e.g., Word documents, Excel files, PowerPoint files) or web addresses.
• To create a hyperlink, select the shape, go to the “Insert” tab, and click “Link” in the “Links” command group.
• In the “Hyperlink” dialog box, users can browse for a “Local file” or enter an “Address” for a website.
• Important Note: When browsing for local files, the “Files of type” dropdown may default to Visio files; it needs to be changed to “All Files” to see other document types.
• Linked shapes display a different cursor icon (hand with a link) when hovered over.
• Following a hyperlink typically involves holding the “Ctrl” key and clicking the linked shape, which will open the associated document or website.
• Process Tab (Sub-Processes):The “Process” tab allows linking a shape to a new or existing Visio page representing a sub-process.
• To create a link to a new sub-process page, select the shape representing the sub-process, go to the “Process” tab, and click “Create New Page.”
• Visio will create a new page with a link back to the original flowchart.
• Using “Ctrl + Click” on the original shape will navigate to the linked sub-process page.
• The names of the pages can be edited by double-clicking on the page tabs at the bottom.

Quotes:

• “Wouldn’t it be really nice if we could just click on the shape and it opens up that document in Word? Well good news you can do that in Vizio…”
• “I’m going to click on the actual shape and I’m going to go over to the insert tab… inside of the insert tab this is where the link command group lives and that’s where the command link lid.”
• “Make sure good point right now I’m on Vizio file you’re going to want to click on all files so that you see all of them…”
• “The process Tab and this is very similar to hyperlinks except this goes into subprocess…”
• “To actually access the process tab you’re going to go over the process now once here you can either create a link from an existing subprocess or you can create a new page now I usually use the create new page…”

5. Creating Organizational Charts from Excel Data

Main Theme: Generating organizational charts automatically from structured data in an Excel spreadsheet.

Key Ideas & Facts:

• Excel Data Format: The Excel file needs specific columns, most importantly:
• Name: The name of the employee.
• Reports To: The name of the person the employee reports to (crucial for establishing the hierarchy). For the top-level employee (e.g., CEO), this field can be left blank.
• Position: The employee’s job title.
• Visio Template: Start by searching for “organizational chart” in File -> New.
• Organization Chart Wizard: Instead of using pre-built templates, the instructor uses the wizard to import data.
• Data Source: Select the option to create the chart from “information I’ve already stored in a file or database” and choose “Text, Org Chart data or Spreadsheet.”
• File Selection: Browse and select the Excel file containing the organizational chart data.
• Column Mapping: The wizard prompts to map the columns in the Excel file to the required fields in Visio (Name, Reports To). An optional “First name” field is also available.
• Displayed Information: Choose which data columns from the Excel file should be displayed in the org chart shapes (e.g., Name and Position). The “Reports To” field is used for connections, not typically displayed within the shapes.
• Shape Data: Similar to displayed information, configure which data fields will be associated with each shape’s data properties.
• Pictures (Optional): The wizard allows including employee pictures if they are available as .PNG files named according to a specific convention (e.g., “FirstName LastName.png”). This option is skipped in the example.
• Wizard Layout: The wizard can automatically handle fitting the chart onto the page.
• Post-Generation Editing: After the chart is generated, manual adjustments may be needed to reposition shapes, adjust connector lines, and improve the layout.

Quotes:

• “The first thing you’re going to want to do is build the Excel file in a nice format that will work with Vizio to do this you’re going to open up Excel file and you’re going to make sure it has three things the first thing has to be the name of the person who they report to and also what their position is. The biggest thing out of all of this is the reports too. This makes those connections between the different shapes.”
• “I’m actually going to use the wizard and when I use the wizard it will give me that option to actually pull it from a file or entered in the wizard now I’m going to pull it from an Excel file…”
• “The name is going to be the name column I created reports to will be the reports to and if you did have a first name column you could use that but that is optional so I’ll leave it at none.”
• “Now it’s going to ask me about the columns that our data wants to display and I want the data file column to be the reports to I actually don’t want to display who they report to that’s just going to be the connectors I want it to display the name and the position of the person.”
• “Once you do that it builds it out and it looks amazing now all we have to do is move some stuff over…”

6. Creating Pivot Diagrams from Excel Data

Main Theme: Generating interactive data visualizations from Excel data using the Pivot Diagram template.

Key Ideas & Facts:

• Excel Data Requirements: The Excel data should be in a tabular format with headers for each column of data. The example includes columns for Month, Year, Ice Cream Type, Salesperson, Region, Sales Amount, and Units Sold.
• Pivot Diagram Template: Accessed via File -> New and searching for “pivot diagram template.”
• Data Selector: Upon creating a new pivot diagram, a “Data Selector” dialog box appears, prompting the user to choose the data source (Excel, Access, SharePoint, SQL Server).
• Workbook and Worksheet Selection: Browse to select the Excel workbook and then specify the worksheet or range containing the data. Indicate if the first row contains column headers.
• Column Inclusion: Choose which columns from the Excel data to include in the pivot diagram. By default, all columns are selected.
• Data Import: Once the data is successfully imported, the fields from the Excel headers appear in a “PivotDiagram Fields” pane.
• Building the Diagram: Drag and drop fields from the “PivotDiagram Fields” pane onto the diagram canvas to visualize the data.
• The initial view might show a summary of all data (e.g., total for a year).
• Adding fields like “Sales” will display the total sales amount.
• Adding “Salesperson” will break down the sales by each salesperson.
• Adding “Region” will further categorize the data by sales region for each salesperson.
• Adding “Type” (of ice cream) will provide the most granular breakdown.
• Changing Measures: The measure being displayed (e.g., total sales) can be changed (e.g., to “Unit” to show units sold).
• Deleting Fields: Fields can be removed from the diagram by selecting the corresponding shapes and pressing the “Delete” key or by deselecting them in a dropdown.
• Layout Adjustment: The “Arrange” group on the “Home” tab (including “Align” and “Position” options like “Auto Align” and “Auto Space”) can be used to automatically tidy up the layout of the diagram.
• Shape Customization: Individual shapes or groups of shapes (e.g., all regions) can be customized by changing their fill colors or by editing the “Data Graphics” associated with them.

Quotes:

• “The first thing we need to do is make sure that we have Excel information now what I always like to do is I like to make sure that I have my headers and then the information in here…”
• “Open up my Vizio again and I’m going to go to file new and which template we’re going to use is the pivot diagram template…”
• “Right away it’s going to pop up the data selector and it’s going to ask you where’s the data coming from and you can select it from either Excel or access or SharePoint or even SQL servers…”
• “Now by default right now what it’s doing if I zoom in here it’s just giving me the total for the year I don’t want that I want to see how much should I make in total sales so I’ll deselect this and yourself and it shows me we made about 1 million in sales 1.5.”
• “Let’s say that you want to delete something off of this pivot diagram for instance I don’t want the type of ice cream anymore I can always just go back over to type a little drop down select all and when I select all I can press delete on my keyboard and it gets rid of all those types.”

7. Sharing Visio Drawings

Main Theme: Methods for sharing Visio diagrams with others.

Key Ideas & Facts:

• In-App Sharing (Cloud): Using the “Share” button in the top right corner allows sharing via OneDrive (the cloud).
• Email Sharing: The “Share” button also provides options to share via email:
• As a PDF: Creates a static, non-editable version of the diagram.
• As a Visio drawing: Allows recipients who have Visio to open and edit the diagram.
• File Tab Sharing: Similar sharing options are available via File -> Share, with options for OneDrive and email (as attachment or PDF).

Quotes:

• “To share a drawing with someone there’s two ways to do it we can either come to the top right corner here and click on share and when I click on share it’s going to give me two options I can either share this on the cloud using my book drive or I can share this in an email as a PDF or as an actual video drawing…”
• “The same thing to do this is by going to file share and you’ll see once again we can either share with OneDrive or an email we could send as an attachment or as a PDF.”

This briefing document provides a comprehensive overview of the topics covered in the Visio advanced course excerpts. It highlights the key concepts, procedures, and functionalities demonstrated by the instructor, Joe. The inclusion of direct quotes helps to preserve the original context and emphasis.

Visio Fundamentals: Cross-Functional Flowcharts

• What is a cross-functional flowchart? A cross-functional flowchart is a type of diagram that visualizes a process while also showing which departments, teams, or phases are responsible for each step. It uses “swim lanes” to separate the activities based on these responsibilities, providing a clear overview of how different parts of an organization or project interact to complete a process.
• How do I create swim lanes in Visio? To create swim lanes in Visio, open a basic flowchart template and then access the “Cross-Functional Flowchart Shapes” stencil. From there, you can drag and drop vertical or horizontal swim lanes onto your canvas. You can resize them and add more lanes as needed. You can also use “separators” within the lanes to further divide them by different teams or sub-phases.
• How do I label the swim lanes and separators? To label a swim lane or separator, simply double-click on the title area (which often defaults to “Function” or similar) and type in the desired name, such as a department name (e.g., “Marketing Team”) or a project phase (e.g., “Phase One”). You can also adjust the font size and other formatting as needed.
• How do I connect shapes across different swim lanes? You can connect shapes across different swim lanes using the connector tool in Visio. Simply select the connector tool, click on a connection point of the first shape, and drag to a connection point of the second shape, regardless of which swim lane they are in. You can adjust the style and routing of the connectors as needed.

Visio Fundamentals: Network Diagrams

• What is a network diagram used for? A network diagram is a visual representation of a computer or telecommunications network. It shows the components of the network, such as routers, firewalls, servers, computers, and wireless access points, as well as their connections and how data flows between them. Network diagrams are used for planning, designing, documenting, and troubleshooting network infrastructures.
• How do I create a basic network diagram in Visio? To create a basic network diagram in Visio, you can start with a blank drawing or use a pre-designed “Basic Network Diagram” template. You can then drag and drop various network component shapes from the available stencils (such as “Computers and Monitors,” “Network and Peripherals,” and “Network Locations”) onto your canvas. Connect these shapes using the connector tool to represent the network connections. You can add text labels to identify each component.
• How can I represent wireless connections in a network diagram? To represent wireless connections in a Visio network diagram, you can use the standard connector tool to draw a line between the wirelessly connected devices (e.g., a router and a wireless access point, or a wireless access point and a laptop). Then, select the connector line, go to the “Line” options, and change the line style to a dashed or dotted line to visually indicate a wireless connection.
• How can I group objects in a Visio diagram? To group multiple objects in Visio so they can be moved or manipulated as a single unit, select all the objects you want to group (you can hold the Ctrl key while clicking to select multiple objects). Then, go to the “Home” tab, find the “Arrange” group, and click on “Group.” To ungroup them later, select the grouped object and click on “Ungroup” in the same menu.

Visio Fundamentals: Custom Stencils and Reusability

• How can I save custom shapes for future use in Visio? To save custom shapes in Visio, you can create a new stencil by going to “More Shapes” > “New Stencil” (and choosing your preferred units). Then, select the shapes you want to save, drag them onto your new stencil, and they will be added as master shapes. You can rename these master shapes by right-clicking on them and selecting “Edit Master” > “Edit Name.” To save the entire stencil, click the save icon on the stencil window and give it a name. This custom stencil will then be available in the “My Shapes” or a similarly named section under “More Shapes” in future Visio drawings.
• How do I access my custom stencils in new Visio drawings? Once you have saved a custom stencil, you can access it in any new Visio drawing by going to “More Shapes” in the “Shapes” pane. Look for a category like “My Shapes” or the name you gave your stencil. Clicking on this category will open your custom stencil, and you can then drag and drop your saved master shapes onto your drawing canvas.

Visio Fundamentals: Hyperlinks and Process Links

• How can I link a Visio shape to an external document or website? To link a Visio shape to an external document or website, select the shape and go to the “Insert” tab. In the “Links” group, click “Link.” In the dialog box, under “Address,” you can either type the web address or click “Browse” to locate a local file (remember to change the file type filter to “All Files” if you are linking to a non-Visio file). Click “OK” to create the hyperlink. When you hover over the linked shape (and press Ctrl), your cursor will change to a hand with a link icon, and clicking it will open the linked document or website.
• How can I link a Visio shape to another page within the same Visio document? To link a Visio shape to another page within the same document, select the shape and go to the “Insert” tab, then click “Link.” In the dialog box, under “Sub-address,” click “Browse.” This will typically show the available pages in your current Visio file. Select the desired page and click “OK.” Now, when you Ctrl+click the shape, it will navigate you to the specified page within the same Visio document.
• What is the purpose of the “Process” tab in Visio? The “Process” tab in Visio provides tools for managing and linking subprocesses within your flowcharts. It allows you to designate a shape as a subprocess and then either link it to an existing flowchart or create a new page for the detailed steps of that subprocess. This helps in organizing complex processes into more manageable and linked diagrams.
• How do I create a new page for a subprocess using the “Process” tab? To create a new page for a subprocess, select the shape that represents the subprocess in your main flowchart. Then, go to the “Process” tab and click on “Create New” in the “Subprocess” group. Visio will automatically create a new page in your document and establish a link between the original shape and this new page. You can then detail the subprocess on this new page. A link back to the main flowchart is also typically created.

Visio Fundamentals: Organizational Charts from Excel Data

• What is the required format for an Excel file to create an organizational chart in Visio? To create an organizational chart from an Excel file in Visio, your Excel file should have at least three columns: a column for the employee’s name, a column for the employee’s reporting manager’s name (this is crucial for establishing the hierarchy), and a column for the employee’s position or title. The column headers should clearly identify these pieces of information (e.g., “Name,” “Reports To,” “Position”). For the top-level manager (e.g., CEO), the “Reports To” field can be left blank.
• How do I use the Organization Chart Wizard in Visio to import data from Excel? To use the Organization Chart Wizard, go to “File” > “New” and search for “Organizational Chart.” Choose the “Organization Chart Wizard” option and click “Create.” In the wizard, select “Information that I enter using the wizard” and click “Next.” On the subsequent screen, choose “Information in an existing text or organization chart file” and click “Next.” Select “Excel” as the data source and click “Next.” Then, browse to locate your Excel file, select it, and click “Open.” Click “Next” again, and you will be prompted to match the columns in your Excel file to the fields Visio uses (e.g., match your “Name” column to Visio’s “Name,” your “Reports To” column to Visio’s “Reports To,” and your “Position” column to Visio’s “Title”). Follow the remaining steps in the wizard to customize the chart’s appearance and then click “Finish” to generate your organizational chart.

Visio Fundamentals: Pivot Diagrams from Excel Data

• What kind of data is suitable for creating a pivot diagram in Visio? Data that is organized in a tabular format with clear categories and numerical values is suitable for creating a pivot diagram in Visio. This typically includes transactional data with columns representing dimensions (e.g., time periods, product categories, regions, salespersons) and measures (e.g., sales revenue, units sold, costs).
• How do I create a pivot diagram in Visio from an Excel file? To create a pivot diagram in Visio, go to “File” > “New” and search for “Pivot Diagram.” Select the template and click “Create.” In the “Data Selector” dialog box, choose “Microsoft Excel Workbook” and click “Next.” Browse to select your Excel file and click “Open,” then click “Next.” Choose the worksheet or named range that contains your data and indicate if the first row contains headers. Click “Next” to select the columns you want to include in your diagram (you can typically select all). Click “Next” again, and after the data is imported, click “Finish.” The “PivotDiagram Fields” pane will appear, allowing you to drag and drop fields onto the diagram to analyze and visualize your data by creating hierarchical breakdowns and aggregations.
• How can I modify the information displayed in a Visio pivot diagram? To modify the information displayed in a Visio pivot diagram, use the “PivotDiagram Fields” pane. The fields from your data source are listed here. You can drag these fields onto different areas of the diagram (like the “Category” or “Value” areas) to change what data is being displayed and how it is aggregated. For example, you can switch from showing total sales by year to showing total units sold by product category and region by simply dragging and dropping the relevant fields. You can also use the dropdown arrows on the shapes in the diagram to filter or further refine the displayed data.
• How can I customize the appearance of shapes in a Visio pivot diagram? You can customize the appearance of shapes in a Visio pivot diagram by selecting the shapes you want to modify. Then, you can use the formatting options available in the “Home” tab, such as fill color, line style, and text formatting, to change their appearance. For more advanced customization, you can also edit the data graphics associated with the shapes. Select a shape, and in the “Data” tab, look for options related to data graphics, where you can modify how data values are visually represented.

Visio Fundamentals: Sharing Diagrams

• What are the different ways to share a Visio diagram with others? You can share a Visio diagram in several ways:
• Via the cloud (OneDrive): You can save your Visio drawing to OneDrive and then share a link with others, allowing them to view or even edit the diagram depending on the permissions you grant.
• As an email attachment: You can send the Visio file (.vsdx) as an attachment to an email. Recipients who have Visio can open and edit the file.
• As a PDF: You can save your Visio diagram as a PDF file, which is a widely accessible format that recipients can view without needing Visio. This format is good for sharing a static view of your diagram.
• As a Visio drawing that opens in the Visio application: When sharing via email within the Visio application, you might have the option to send it in a format that directly opens in the recipient’s Visio if they have it installed.
• How do I save a Visio diagram as a PDF? To save a Visio diagram as a PDF, go to “File” > “Save As.” In the “Save As” dialog box, choose a location to save your file. Then, in the “Save as type” dropdown menu, select “PDF (*.pdf).” Click “Save” to create the PDF version of your diagram. You may have additional options to customize the PDF output, such as page range and image quality, depending on your Visio version.

Advanced Vizio Diagramming Techniques

The Vizio advanced course, as facilitated by Joe in the provided text, covers several topics building upon basic flowchart creation. Here’s a discussion of the key concepts and activities covered:

• Creating Cross-Functional Flowcharts: The course starts by extending basic flowcharts to cross-functional flowcharts using the basic flowchart template. This involves utilizing the “Cross-Functional Flowchart Shapes” stencil, which contains swim lanes and separators. These elements allow for the separation of flowchart steps by different phases or departments involved in a project. The example provided illustrates a project with three phases and three teams (Team A, Team B, Team C) working on various processes like “Project Alpha,” “Bourbon,” “Contact Developers,” “Contact Marketing Team,” and “Building a pricing plan”. Vertical swim lanes and vertical separators are used for this purpose. The course emphasizes naming swim lanes (e.g., “Phase One,” “Phase Two,” “Phase Three” or “Team A,” “Team B,” “Team C”) and placing relevant flowchart shapes within these lanes to visualize responsibilities and process flow across different functions.
• Creating Network Diagrams: The course then moves on to creating network diagrams to show hierarchical network designs using WLANs and internetworking. This section involves starting a new file and searching for a network diagram template, or even starting from a blank drawing. The example demonstrates creating an insecure route (representing the internet) and a secure route (representing a business building). The secure route includes elements like routers, firewalls, servers, computers (including laptops), and WLANs with wireless access points. The course covers connecting these elements using the connector tool and differentiating wireless connections using dashed lines.
• Saving Custom Shapes to a Personal Stencil: The course also teaches how to create and save custom shapes to a personal stencil for repeated use. This involves opening a new stencil, dragging existing or modified shapes into it, renaming the master shapes, and saving the stencil with a custom name (e.g., “codes stencil”). These custom stencils then become accessible in the “More Shapes” menu for use in future diagrams.
• Adding Hyperlinks to Shapes: The course explains how to add hyperlinks to shapes to link to external documents (like Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files) or websites. This is done through the “Insert” tab, using the “Link” command. The dialog box allows browsing for a local file, and upon hovering over a linked shape, a cursor with a link icon appears, indicating that holding “Ctrl” and clicking will open the linked document.
• Using the Process Tab for Sub-Processes: The “Process” tab is introduced as a way to link to sub-processes by creating new Vizio pages. Selecting a shape representing a sub-process (like “building the pricing plan”) and using the “Create New Page” option in the “Process” tab automatically generates a new page for detailing that sub-process and creates a link between the original shape and the new page. Ctrl-clicking the original shape navigates to the linked sub-process page.
• Creating Organizational Charts from Excel Data: The course details how to generate organizational charts directly from an Excel file. This requires a specific Excel file format with columns for the employee’s name, who they report to, and their position. The “Reports to” column is crucial for establishing the hierarchical connections. In Vizio, a new organizational chart is created using the wizard, selecting the option to pull data from a file (Excel), specifying the file and worksheet, and then mapping the Excel columns to the appropriate fields in the org chart wizard (Name, Reports to, Position). The wizard then automatically builds the org chart, which may require some manual adjustments for layout and connector points.
• Creating Pivot Diagrams from Excel Data: The course covers creating pivot diagrams from Excel data to visualize data summaries. This involves having structured data in Excel with headers. In Vizio, the “Pivot Diagram” template is used, and the data selector allows importing data from Excel by specifying the file and worksheet. Once imported, fields (like “Year,” “Salesperson,” “Region,” “Type,” “Sales,” “Unit”) appear, which can be added as layers to the diagram to analyze and break down the data (e.g., total sales by salesperson, by region, and by type of ice cream sold). The diagram can be customized by deleting layers, auto-aligning shapes, and editing data graphics or individual shape colors.
• Sharing Vizio Drawings: Finally, the course briefly touches upon sharing Vizio drawings, which can be done by sharing on the cloud (OneDrive) or via email as a PDF or as an editable Vizio drawing. This can be accessed through the share button in the top right corner or through the “File” > “Share” menu.

In summary, the Vizio advanced course focuses on enhancing diagramming capabilities beyond basic flowcharts by introducing techniques for visualizing complex processes, network structures, organizational hierarchies, and data summaries, as well as methods for customization, linking, and sharing.

Vizio: Creating Cross-Functional Flowcharts

Based on the sources and our previous conversation, let’s delve deeper into cross-functional flowcharts as discussed in the Vizio advanced course.

In the Vizio advanced course, after learning the basics of creating flowcharts, the next step is to create cross-functional flowcharts. This type of flowchart is designed to illustrate process flow across different functional areas or phases within an organization or project.

Here are the key aspects of creating cross-functional flowcharts as described in the course:

• Starting with the Basic Flowchart Template: To begin, you use the basic flowchart template in Vizio. If you don’t readily see it, you can search for it online through “more templates”. After selecting the basic flowchart, you choose a blank flowchart and click “create”.
• Utilizing the “Cross-Functional Flowchart Shapes” Stencil: A crucial element for creating cross-functional flowcharts is the “Cross-Functional Flowchart Shapes” stencil. You can access this by clicking on it, which will display the available shapes, most notably swim lanes and separators.
• Swim Lanes and Separators:
• Swim lanes are used to represent different phases or departments that are involved in the process being diagrammed. They act as horizontal or vertical containers to group related steps. In the example provided, vertical swim lanes are used to represent three different departments or teams: Team A, Team B, and Team C.
• Separators, specifically vertical separators when using vertical swim lanes, are used to further divide the swim lanes and can be labeled to indicate the different functions or teams responsible for the activities within those sections.
• Mapping Processes to Swim Lanes: Once the swim lanes and separators are in place, you can start adding basic flowchart shapes (like “Start,” “Process,” “Sub-process,” “Decision,” “Document,” and “End”) and positioning them within the appropriate swim lanes. This visually maps which department or phase is responsible for each step in the process.
• Naming Swim Lanes and Separators: It’s important to name the swim lanes and separators clearly to reflect the phases or departments they represent. In the example, the initial swim lanes are labeled “Phase one,” “Phase two,” and “Phase three”. These labels can be modified; for instance, they are later changed to represent “Team A,” “Team B,” and “Team C” using separators.
• Connecting the Flow Across Functions: The standard connector tool is used to show the sequence of steps in the flowchart, even as the flow moves across different swim lanes, indicating the handoffs or dependencies between different functions or phases.
• Benefits of Cross-Functional Flowcharts: This type of flowchart provides a clear visual representation of how a process flows across different parts of an organization, highlighting responsibilities, potential bottlenecks, and areas for collaboration.

In the example provided, a project lifecycle is mapped across three teams (A, B, and C) and potentially through different phases (although initially set as phases, the labels are changed to teams). You can see how “Project Alpha” is handled by Team A, obtaining permits and contacting developers is done by Team B, while contacting marketing falls under Team C. As the process progresses, different teams become responsible for subsequent steps like building a pricing plan, checking in with other teams, making decisions, and announcing the demo.

By using swim lanes and separators, cross-functional flowcharts offer a more detailed and contextual understanding of a process compared to a basic flowchart, especially when multiple teams or departments are involved.

Vizio Basic Flowchart Template: A Foundation

Based on the sources and our conversation history, let’s discuss the basic flowchart template in Vizio.

The basic flowchart template is presented in the sources as the foundation for creating various types of flowcharts, including the more advanced cross-functional flowcharts.

Here’s what the sources tell us about the basic flowchart template:

• Starting Point: The Vizio advanced course begins by using the basic flowchart template. This suggests it is a fundamental template that provides the necessary tools and shapes for illustrating sequential steps in a process.
• Accessing the Template: When you open Vizio and want to start a flowchart, you can look for the “basic flowchart” template. If it’s not immediately visible, you can find it by going into “more templates” and searching for it online. This indicates that Vizio has a library of templates, and the basic flowchart is a standard option.
• Creating a Blank Flowchart: Once you click on the “basic flowchart” template, you are then prompted to use a “blank flowchart” and click “create”. This implies that the basic flowchart template provides a canvas and access to relevant stencils, but you start with a blank drawing area to build your specific flowchart.
• Foundation for Advanced Flowcharts: As mentioned earlier, the basic flowchart template is used as the starting point for creating more complex diagrams like cross-functional flowcharts. This means it likely contains the fundamental flowchart shapes (like process, decision, start/end, etc.) that can then be organized within swim lanes and separated by functional areas when creating a cross-functional flowchart, as discussed in our previous turn.
• Access to Stencils: When you start with the basic flowchart template, you gain access to relevant shape stencils. For instance, when creating a basic flowchart and then moving to a cross-functional flowchart, the “Cross-Functional Flowchart Shape” stencil becomes available. This indicates that the initial template selection influences the stencils you can readily use for building your diagram.

In summary, the basic flowchart template in Vizio is the initial template you select to begin creating process flow diagrams. It provides a blank canvas and access to fundamental flowchart shapes and stencils, serving as the starting point for both simple and more advanced flowcharts like cross-functional ones. If you don’t see it immediately, you can easily find it by searching through Vizio’s extensive template library online.

Vizio Swim Lanes for Cross-Functional Flowcharts

Based on the sources and our previous discussion, let’s delve into swim lanes in Vizio.

Swim lanes are a fundamental component of cross-functional flowcharts in Vizio [1, previous turn]. They serve as visual containers to organize the steps of a process according to different phases or departments involved.

Here are the key aspects of swim lanes as described in the sources:

• Location in the Stencil: Swim lanes are found within the “Cross-Functional Flowchart Shapes” stencil in Vizio. This stencil becomes accessible when you start with a basic flowchart template and intend to create a cross-functional flowchart [1, previous turn].
• Purpose of Separation: The primary function of swim lanes is to separate the activities within a flowchart based on who is responsible for them (e.g., different departments or teams) or the stage in which they occur (e.g., different phases of a project).
• Vertical Orientation: In the example provided in the sources, vertical swim lanes are used. To add a vertical swim lane, you click and drag the “vertical Lane” shape from the “Cross-Functional Flowchart Shapes” stencil onto your drawing canvas.
• Resizing Capabilities: Once a swim lane is added, its size can be adjusted to accommodate the flowchart shapes that will be placed within it. You can click and drag the edges of the swim lane to increase or decrease its height.
• Inclusion of Titles: Each swim lane includes a title. This title is crucial for identifying the department, team, or phase that the swim lane represents.
• Adding Multiple Swim Lanes: You can add multiple swim lanes to your diagram, positioning them next to each other to represent all the relevant functions or phases involved in your process.
• Labeling Swim Lanes: The title of a swim lane can be easily changed by double-clicking on the existing title (which defaults to “Function”) and typing in the desired name, such as “Phase one,” “Phase two,” “Phase three,” “Team A,” “Team B,” or “Team C”.

In the context of creating a cross-functional flowchart, after adding and arranging the swim lanes to represent the different involved parties, you then place the standard flowchart shapes within the appropriate swim lane to visually depict who performs each step of the process [4, previous turn]. The connectors then show the flow of work, often crossing between swim lanes to indicate handoffs or dependencies between different functions.

In summary, swim lanes in Vizio are essential tools for creating cross-functional flowcharts. They provide a structured way to visualize process flow by organizing activities within clearly defined sections representing different responsibilities or stages. The ability to add, resize, and label swim lanes makes them highly adaptable for mapping various types of cross-functional processes.

Visualizing Project Phases in Vizio Flowcharts

Based on the sources and our conversation history, let’s discuss project phases in the context of creating flowcharts using Vizio.

The sources indicate that project phases can be effectively represented in a cross-functional flowchart using swim lanes. Swim lanes allow you to visually segregate the different stages or phases of a project, making it clear which activities belong to each phase.

Here’s how project phases are addressed in the sources:

• Swim Lanes as Representation of Phases: When introducing the concept of cross-functional flowcharts, the source explicitly states that swim lanes can be used to separate things by “different phases”. This establishes swim lanes as a primary tool for visualizing project phases within a flowchart.
• Initial Labeling of Swim Lanes: In the example provided, the initial setup of the cross-functional flowchart involves creating three vertical swim lanes that are labeled as “Phase one,” “Phase two,” and “Phase three”. This directly demonstrates how swim lanes can be named to represent distinct project phases.
• Flexibility in Representation: While the initial example uses “Phase” to label the swim lanes, the source goes on to change these labels to represent “Team A,” “Team B,” and “Team C”. This highlights the flexibility of swim lanes, indicating that they can be used to represent not only project phases but also different departments or teams involved in the project lifecycle. The key takeaway is that swim lanes provide a method for categorizing and organizing flowchart activities based on a chosen criterion, which can be project phases.
• Visual Organization of Activities: By placing specific flowchart shapes within the swim lane corresponding to a particular project phase, you can clearly visualize which activities occur during each phase. The connectors then illustrate the flow of work through the different phases, potentially moving from one swim lane (phase) to another.

In summary, project phases can be effectively visualized in Vizio by utilizing swim lanes in a cross-functional flowchart. You can label each swim lane to represent a specific phase of the project and then place the relevant process steps within that swim lane. While swim lanes can also represent other functional divisions like teams or departments, they provide a clear and organized way to map out the progression of a project through its various stages. The ability to label and resize swim lanes offers the flexibility to represent project phases in a way that best suits the specific project and its requirements.

The Original Text

hello everyone and welcome my name is Joe I’m going to be facilitating this course for you today and today we’re going to be talking about Vizio advanced in our Vizio introduction course what we ended up creating was a basic flowchart what I want to start off with today is creating what’s known as a cross-functional flowchart to do this we’re going to use our basic flowchart template right here and if you don’t see that you can always go into more templates and search for it online so once you click on basic flowchart we’re then going to use our blank flowchart and click create now you’ll see right away that we have the option for cross-functional flowchart shape stencil and if I click on it this is where we’ll find our swim lanes and our separators this will allow us to separate things by different phases or even different departments that are going to be working on these different flow charts so let’s say that we’re working on a project and we can use some basic flow chart shapes for this we’ll do a start and end and I’ll just put my start right here and let’s say that this is going to be I don’t know we’ll make up the process as we go along we’re going to have a process underneath it we’ll have some sort of process and we’ll reshape this and then we’ll have another process then we can always duplicate for another one then somewhere along the line we’ll have some sort of sub process and we’ll start to follow this out in a little bit we’ll have another process and once again I could just use Ctrl D to duplicate maybe we’ll have a decision somewhere I think that looks good right there just gonna space this out nicely and then we’ll have a document that we need to access or create and last but not least we will duplicate our end so for these different processes what we can do is we can start to map these out to different departments and different phases for instance maybe there’s going to be three phases that this project is going to be completed in and I’m going to have three different departments working on this I’m just going to move my shapes to wherever I’d like just so that they feel like they’re more aligned and we’ll do something like this I think this looks great and next what I’m going to do is start to name these so for this first process what we’ll call this is project Alpha there we go and of course we can always change the size of this and all the other editing tools that we’ve went over in our Vizio introduction video I’ll just add a size 14 on there I think that looks great so what we’re going to do now is fill out the rest of this I’m going to click into the next one and we’ll say for this one we’re going to Bourbon and once again I’ll just change everything I need to change here I’ll go with a 14 point font and then after that I’m thinking we’ll do contact Developers foreign we will contact our marketing team so we could start to get this project marketed after this we might have a sub-process where we’re building a pricing plan and once again I’ll just change that to a 14 point and then we may want to just check in on our developers and marketing team and I like to just do a double click like this so that I can get R if we go one two we get our nice little app box here but what we can also do is just go right up top and just change it here as well whatever works down here we do want a decision point on this and the decision point is how we want to announce this so do we want to announce this via teams or email foreign to do an email we are going to want to write up an email on this so once again I’ll just change this to 14 point there we go we may want to make this a little bigger just because of the text and then if we do decide to do email and I’ll just change that via if we decide to do email well then we’ll go up here and we will write out the document so this will be our demo announcement document and last but not least well we’ll have our demo now we just have to create our connections and I’m going to go to my connector tool and I’ll create a connection I want to make this a static connection so I will be going from point to point and once again point to point and there we go and then for our announcements we’ll either if we decide to do email go to demo announcements or we’re just going to go straight to the demo if we’re going to do a quick little teams announcement and I think that looks great now I’ll go back to my pointer tool I’m just going to switch up this line so it’s straight I might want to switch this line up so it’s straight as well there we go and I think this looks awesome but now what we’re going to want to do is set up our cross functional team because I have three teams working on this team a team B and team C but I also have this in different phases so the first thing I’m going to do is go over to my cross-functional flowchart shape now for this I’m going to use the vertical Lane for the vertical swim Lane and I’m going to click and drag it right here and I can make it as big as I want if I wanted to make it a little bigger you can come over here and click and drag whatever works for you and I’m just going to make that a little bigger there perfect and I want to include that line so perfect it also includes the title which is really nice and now that we have this I might just make this a little different here and there we go beautiful and I think that looks nice now I’m going to add another Swan Layman as well the second one is going to go right next to it and once again I want this to capture the rest of them so I will click away and then once I click away I could just click and drag and I include it like this and then last but not least one last swim Lane right over here and then I click away and then you can resize it now what I want to do is I want to start to add more phases you’ll see here that this is all just one face I want this to be all different types of faces so I want this to say instead of function I’ll double click and I’ll call this one phase one I’ll then click on the next function and I’ll call this one phase two and I’ll click on this third one nice double click phase three now for these phases I don’t really want it to say phase I want it to have theme A Team B Team D but I do need to split this up so I’m going to use what’s known as a separator now if you’re using a vertical swim Lane you’re going to use a vertical separator and if you’re using just a swim Lane horizontally you’re going to use the normal separator so I’ll click on vertical separator and click and drag this one right here and what I’m going to do is I’m going to change this to instead of it saying phase I’m going to call it team a now I know that team a is going to be dealing with the project Alpha discussion a building pricing plan and then that’s it we’ll then go into another separator and I’ll add it between these two right here and we’ll just say that let’s go all the way over here let’s add contact Developers and this is going to be my team so Team B is going to be working on all these different flows now I’ll do class separator if I needed to but since it’s already here all I have to do is double click and then put Dean see and now we have everything organized so for phase one I have Team a working on the idea of project Alpha I have Team B playing the permits and contacting developers while my team fee contact marketing degree then when we switch over to phase two team a will be building out a pricing plan and Team B will be checking in on the marketing and development and then team c will make that decision if they’re going to announce via teams or email once we get into phase three email is fully done with this project I think B is going to be announcing the demo and then of course if we decide to send out this document or if we don’t we can skip into that now I do want to add one more connector just from here demo and there we go I may also want to add the text here as well to decide what is the decision is this the teams or is this the team so I’m going to click on text and I’m going to enter the text here I’m just going to put via themes and you can make that a little bigger if you like I’ll do a 14 point and then once I’m done I can use my pointer tool to actually take this and drag it down here because this is where it’s going to live beautiful and then I’ll do another one I’m going to put it here and I’m going to say via email and once again you can double click make this a little bigger I’ll do 14 point and then I’ll click on my pointer tool and just click and drag it to the middle here and look at that this is looking great of course we could change the colors as I always like to do I could change one color or both at the same time and then I can just do a quick fill maybe I’ll make those ones let’s do a red for those for all the processes I’m gonna do a lighter blue something like that that looks great for the sub process let’s do a nice green for the announcement I’ll do a purple and then for the demo I’ll do chemo announcement in yellow you can also change these shapes as well if you like and fill them with different colors you can do a nice light gray just click on each one maybe I want to change this to a different color as well you’re more than welcome to in each of these as well and there we go and you might just want to change that text of course and change it to a different color and there we go so you can have really a lot of customization to this and make it look any way that you like so take a moment try this out on your own and when we come back we’re going to talk about building a network diagram what we’re going to be talking about next is creating a network diagram now this network diagram will show the hierarchical network design using wlans and also internet working so the first thing I’m going to do is create a new file I’m actually going to just simply search for a network diagram you’ll also see here in the suggested search that we have network if we give that a click it’s going to search thousands of our templates and we can go here and choose which one we want now I’m just going to Simply use a basic diagram so I’ll go to basic Network diagram give it a click use a basic Network diagram or we can use a small slash medium business at work diagram whichever one you’d like to use you’re more than welcome to they just have different icon designs now for me you can even just start from scratch which I’m gonna do and then I’ll click create now the first thing I’m going to do is the insecure route so I want to be able to create a box and then start to put different things in there you’ll see we have access to networks we have computer monitors and we have quick shapes or even more shapes that we can add so I do want to just add some basic shapes here so I will go to more shapes and then I’ll go to General and basic shape this is where I can start to create those borders and I’m going to click and drag the square over here I’ll make a little bigger here just like that I think that looks good I don’t want to fill so I am going to turn the fill off no fill but I do want to make sure I can see that line so I’m going to do that and there we go we have a nice little light box now inside this box I do want to have the internet I’m going to go to network and I’m going to search for anything that helps me to distinguish that this is the internet that we’re connecting to and we can use whatever we like whether we want to do wireless access point or maybe we want to create a cloud so I can search for cloud and there we go we see the cloud right here and you’ll also notice that it’s under Network location so you can just see through all these different things we have symbols we have calendar shapes but I’m going to use this one and put it right here and then what I can do is just enter a text box and the text box is going to say internet just so that I have some sort of labeling system here I’ll put internet and there we go now I can go back to home grab my pointer tool and click and drag it wherever I like and I’ll put it right there now the next thing that I want to do is group these together I think it’s important to do this so that I know this is one object I can do that by clicking on this one holding the control key clicking on internet and then we’ll go to group under the enrangement group give it a click and click group so now it’s all one so even when I move this I can move it around as one piece next up I do want to search for some sort of like business building so that I can represent the building and once again you can either look here add some of your network or you can just search for building and there we go building and it’s under once again Network locations and I’ll give that a click here now I’m going to make a connection from our Internet to our actual building and I may also want to just put in here that this is an insecure Network space so I’m going to add another insert text box and then I’ll add it right here and I’ll just put into here you can also make this a little bigger and I’ll just go with like a 30 point I think that looks good and now I can make my connection by going to the connector tool and connecting this straight to this and there we go looks perfect now if you did want to connect this tool maybe you want to move it over a little bit you’re more than welcome to just so that it looks a little nicer it’s not just coming straight from the middle and I think that looks great the way it is the next thing we need to do is now create the secured route so in order to do that we’re going to actually create the router and the firewall right here once again there’s different things you can use for the shapes and you’ll see I have a firewall here and I have a router designed so I’m going to use both of these I’ll just click my router put it here and I’ll take my firewall and I’ll put it here now I do want my firewall behind the router so I will click on bring front or send back and I’m going to actually send this backwards so that my router is on top of my firewall the next thing I’m going to do is create another shape I’m going to actually just duplicate this one so it saves us some time and I’ll put that right here I think that looks great and now I can start to add my secure network and I like to do a lot of duplication because it’s a lot easier than resizing everything and I’ll put secure it instead the next thing I’m going to do is add another router so I will just click on this router duplicate it and add it right here I’ll add a couple more routers as well three more so I’ll do Ctrl D Ctrl D Ctrl D and I’ll move those to wherever I like and I’m going to go here here and probably one here so I may want to make this a little bigger and there we go and I think that looks great the next thing I’m going to do is I’m going to create the server and then I’ll create the computers as well so I can take the server icon bring it over here and then I’m going to take the computers and I’ll just find the computers here or once again we can just go over to our shapes look at the different stencils we have like computers monitors and I can use these and I’ll just bring out a couple of them here and you know what I’m thinking let’s use laptop that looks better I’ll duplicate those because we’re going to have probably three laptops here and then I’ll make this once again a little bigger of a shape because I want to make sure that it fits all of our different icons and I might move this a little as well and there we go now the last thing I’m going to do is have a couple of wlans and I’m going to have one room filled with computers and then a second one so once again I will create that shape just by duplicating it bring it over here squeeze it up a little bit maybe make it a little and if you notice that it’s doing something like this the shape and it’s just not really listening to how you want it to be what you can always do is enter a different shape and I always like to just use if I’m going to use shapes that have some sort of text box I may just use a text box but if you wanted to once again you can always just go back to basic shapes and instead of choosing Square you can use rectangle whatever way works for you you’re more than welcome to do since I know I’m going to be adding a bunch of different icons in here I’m going to just create a rectangle foreign and then once again on that rectangle I’m going to make sure that there’s no fill and I’ll do the line to be Gray I’ll create a duplicate of that and then I will just grab these text box and that control D like I said it’s going to help out a lot so you don’t have to constantly resize things and I’m going to just call this a WLAN s and we’ll put 0 1. I’ll duplicate it and then I’ll do zero to them and maybe make this a little bit bigger next up I’m going to add let’s say probably four computers here and four computers here as well so I may want to make this a little bigger here and I’ll just add a couple of computers and for these computers I will make them a little smaller just so that we can put them in this box for us and then I’ll do Ctrl d c d control d just like this and all we’re doing is building out a scheme for this network design and I’ll create a couple more and now what I want to do is I want to make sure that there is some sort of access point so I will put a wireless access point here and I’ll put another wireless access point here as well now that we have everything that we need what I want to do is start to create these connections so for the secured what I want to do first is actually bold it and underline it same thing here bold underline bold underline and bold and underline now I’ll create those connectors so I’m going to connect this router to this one and I’m just going to change this over here just like that I’m going to connect this router with this one and then also this router with this one now for this connection I’m connecting this router with the computer this router with this computer and you can always just move those over if you don’t like where their placement is and then I’m just gonna grab one last one and move it over here and make sure once again you just grab by that box there we go now the next thing that I’m going to do is create a connection from here to the server box and once again you’re more than welcome to move these whatever you like I might want it on a more straight path there I think that looks good and I’ll just move this over here move this one a little bit over here as well there we go and the last thing that I’m going to want to do is create some dotted lines to show that this is going to be a wireless connection from this router to these two wireless access points and to do this what we can do is create the connection and I’m going to pull the connection from here to here and I’m going to do that one more time from here to here but when you click on the actual line when you click on this connection here I’m going to go to the line and instead of it being a wait line I’m actually going to make it a dashed fine just like this and I’ll do that for this one as well I go to line and I make it a dashed line and that just gives us a representation that this is actually a wireless access point and there we go we have an awesome now Network design and we can start to create these secured Networks take a moment try this out for yourselves and when we come back we’ll get into some more fun stuff so here I am back at one of the first diagrams that we created now over here we’ve seen that when we select certain templates like basic flows chart you’ll see that we get certain stencils like the basic flowchart shape stencil cross-functional flowchart shapes and that’s how we were able to build this but sometimes what we want to do is create an actual shape and then save it to a personal stencil that way we can use them over and over and over again without having to worry about what kind of formatting we did to it so the first thing you’re going to do is go to more shape and you’re going to go to new stencil and you’ll pick whatever metrics works for you I’m going to use US units now it’s going to say stencil 3 and I can quickly start to drop shape right here for instance I love the way that our star and shapes are they’re red with a blue lining and that’s something I’m going to want to use in the future so what I can do is I can click on this shape duplicate it and then take this shape it’s duplicated and drop it right here that will now add it to my stencil now of course it calls it a master 0.2 so we can right click and we can actually edit this name and I’m just going to say start flash end now we can do the same thing for the rest of them I could just duplicate click and drag and then we can call this one our process and you can add any types of shapes you want even if I go into let’s say more shapes and I decide to use I don’t know maybe food and drink I can take this shape put it here let’s do Apple let’s do cake slice let’s do candy because I know I’m going to use them go back to my stencil 3 and then I can just simply add these over here and there we go and then you can rename them once again by right-clicking rename master I’ll rename them what they are so while I’m doing that I’m then thinking well it does stencil three here I actually want to rename this one as well so if you want to do that you can click save the little save icon and you’re not going to actually move the location you’re just going to name this what you want and I’m going to call this codes stencil once I click save it’s now in the system so if I do decide to open up a brand new file I go to file new and I open up basic diagram it’s actually going to be in more shapes and then I could go to my shape and I could see ghost stencil so you can use this now forever this is a great way to easily access shapes that you use all the time so take a moment try that out on your own and when we come back we’re going to get into using hyperlinks and also the process tab so in our cross-functional flowchart we actually added a couple things here that can be used for linking for instance you’ll see here the building pricing plan and what we’re going to want to do is since it’s a subtask we’re going to want to create a whole nother basic flowchart around the building of the pricing plan we also added in the demo announcements document so wouldn’t it be really nice if we could just click on the shape and it opens up that document in Word well good news you can do that in Vizio you can connect Excel files Word files or even PowerPoint files as well so the first thing we’re going to do is we’re going to create that hyperlink for this document I’m going to click on the actual shape and I’m going to go over to the insert tab now inside of the insert tab this is where the link command group lives and that’s where the command link lid now all you have to do is give that a click and it’s going to populate this dialog box it’s going to say okay so we have the address here you want to browse an internet address where you can connect it to some sort of site maybe your home site or do you want to connect this to a local file on your computer the second option here sub address is linking it within the actual file so right now I have a page one and if I click on browse it will offer me page one but I already know what I want to do I want to browse a local file it’s going to pop up this dialog box and what we’re going to do is access some sort of file and I’ll just use a fake one for today I’m going to use some fake Word file here let’s do let’s do this one here now make sure good point right now I’m on Vizio file you’re going to want to click on all files so that you see all of them that’s when you can click and then click open and now it will link you to that document but if you’re on files and it automatically puts you in video files you’re not going to see anything so you’re going to want to click the drop down all files and then choose the file you want to connect to once you’re done you click ok and there we go it is now connected now I know it’s connected because if you hover over any of these you just simply get your cursor with four arrows but if I hover over this one I get a different looking icon here I got my cursor with a little link and if you hover over it it will even display a little text saying if you hold Ctrl click you’ll follow the link so if I hold Ctrl and I click this it’s actually going to open up word boom there it is brings me straight here pretty amazing so the next thing we’re going to talk about is the process Tab and this is very similar to hyperlinks except this goes into subprocess for instance this sub process for building the pricing plan I’m going to create a whole nother basic flowchart for this so to actually access the process tab you’re going to go over the process now once here you can either create a link from an existing subprocess or you can create a new page now I usually use the create new page so when you click on this you’re going to select the building pricing plan make sure it’s selected with the sizing bullet click on create new and it is going to create a brand new page down here for the building a pricing plan which is nice because now I can start to put all this information on here now not only that but it also creates that link so if I use control click it will bring me to the building of the pricing plan workflow and there we go we’re on that second page now I can rename page one if I wanted to and I’ll just double click and I’ll just call it project also and now we have our two sheets project Alpha and the building pricing and this will link straight to that page and this will link straight to the document these can be really helpful especially if you have more than one flowchart for an entire project take a moment try it out for yourselves and when we come back we’re going to talk about making an organizational chart from an Excel file to make an organizational chart from an Excel file the first thing you’re going to want to do is build the Excel file in a nice format that will work with Vizio to do this you’re going to open up Excel file and you’re going to make sure it has three things the first thing has to be the name of the person who they report to and also what their position is the biggest thing out of all of this is the reports too this makes those connections between the different shapes so I see here that I am going to be the CEO if I actually don’t report to anyone here you can leave that blank but then we have Crystal Willie and Dana and they all report to me then we have Marco who reports the crystal Danny and April who report to Marco and then Lucas Elsa Sarah report to Willie Elizabeth reports to Dana and then Caroline and Andy report to Elizabeth so now that I have it like this all I have to do is in my actual Vizio open up Vizio go over to file new and I’m going to search for an org chart so I’ll click into the search I’ll type in organizational chart or if you see it right here you could give it a click now the thing I’m going to use is not one of these pre-built templates I’m actually going to use the wizard and when I use the wizard it will give me that option to actually pull it from a file or entered in the wizard now I’m going to pull it from an Excel file so I’ll use this first one and these are the different files you can choose from I’ll then click next and it’s going to ask you well where is it stored now I’m selecting Excel file and clicking next and then it’s going to ask me where the file is located if I can bounce for this file find it on my desktop and choose Excel org chart data or whatever you named it and click open I’ll click next and the next thing it’s going to do is ask me what columns are we going to fill in well the name is going to be the name column I created reports to will be the reports to and if you did have a first name column you could use that but that is optional so I’ll leave it at none I’ll then click next now it’s going to ask me about the columns that our data wants to display and I want the data file column to be the reports to I actually don’t want to display who they report to that’s just going to be the connectors I want it to display the name and the position of the person I’ll click next ask me for the data file that you want to add to the org chart once again same thing I want the shape data to be the name and position okay you actually want the connectors to be reports to so I’ll click next if you had any pictures of all of these employees you could include the pictures and it even tells you right here an example of that would be if you’re going to match it you want to make sure that it has their first name last name and it’s a DOT PNG but we’re going to say that we’re not going to include fake pictures in this org chart and I’m going to click next up is going to ask what happens if it’s 2 we want to fit this on the entire page so I’m actually going to have the wizard worry about that formed and I’ll click finish once you do that it builds it out and it looks amazing now all we have to do is move some stuff over you can even change the connection points and then I’ll move this one over a little bit we’ll move this over a little bit and then once again I’ll change the connection points and I’m just making it look a little neater here and then I’m going to do the same thing over here as well now you can make this as big as you want it so I’ll just come over here and move and you’ll notice when you move things and move some all at one that’s the best part about this hierarchy and I’m just going to do it so that it’s all leveled nicely I think that looks good and then next up we have the head of HR once again I’ll move those connectors that looks good I might want this in the same place as that and then once again we’re going to just move this way over here just so we have enough room for all of these other things as well so right there I’ll move that connector so you do have to put some work into this but at the same time it’s looking great once again I’m just going to move all of this over yeah so I have enough room here and I’ll change this just like that maybe bring it down a little bit bring it down a little bit so we have some straight line here and then last but not least we’re going to move these make sure that they’re all looking great and there we go I’m just going to move the connectors and then we have a beautiful org chart and there we go look at that now of course I do want to make a connection if the connection moved that’s okay you can always go back to home turn on your connector and then create a connection from here to this one and now we have a beautiful org chart and there we go and take a moment try this out on your own you can use some fake names just remember you have to have the name the reports to column and then also the position we’re going to be talking about making a pivot diagram from an Excel file to do this the first thing we need to do is make sure that we have Excel information now what I always like to do is I like to make sure that I have my headers and then the information in here so all of my months going down my years type of ice cream sold who the sales person was what region they sold in how much they made in sales and then how much they sold in unit now once you have this you’re going to want to make sure to remember what this tab says right here it says it’s the pivot table Basics worksheet tab so I’m going to exit out of here open up my Vizio again and I’m going to go to file new and which template we’re going to use is the pivot diagram template if you don’t see it here in this list you can always search for it in the search for online template connection once you search for it and pull it up you’re going to click and click create now right away it’s going to pop up the data selector and it’s going to ask you where’s the data coming from and you can select it from either Excel or access or SharePoint or even SQL servers I’m using Excel so I’ll choose Excel and click next it’ll then ask me to select the workbook and I’ll click browse and I’ll choose that file that we use we’re in and I’ll click open it’ll then ask me when I click next what worksheet or range do I want to use I’m going to select that pivot table Basics worksheet that I was creating and it’s going to ask you if the first row of the data contains column headers mine did so I’m going to make sure to make that check marked we’ll then click next I want to include everything but you could choose whatever columns and rows you want and then click next once it’s successfully imported I could click finished and now I have all my information here Now by default right now what it’s doing if I zoom in here it’s just giving me the total for the year I don’t want that I want to see how much should I make in total sales so I’ll deselect this and yourself and it shows me we made about 1 million in sales 1.5 the next thing I’m going to do is start to add some layers here so I see that we made 1.5 billion but how much should each sales rep contribute to this number so I can just click on sales and now I can see the sales person Bishop made 531 pull them made 450 and Watson 8575. if I want to know how much should they make per region they sold in I can click on region and then it’s going to add the region for Bishop Central Northwest for Poland Central Northwest and for Watson Central Northwest the last thing I may want to see here is a breakdown of what type of ice cream they sold in each region if I can click on type and there we go for the central region we sold frozen yogurt ice cream and tasty treats for the north we sold frozen yogurt ice cream only and for the West we sold frozen yogurt ice cream popsicles and tasty treats and if I zoom out of this you’ll see we now have this beautiful chart where it gives us a breakdown by the total sales Bishop’s total sales when he made per region and then what he sold in each region we can also change that from sales to unit and then it adds the units on here as well so if I zoom back in added that frozen yogurt we sold 29 000 units which gave us that forty four thousand dollars to take a moment create some sort of data set that has some Grid in there and then you can pull a pivot diagram let’s say that you want to delete something off of this pivot diagram for instance I don’t want the type of ice cream anymore I can always just go back over to type a little drop down select all and when I select all I can press delete on my keyboard and it gets rid of all those types after that I can realign everything by going over to a range in the Home tab going to a line and auto align everything then I can go to position in Auto space and also Auto align everything as well it all makes it look nice another thing that we can do here in our pivot diagram is make changes to our actual shapes here for instance for the region I could go over and change them all at one by clicking the drop down and editing the data graphics you can change to edit that item maybe I don’t want it to look like a heading 1 or maybe I want to choose a different color maybe I want it to be a time call out or a mobile column instead of having one you can do that or if you wanted to you can always just click on the central go over to the fill and then choose whatever color makes sense and there we go so take a moment have some fun with editing this and when we come back we’re going to talk about how we can actually share these diagrams to share a drawing with someone there’s two ways to do it we can either come to the top right corner here and click on share and when I click on share it’s going to give me two options I can either share this on the cloud using my book drive or I can share this in an email as a PDF or as an actual video drawing where they can open it up in their Vizio application the same thing to do this is by going to file share and you’ll see once again we can either share with OneDrive or an email we could send as an attachment or as a PDF I hope you got a lot out of this class thanks so much for being here and have a great day thanks for watching don’t forget we also offer live classes and office applications professional development and private training visit learnit.com for more details please remember to like And subscribe and let us know your thoughts in the comments thank you for choosing learn it [Music]

By Amjad Izhar
Contact: amjad.izhar@gmail.com
https://amjadizhar.blog

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The provided text is a transcript of a Microsoft Visio tutorial led by “Joe.” The tutorial guides users through Visio’s interface and fundamental features, demonstrating how to create various diagrams. It covers building a basic flowchart, including shapes, connections (dynamic and static), text annotations, and visual modifications like color changes. Furthermore, the session explains how to use callouts and grouping to enhance diagrams. Finally, it introduces methods for constructing organizational charts (manual, using templates, and with a wizard) and designing a simple floor plan, before concluding with an explanation of using containers to organize flowchart tasks into phases.

Microsoft Visio Study Guide

Quiz

1. What is the primary purpose of Microsoft Visio? Visio is a diagramming tool that allows users to create a wide range of visuals, from simple to complex diagrams and vector graphics. It is used to illustrate various business needs through organizational charts, floor plans, pivot diagrams, and more.
2. Describe the main components of the Visio interface that are visible when you first open a drawing. Upon opening a new drawing, the main interface elements include the ribbon at the top, which houses tabs, command groups, and individual commands. On the side, there are typically stencils containing various shapes that users can drag and drop onto the drawing canvas.
3. What is the difference between a dynamic connector and a static connector in Visio? A dynamic connector attaches to any point on a shape, and the connection point will automatically adjust if the shapes are moved. A static connector, on the other hand, is “glued” to specific connection points on the shapes, maintaining that specific connection even if the shapes are repositioned.
4. How can you add text to a shape in Visio, and what basic formatting options are available? To add text to a shape, you simply select the shape and begin typing. Basic formatting options, similar to other Microsoft Office applications, are available under the Home tab, allowing you to change the font type, size, color, and other text properties.
5. Explain the purpose of the “Format Painter” tool in Visio. The Format Painter tool allows you to copy the formatting (such as fill color, outline style, font properties) from one selected shape or text element to another. This helps maintain consistency in the visual style of your diagrams efficiently.
6. Describe how to insert a callout in Visio and what it can be used for. To insert a callout, select a shape, go to the Insert tab, click on “Callout,” and choose a style. Callouts are used to add extra information or annotations that are directly associated with a specific part of the diagram.
7. What is the benefit of grouping shapes in Visio, and how can you group them? Grouping shapes allows you to treat multiple objects as a single unit, making it easier to move, resize, or rotate them together without disrupting their relative positions or connections. To group shapes, select all the desired shapes (e.g., by using Ctrl+A for all or holding Ctrl while clicking individual shapes), go to the Home tab, find the Arrange command group, and select “Group.”
8. What are the three methods discussed for creating organizational charts in Visio? The three methods discussed are: manually building an org chart using basic shapes and connectors, utilizing one of Visio’s pre-designed starter organizational chart templates, and using the Organization Chart Wizard, which can import data or guide you through manual entry.
9. Briefly describe how to start designing a floor plan in Visio. To begin a floor plan, open Visio, go to File > New, and search for or select a floor plan template (e.g., Home Plan). Once a template is chosen and a new drawing is created, you can utilize the stencils containing walls, doors, windows, furniture, and other relevant shapes to start building the layout.
10. What is the purpose of using containers in a flowchart diagram in Visio? Containers in Visio help organize and visually group related shapes or processes within a diagram, often representing phases, departments, or timelines. They provide a way to structure the flowchart and make it easier to understand the different stages or responsibilities involved.

Answer Key

1. Visio is a diagramming tool that allows users to create a wide range of visuals, from simple to complex diagrams and vector graphics. It is used to illustrate various business needs through organizational charts, floor plans, pivot diagrams, and more.
2. Upon opening a new drawing, the main interface elements include the ribbon at the top, which houses tabs, command groups, and individual commands. On the side, there are typically stencils containing various shapes that users can drag and drop onto the drawing canvas.
3. A dynamic connector attaches to any point on a shape, and the connection point will automatically adjust if the shapes are moved. A static connector, on the other hand, is “glued” to specific connection points on the shapes, maintaining that specific connection even if the shapes are repositioned.
4. To add text to a shape, you simply select the shape and begin typing. Basic formatting options, similar to other Microsoft Office applications, are available under the Home tab, allowing you to change the font type, size, color, and other text properties.
5. The Format Painter tool allows you to copy the formatting (such as fill color, outline style, font properties) from one selected shape or text element to another. This helps maintain consistency in the visual style of your diagrams efficiently.
6. To insert a callout, select a shape, go to the Insert tab, click on “Callout,” and choose a style. Callouts are used to add extra information or annotations that are directly associated with a specific part of the diagram.
7. Grouping shapes allows you to treat multiple objects as a single unit, making it easier to move, resize, or rotate them together without disrupting their relative positions or connections. To group shapes, select all the desired shapes (e.g., by using Ctrl+A for all or holding Ctrl while clicking individual shapes), go to the Home tab, find the Arrange command group, and select “Group.”
8. The three methods discussed are: manually building an org chart using basic shapes and connectors, utilizing one of Visio’s pre-designed starter organizational chart templates, and using the Organization Chart Wizard, which can import data or guide you through manual entry.
9. To begin a floor plan, open Visio, go to File > New, and search for or select a floor plan template (e.g., Home Plan). Once a template is chosen and a new drawing is created, you can utilize the stencils containing walls, doors, windows, furniture, and other relevant shapes to start building the layout.
10. Containers in Visio help organize and visually group related shapes or processes within a diagram, often representing phases, departments, or timelines. They provide a way to structure the flowchart and make it easier to understand the different stages or responsibilities involved.

Essay Format Questions

1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using dynamic versus static connectors in different types of Visio diagrams. Provide specific examples where one type of connector might be more beneficial than the other.
2. Compare and contrast the three methods for creating organizational charts in Visio presented in the source material. Evaluate the suitability of each method based on factors such as data availability, complexity of the organization, and desired level of customization.
3. Explain how the various features of Visio, such as stencils, connectors, formatting options, and grouping, can be utilized effectively in the process of designing a detailed and understandable flowchart for a business process.
4. Describe the process of designing a floor plan in Visio, highlighting the role of different stencils and tools in creating an accurate and visually informative representation of a space. Discuss potential applications of Visio in this context.
5. Analyze the benefits of using containers in Visio flowcharts for project management or process mapping. Explain how containers can enhance the organization and clarity of complex diagrams, and discuss alternative methods for achieving similar organizational benefits.

Glossary of Key Terms

• Vector Graphics: Images created using mathematical equations to define lines, curves, and shapes. Unlike raster graphics (which are pixel-based), vector graphics can be scaled without losing quality.
• Diagramming Tool: Software used to create visual representations of data, processes, structures, or relationships, such as flowcharts, organizational charts, and floor plans.
• Templates: Pre-designed layouts or models that provide a starting point for creating various types of diagrams, saving time and ensuring consistency.
• Stencils: Collections of related shapes that can be dragged and dropped onto the drawing canvas to build a diagram.
• Ribbon: The main command bar located at the top of the Visio interface, organized into tabs, command groups, and individual commands.
• Shape Styles: Predefined or custom formatting options that can be applied to shapes, including fill color, line style, and effects.
• Format Painter: A tool that allows you to copy the formatting from one shape or text element to another.
• Callout: A text box with a line pointing to a specific part of a diagram, used for adding annotations or explanations.
• Grouping: Combining multiple shapes into a single object, allowing them to be manipulated (moved, resized, rotated) as one unit.
• Organizational Chart: A diagram that illustrates the structure of an organization, showing the relationships and hierarchy between different positions or departments.
• Floor Plan: A diagram that shows the layout of a room or building from an overhead view, including walls, doors, windows, and furniture.
• Flowchart: A diagram that uses symbols to represent the steps in a process or workflow, showing the sequence of actions and decisions.
• Connectors: Lines or arrows used to show the relationships or flow between shapes in a diagram.
• Dynamic Connection: A connector that automatically adjusts its connection point on a shape when the shape is moved.
• Static Connection: A connector that is “glued” to specific connection points on shapes and maintains that connection even if the shapes are moved.
• Text Tool: A tool used to add and manipulate text elements within a Visio drawing.
• Container: A visual boundary that can be drawn around a group of related shapes in a diagram to organize and manage them as a unit, often representing phases or categories.
• Chart Wizard: A guided process within Visio that helps users create organizational charts by importing data or manually entering information.

Briefing Document: Microsoft Visio Fundamentals

Date: October 26, 2023 Prepared For: Interested Learners Subject: Review of Microsoft Visio Introductory Course

Executive Summary:

This briefing document summarizes the key concepts and functionalities of Microsoft Visio as presented in the provided course transcript. The course aims to introduce users to Visio as a diagramming tool capable of creating simple and complex diagrams, vector graphics, organizational charts, floor plans, and pivot diagrams. The initial sessions focus on navigating the Visio interface, creating basic flowcharts, adding text and connections, customizing shapes, and utilizing features like callouts and grouping. Later sessions delve into creating organizational charts using manual methods, built-in templates, and the Organization Chart Wizard, as well as designing basic floor plans and leveraging containers for project timelines within flowcharts.

Main Themes and Important Ideas/Facts:

1. Introduction to Microsoft Visio:

• Visio is defined as a “diagramming tool to create simple as well as complex diagrams and vector graphics.”
• It enables the creation of “detailed organizational charts floor plans and pivot diagrams according to your business needs.”
• The opening page displays different templates and options to start basic diagrams or access more templates.
• Users can search for existing files and view recent work.
• When creating a new basic diagram, users are prompted to select a measurement system (metric or U.S. units).

2. Navigating the Visio Interface:

• The interface includes the familiar Microsoft “ribbon” with tabs, command groups, and commands.
• “Stencils” containing various shapes (basic, arrow, decorative, flowchart, etc.) are available on the side. Users can add or search for more stencils.
• Shapes are added to the drawing canvas via “click drag.”
• Shapes can be resized using “sizing Dots.”

3. Creating Basic Flowcharts:

• The course demonstrates building a flowchart for the process of opening a coffee shop.
• Common flowchart shapes like “start and end,” “rectangle for process,” and “diamond for decision” are introduced.
• Text can be added to shapes by simply starting to type when a shape is selected.
• Font formatting (size, style) can be adjusted via the “Home tab.”
• The “Ctrl D” keyboard shortcut allows for duplicating selected shapes.

4. Adding Connections (Connectors):

• Two types of connections are explained: “dynamic connection” and “static connection.”
• Dynamic connections, created by connecting anywhere on the shapes, will “update it as we move” the shapes.
• Static connections, created by connecting specific “connection points” on shapes, “glues the point to each other point” and maintains the connection even when shapes are moved.
• The “Connector tool” (under the Home tab) is used to draw connections.
• The “Pointer tool” is used for selecting and moving shapes.

5. Customizing Shapes and Connectors:

• Shape colors and outlines can be modified via the “Design tab” or the “Shape Styles” options in the “Home tab.”
• The “Format Painter” tool (Home tab) allows users to copy formatting from one shape to another (single-click for one-time use, double-click to keep it active).
• Connector line colors can be changed by selecting connectors (using Ctrl key for multiple selection) and adjusting the line color.

6. Adding Text to Connectors:

• The “Text tool” (Home tab) allows users to add text directly to connectors, often used to indicate flow direction based on decisions (e.g., “yes” or “no”).
• Text formatting can be adjusted similarly to shape text.
• The pointer tool is used to reposition text added to connectors.

7. Utilizing Callouts:

• “Call outs” (Insert tab, Diagram Part) provide a way to add more information to specific processes.
• Various callout styles (text, cloud, bubbles) are available.
• Callouts are connected to the associated shape and move with it.

8. Grouping Shapes:

• Grouping (Home tab, Arrange, Group) allows multiple shapes and connectors to be treated as a single unit for easier movement and manipulation.
• Shapes can be selected individually (using Ctrl key) or all at once (“Ctrl a”).
• Grouped elements can be copied and pasted into other applications like PowerPoint.

9. Creating Organizational Charts:

• Manual Creation: Uses basic shapes and connectors to build a hierarchical structure.
• Using Starter Diagrams (Templates): Visio offers pre-designed organizational chart templates (File > New > Organization Chart). These templates come with specific org chart shapes and a dedicated “Org Chart” tab with layout and formatting options.
• Using the Organization Chart Wizard: This method (File > New > Organization Chart > Organization Chart Wizard) guides users through creating charts based on entered information.
• Data can be entered directly using the wizard (choosing delimited text or Excel).
• The wizard opens a sample Excel file where users can input employee names, reporting structure, titles, departments, etc.
• The wizard can automatically lay out the chart across multiple pages if needed.

10. Designing Floor Plans:

• Visio offers templates for various floor plans (File > New > Floor Plan).
• Stencils specific to floor plan design include “Wall, Shell and Structure” (for walls, rooms, doors, windows), “Furniture,” “Bath and Kitchen Plans,” “Electrical,” and “Garden Accessories.”
• Users can drag and drop shapes onto the canvas to represent rooms, furniture, fixtures, etc.
• Room dimensions and square footage can be adjusted and viewed (via right-click > Properties or by manipulating shape handles).
• The search function can be used to find specific shapes (e.g., “stove,” “table”).

11. Utilizing Basic Flowchart Templates:

• Choosing the “Basic Flowchart” template (File > New > Basic Flowchart) provides the necessary flowchart stencils from the outset.
• “Quick access arrows” appear when hovering over flowchart shapes, allowing for the rapid addition of connected process, decision, subprocess, or end shapes.
• Connections created using these quick access arrows are typically dynamic.

12. Using Containers in Flowcharts:

• “Containers” (Insert tab) help organize flowchart elements into logical groupings, such as phases or timelines.
• Shapes and their connecting lines must be selected before inserting a container.
• Users can choose from various container styles.
• Container headings can be edited to describe the contained elements (e.g., “Phase One”).
• Containers can be moved and resized, and the contained shapes will move with them.

Quotes from Original Sources:

• “Microsoft Visio is a diagramming tool to create simple as well as complex diagrams and vector graphics.”
• “It enables you to create detailed organizational charts floor plans and pivot diagrams according to your business needs.”
• “When you first open up Vizio it’s going to bring you to this opening page this is where we’ll see different templates and where we can also start some basic diagrams.”
• “Inside of that ribbon you’ll see that we have our Tab and inside of those tabs we have our Command group and then of course our Command.”
• “There’s two types of connections we can create a dynamic connection and a static connection and the difference between both is that a dynamic connection allows us to create a connection by any of the points on our shapes and once we move our shapes it will update it as we move them a static connection glues the point to each other point.”
• “Now call outs are great to give more information to one of our processes.”
• “To do this you can group all of these shapes together move it as one so that you don’t always have to just move one single piece at a time.”
• “Even though creating an organizational chart manually is great and we can do that it’s going to take you a lot more time because we have to build out the shapes and the connectors but Vizio actually has templates for organization charts…”
• “…containers can help us to map out when we’re going to get these different tasks done so that we can open up this pizza shop.”

Conclusion:

The introductory Microsoft Visio course effectively covers the fundamental aspects of using the software for various diagramming purposes. Participants learn to navigate the interface, create and connect shapes in flowcharts, customize their diagrams visually, and leverage advanced features like callouts and grouping. The course also provides a comprehensive overview of creating organizational charts through different methods and introduces the basics of designing floor plans. Finally, the use of containers is presented as a valuable tool for project planning and visualization within flowcharts. This briefing document serves as a testament to the breadth and depth of the introductory material covered in the course.

Frequently Asked Questions about Microsoft Visio

1. What is Microsoft Visio and what can it be used for? Microsoft Visio is a diagramming tool that allows users to create a wide range of visuals, from simple to complex diagrams and vector graphics. It’s designed to help represent information in a structured and understandable format. Key uses include creating detailed organizational charts to visualize company hierarchy, developing floor plans for office spaces or homes, and constructing pivot diagrams to analyze business data. Additionally, Visio is excellent for illustrating processes through flowcharts, helping to map out workflows and decision-making steps for various business needs.

2. How do I get started with a new diagram in Visio? When you first open Microsoft Visio, you will land on an opening page that displays various templates. You can either select one of the pre-designed templates or start with a basic diagram. To explore more template options, click on “More Templates” located on the right side of the opening page. This will show you the full range of diagram types Visio offers. You can also search for recently accessed files from this page. To begin a new, blank diagram, select “Basic Diagram.” Upon doing so, you’ll be prompted to choose a measurement system, either metric or U.S. units, before clicking “Create” to enter the Visio interface.

3. Can you explain the basic interface elements of Visio? The Visio interface, similar to other Microsoft Office applications, features a ribbon at the top. The ribbon is organized into tabs (e.g., File, Home, Insert, Design), and within each tab, commands are grouped logically (e.g., Font, Shape Styles, Arrange). On the side of the interface, you’ll find stencils, which are collections of shapes categorized by type, such as basic shapes, arrow shapes, decorative shapes, and specific diagramming elements like flowchart shapes. You can browse and add more stencils by clicking “More Shapes.” To use a shape, simply click and drag it from a stencil onto your drawing page. Once placed, you can manipulate its size using the sizing dots.

4. What are the different types of connectors in Visio and how do I use them to show flow in a diagram? Visio offers two main types of connectors: dynamic and static. To use them, you first need to switch from the default “Pointer Tool” to the “Connector Tool” located under the “Home” tab.

• Dynamic connectors attach to any point on a shape. When you move the connected shapes, the connector automatically adjusts its path and attachment points.
• Static connectors allow you to glue the connector to specific connection points on a shape. These connection points appear as small blue ‘x’s when a shape is selected with the Connector Tool. When you move a shape with a static connector, the connection remains anchored to those specific points.

To create a connection, select the Connector Tool, then click and drag from one shape to another. For a dynamic connection, click anywhere on the first shape and drag to anywhere on the second shape. For a static connection, click on a specific connection point on the first shape and drag to a specific connection point on the second shape. After drawing connectors, you’ll typically switch back to the Pointer Tool to manipulate shapes.

5. How can I customize the appearance of shapes and connectors in Visio? Visio provides extensive options for customizing the visual style of your diagrams. To modify shapes, select one or more shapes, and then you can use the formatting tools available under the “Home” tab. This includes changing the fill color and outline of shapes using the “Shape Styles” group, as well as altering font properties like size and color in the “Font” group. For consistent formatting across multiple shapes, you can use the “Format Painter” tool. Select a shape with the desired formatting, click the Format Painter (single click for one-time use, double click to apply to multiple shapes), and then click on the shapes you want to format. Similarly, you can customize connectors by selecting them (you can select multiple connectors by holding down the Ctrl key) and then changing their line color and style, typically found in the “Shape Styles” or “Line” options under the “Home” or “Format” tab.

6. What are callouts in Visio and how can they be used to add more information to a diagram? Callouts in Visio are text boxes linked to a specific point on a shape, used to provide additional context or annotations. To insert a callout, select the shape you want to add a note to, go to the “Insert” tab, and in the “Diagram Parts” group, click on “Callout.” You can choose from various callout styles, such as text boxes, cloud shapes, or speech bubbles. Once you select a style, a callout will appear, connected to the selected shape by a line. You can then type your additional information into the callout. The connection ensures that the callout stays associated with the shape even if you move it. Callouts are useful for explaining specific parts of a process, noting details about an element in a floor plan, or adding comments to an organizational chart.

7. How can I group shapes in Visio, and why would I want to do that? Grouping shapes in Visio allows you to treat multiple individual shapes as a single unit. This is useful for several reasons, such as moving a set of related shapes together without disrupting their arrangement or the connecting lines, resizing them proportionally, or copying and pasting them as one object into other documents or presentations (like PowerPoint). To group shapes, you can select the desired shapes in a few ways: click and drag a selection box around them, or select the first shape and then hold down the Ctrl key while clicking on additional shapes. Once the shapes are selected, go to the “Home” tab, find the “Arrange” command group, click on the “Group” dropdown, and choose “Group.” The selected shapes will now be combined into a single movable object. To ungroup them later, select the grouped object, go back to the “Arrange” group, and choose “Ungroup.”

8. What are containers in Visio, and how can they help organize a flowchart? Containers in Visio are visual boundaries that you can apply to a set of shapes to group them thematically or by phase in a process. They help to organize and structure your diagrams, making them easier to understand and manage. To use containers, first select the shapes you want to include in a container (you can select multiple shapes and their connectors). Then, go to the “Insert” tab and in the “Containers” group, choose a container style from the gallery. Visio will then draw a container around the selected shapes. You can resize and reposition the container as needed, and the shapes within it will move with the container. You can also add a title to the container to indicate the phase, department, or category of the tasks or elements it encloses. Containers are particularly useful in flowcharts for visually separating different stages of a process, such as phases in a project timeline.

Microsoft Visio: Diagramming Fundamentals

Microsoft Visio is a diagramming tool used to create simple and complex diagrams as well as vector graphics. According to the source, it enables users to create detailed organizational charts, floor plans, and pivot diagrams according to their business needs. The course outlined in the source aims to cover the basics of creating these different diagrams.

When you first open Visio, you are presented with an opening page displaying various templates from which you can start, or you can begin with basic diagrams. There is also an option to access more templates and search for recently used files. To create a basic diagram, you click on the ‘basic diagram’ option, and the program will first ask you to choose a measurement system (metric or U.S. units).

The Visio interface, like other Microsoft products, features a ribbon at the top, which is organized into tabs containing command groups and individual commands. On the side, you will find different stencils containing various shapes, such as basic shapes, arrow shapes, and decorative shapes. You can add more stencils, including ones for flowcharts, graph and math, and even decorative shapes. You can select multiple stencils to work with simultaneously.

To use a shape, you simply click and drag it from a stencil onto the drawing page. Once a shape is on the page, you can manipulate its size by clicking and dragging the sizing dots. To add text to a shape, you just need to start typing while the shape is selected. You can then format the text using the options available in the Home tab, such as changing the font and size. Visio also provides a duplicate function, accessible via the Ctrl+D keyboard shortcut, which allows you to quickly create copies of selected shapes without having to resize or reformat them.

The source highlights the creation of flowcharts, demonstrating the use of universal shapes like rectangles for processes and diamonds for decisions. To connect these shapes and illustrate a workflow, Visio offers connectors. There are two types of connections: dynamic and static. A dynamic connection links entire shapes, and the connection point will automatically adjust as you move the shapes. A static connection glues specific connection points on shapes together, ensuring the connection remains between those points regardless of shape movement. You can switch to the connector tool (located under the Home tab) to draw these connections. After creating connections, you can switch back to the pointer tool to manipulate shapes.

To enhance the visual appeal and clarity of diagrams, Visio allows you to modify shape colors and outlines via the Home tab and the Shape Styles options. The format painter tool can be used to quickly copy formatting from one shape to another. You can also change the color of the connector lines by selecting them (holding Ctrl to select multiple) and using the line color options. The text tool, also found in the Home tab, enables you to add text to connectors, which is useful for labeling different paths in a flowchart (e.g., “yes” or “no” branches from a decision). You can move the added text using the pointer tool.

Visio also offers callouts, which are useful for adding more information to specific processes or shapes. These can be inserted via the Insert tab under ‘Diagram Part’. Callouts remain connected to the shape they are associated with, even if the shape is moved. For managing larger diagrams, you can group shapes together using Ctrl+A to select all elements or by holding the Ctrl key to select specific shapes, and then using the ‘Group’ option in the Arrange command group under the Home tab. Grouping allows you to move multiple elements as a single unit.

The source details three methods for creating organizational charts:

• Manually: Using basic shapes and connectors to build the hierarchy from scratch.
• Using starter diagrams: Selecting pre-designed organizational chart templates available under File > New > Organization Chart. These templates often come with specific organizational chart shapes and a dedicated ‘Org Chart’ tab with options for layouts, picture insertion, and data import.
• Using the Organization Chart Wizard: Accessible via File > New > Organization Chart > Organization Chart Wizard. This wizard guides you through creating a chart from information you enter using the wizard or from an existing file (like a delimited text or Excel file).

For designing floor plans, you can access relevant templates under File > New > Floor Plan. These templates provide stencils specific to floor plan creation, such as wall shell and structure, garden accessories, furniture, and electrical components. You can drag and drop these shapes onto the drawing page to design layouts, and some shapes, like room outlines, allow you to specify dimensions and calculate square footage. You can also search for specific items like stoves if they are not immediately visible in the stencils.

When creating flowcharts from the ‘Basic Flowchart’ template (File > New > Basic Flowchart), you start with pre-selected basic flowchart shapes. This template also provides quick access arrows that appear when you hover over a shape, allowing you to quickly add connected process, decision, sub-process, or end shapes using dynamic connections.

Finally, Visio allows for the use of containers to organize tasks or processes within a diagram according to a timeline or phases. To use containers, you first select the shapes and connectors you want to include in a container, then go to the Insert tab and choose ‘Container’. You can then select a container style and label it (e.g., “Phase One”). Containers help to visually group related elements in a diagram.

Creating Diagrams with Microsoft Visio

Creating diagrams in Microsoft Visio is a central function of the software, allowing users to visualize various concepts and processes. The sources highlight several key aspects of diagram creation within Visio, which can be broken down into the following areas:

• Types of Diagrams: Visio is capable of creating a wide array of diagrams, including simple and complex diagrams, vector graphics, detailed organizational charts, floor plans, and pivot diagrams. The source specifically demonstrates the creation of flowcharts, organizational charts, and floor plans.
• Starting a Diagram: When you first open Visio, you arrive at an opening page with various templates and the option to start basic diagrams. You can access more templates and view recent files as well. To begin, you select a template or a basic diagram option. For a basic diagram, you’ll be prompted to choose a measurement system, either metric or U.S. units.
• Interface for Diagram Creation: The Visio interface is crucial for diagram creation. It features a ribbon with tabs, command groups, and commands at the top. On the side are stencils containing various shapes organized by category (e.g., basic shapes, arrow shapes, flowchart shapes, floor plan elements). Users can add or search for more stencils as needed. The process of building a diagram involves dragging and dropping shapes from stencils onto the drawing page.
• Manipulating Shapes: Once a shape is on the page, you can resize it by clicking and dragging the sizing dots. To add text to a shape, simply start typing. The Home tab provides options for formatting the text, such as font style and size. Visio also offers a duplicate function (Ctrl+D) to quickly create copies of shapes.
• Connecting Shapes: To illustrate relationships and flow, Visio provides connector tools. You can create dynamic connections, which link entire shapes and automatically adjust the connection point when shapes are moved, or static connections, which glue specific connection points on shapes together. The connector tool is located in the Home tab. After drawing connections, you typically return to the pointer tool for further editing.
• Enhancing Diagram Appearance: Visio allows for significant customization of diagram appearance. You can modify the fill color and outline of shapes using options in the Home tab and Shape Styles. The format painter tool enables you to quickly copy the formatting from one shape to others. You can also change the color of connector lines. The text tool in the Home tab allows you to add text to connectors, which is particularly useful for labeling paths in flowcharts. Callouts, accessible via the Insert tab, can be used to add extra information to specific shapes and remain connected to them.
• Organizing Diagram Elements: For better management and manipulation of diagrams, Visio allows you to group shapes together. You can select multiple shapes using Ctrl+A or by holding the Ctrl key while clicking individual shapes, and then use the ‘Group’ option in the Arrange command group under the Home tab. Containers, found in the Insert tab, help organize tasks or processes within a timeline or phases, visually grouping related elements.
• Specific Diagram Types and Their Creation:
• Flowcharts: Can be created from scratch using basic shapes or by utilizing the ‘Basic Flowchart’ template, which provides relevant stencils and quick access arrows for adding connected shapes with dynamic connections. Universal shapes like rectangles for processes and diamonds for decisions are commonly used.
• Organizational Charts: Can be built manually using basic shapes and connectors, by using pre-designed starter diagrams available under File > New > Organization Chart, or by using the Organization Chart Wizard, which can guide you through entering data or importing it from files like Excel.
• Floor Plans: Are created using templates found under File > New > Floor Plan, which provide specialized stencils for walls, furniture, appliances, and more. You can drag and drop these shapes to design layouts and even specify dimensions for elements like rooms.

In summary, Microsoft Visio offers a comprehensive set of tools and templates for creating a wide variety of diagrams. The process generally involves selecting a starting point (template or basic diagram), utilizing stencils to add shapes, connecting these shapes to represent relationships or flow, and then enhancing the diagram’s appearance and organization using formatting options, text tools, callouts, grouping, and containers. The specific steps and tools used may vary depending on the type of diagram being created.

Understanding and Creating Basic Flowcharts

Based on the sources, flowcharts are a type of diagram used to visualize processes. They are built using a set of universal shapes that represent different steps or elements within a process, connected by arrows indicating the flow of activities.

Here are some of the basics of flowchart creation discussed in the sources:

• Basic Flowchart Shapes: The sources introduce several fundamental shapes used in flowcharts:
• Start and End Shape: Typically represented by an oval or rounded rectangle, used to indicate the beginning and end of the process.
• Process Shape: Usually a rectangle, representing a specific action or step in the process.
• Decision Shape: Depicted as a diamond, indicating a point in the process where a decision needs to be made, often leading to different paths.
• Sub-Process Shape: Used to represent a more complex set of steps that can be detailed in a separate flowchart. The source indicates a specific shape for a sub-process.
• Document Shape: Represents a document or report in the process.
• Creating a Basic Flowchart: You can create a flowchart in Microsoft Visio in a couple of ways:
• Starting with a Basic Diagram: You can use basic shapes from the general stencils and manually build your flowchart.
• Using the ‘Basic Flowchart’ Template: Visio offers a specific ‘Basic Flowchart’ template (File > New > Basic Flowchart) which provides a stencil containing the common flowchart shapes right away. This template also features quick access arrows that appear when you hover over a shape, allowing you to quickly add connected process, decision, sub-process, or end shapes.
• Connecting Shapes with Connectors: To show the flow of the process, you connect the flowchart shapes using connectors. Visio offers two types of connections:
• Dynamic Connections: These connect entire shapes, and the connection points will automatically adjust if you move the shapes.
• Static Connections: These “glue” to specific connection points on the shapes, ensuring the connection remains between those points even if the shapes are moved. To create these, you select the connector tool and drag from a specific connection point on one shape to a specific connection point on another.
• Adding Text: You can add text directly inside the flowchart shapes to describe the action or decision they represent. You can format this text using the options in the Home tab. You can also add text to the connector lines using the text tool to indicate different paths, such as “yes” or “no” from a decision point.
• Basic Formatting: You can modify the appearance of your flowchart by changing the fill color and outline of the shapes using the Shape Styles in the Home tab. You can also change the color of the connector lines. The format painter tool can be used to quickly apply the same formatting to multiple shapes.
• Workflow Example: The sources provide an example of building a flowchart for opening a coffee shop and a pizza shop, illustrating the use of start, process, decision, and end shapes, as well as connectors to show the sequence of steps. These examples demonstrate how to lay out a basic process visually.

In essence, a flowchart uses a standardized set of symbols connected by arrows to clearly illustrate the steps, decisions, and flow of a process. Visio provides the necessary shapes, connection tools, and formatting options to easily create and customize these diagrams. The ‘Basic Flowchart’ template is a convenient starting point with pre-selected stencils and helpful features for quickly building a flowchart.

Creating Organizational Charts in Microsoft Visio

Based on the sources, an organizational chart is a diagram that visually represents the structure of an organization, showing the relationships and hierarchy between different positions and departments. Microsoft Visio offers several ways to create organizational charts, catering to different needs and levels of complexity.

The sources detail three primary methods for building organizational charts in Visio:

• Manually Building an Organizational Chart:
• This method involves using basic shapes (like rectangles or circles) from the general stencils.
• You drag and drop these shapes onto the drawing page to represent different roles or individuals.
• You then add text inside the shapes to label them (e.g., CEO, CFO, employee names).
• Connectors are used to link the shapes and illustrate the reporting structure, typically drawing a line from a superior’s position to their subordinates’ positions. You can customize the color of these connectors.
• This method provides complete control over the design and layout but can be more time-consuming, especially for larger organizations.
• Using Starter Diagrams (Templates):
• Visio provides pre-designed organizational chart templates that you can access by going to File > New and selecting “Organization Chart”.
• Several types of corporate and department chart templates are available.
• These templates come with pre-defined shapes and layouts, which can significantly speed up the creation process.
• They may also offer organizational chart-specific shapes and a dedicated “Org Chart” tab with additional options.
• These options can include the ability to change the design and layout of the chart, rearrange positions horizontally or vertically, automatically fit the chart to the page, insert employee pictures, and even import data from external sources.
• To use a template, you select one and click “Create.” You can then modify the existing shapes by adding names and titles. You can also drag and drop additional employee shapes onto their manager’s shapes to build out the hierarchy.
• Using the Organization Chart Wizard:
• This method is accessed by going to File > New, selecting “Organization Chart,” and then choosing the “Organization Chart Wizard”.
• The wizard guides you through the process of creating an org chart based on information you provide.
• You have the option to create the chart from information already stored in a file or database (like Excel or delimited text) or to enter the information using the wizard. The source notes that importing data will be discussed later in the lesson, and the example focuses on entering data directly.
• If you choose to enter data, the wizard may open a sample Excel sheet where you can input employee names, who they report to, their titles, departments, and other information. The “Reports to” field is crucial for defining the hierarchy.
• After entering the data and saving the Excel file (if that option is chosen), the wizard will process the information and automatically generate the organizational chart.
• You can choose whether to include employee pictures if you have them.
• The wizard also provides options for handling large organizations that might not fit on a single page, such as specifying how much of the organization to display per page or allowing the wizard to automatically break it across multiple pages.
• The wizard can also place the top executive at the top of the page and create hyperlinks for employees, synchronizing them across pages if the chart spans multiple pages.

Once an organizational chart is created using any of these methods, you can further customize its appearance by changing shape colors and outlines, connector styles, and adding other visual elements. The choice of method depends on the size and complexity of the organization, the availability of existing data, and the level of customization required.

Visio Floor Plan Design: A How-To Guide

Based on the sources, designing a floor plan in Microsoft Visio involves utilizing specific templates and stencils tailored for architectural and interior layouts. Visio provides a range of tools to create both basic and more detailed floor plans.

Here’s a breakdown of floor plan design as discussed in the sources:

• Starting a Floor Plan: To begin, you typically open a new file and navigate to the template section, where you can find options specifically for floor plans.
• Available Templates: Visio offers several types of floor plan templates, including:
• Home Plan
• Office Layout
• Normalized Floor Plan You can choose the template that best suits your project.
• Relevant Stencils: When you open a floor plan template, Visio provides specialized stencils containing shapes relevant to floor plan design. These include:
• Wall, Shell and Structure: For creating exterior walls and rooms, as well as adding doors and windows.
• Garden Accessories: To incorporate outdoor elements like brick pathways.
• Furniture: Offering a variety of furniture shapes for different rooms.
• Electrical: With shapes representing electrical outlets and wall lights.
• Bath and Kitchen: Providing shapes for cabinets, sinks, and other bathroom and kitchen fixtures.
• Drawing Tools: For more free-form drawing capabilities.
• Creating a Basic Room: You can start by using the “Room” shape from the “Wall, Shell and Structure” stencil and dragging it onto the drawing page. You can then resize this shape to represent the dimensions of your room.
• Adjusting Dimensions and Square Footage: Visio allows you to adjust the size and spacing of the room shape. By right-clicking on the room shape and accessing the properties (shape data), you can potentially change the label (e.g., from “Office” to “Kitchen”) and view information such as the square footage.
• Adding Interior Elements: You can populate your floor plan by dragging and dropping shapes from the relevant stencils onto the room layout. For example, you can add cabinets from the “Cabinets” stencil, sinks from the “Bath and Kitchen” stencil, and other furniture.
• Searching for Shapes: If you cannot find a specific shape within the stencils (like a stove), Visio has a search function where you can type in keywords to locate relevant shapes.
• Layout and Placement: The focus during floor plan design is on the placement and arrangement of these elements within the defined space. While you can be precise about dimensions, you can also create quick layout designs to visualize your ideas. You can also rotate shapes as needed for better placement.
• Adding Details: Beyond basic furniture, you can add other details like plants to your floor plan to enhance the visual representation.

In summary, Visio provides a user-friendly interface with dedicated templates and stencils to facilitate the creation of floor plans. You can start with basic room shapes, adjust their size, and then populate the space with furniture, fixtures, and other relevant elements by dragging and dropping from the provided stencils or by using the search functionality. The process allows for both precise dimensioning and quick conceptual layouts.

The Original Text

hello everyone and welcome my name is Joe I’m going to be facilitating this course for you today and today we’re going to be talking about Microsoft physio now Microsoft Visio is a diagramming tool to create simple as well as complex diagrams and vector graphics it enables you to create detailed organizational charts floor plans and pivot diagrams according to your business needs in today’s course we’re going to take a look at some of the basics on grading those different diagrams for you when you first open up Vizio it’s going to bring you to this opening page this is where we’ll see different templates and where we can also start some basic diagrams now if you want to access more templates you can always go over to the more templates over here on the right side give it a click you’ll see all the different types but that video has to offer not only that but you can search for different files that you’ve been working on and see the most recent files you’ve been working on as well today what we’re going to do is we’re going to create a basic diagram so I’m going to make sure to click into my basic diagram now when you do this the first thing it’s going to ask you is what is the measurement system is it going to be a metric or unit in U.S and I’m going to use U.S units and click create but of course you can pick whichever one is applicable to you once I do this it enters me into this interface and just like anything Microsoft the first thing I see about is going to be my ribbon and inside of that ribbon you’ll see that we have our Tab and inside of those tabs we have our Command group and then of course our Command you also notice over here we have different stencils we have basic shape stencils Arrow shaped stencils decorative shaped stencils and you can even add or search for more stencils by clicking into more shapes and taking a look at different ones for instance I know I’m going to be working with a flowchart today I may want to grab instead of Arrow shaped I can instead grab my basic flowchart shape and you can select whichever ones you want and you can keep a list of them here as well you don’t only have to have one stencil at a time you can borrow from different ones maybe some graph and math shapes or even decorative shapes but I’m going to be utilizing basic foam chart tape today now to actually click and drag these over that will just be a click drag and then it will show up on the paper and right here we can start to manipulate the shape by clicking and dragging the sizing Dot and there we go to take a moment try that out for yourselves and when we come back we’re going to start to build out this flowchart and then we’ll also start to add text and connections to it as well so what we’re going to be building today is the process to open up our own coffee shop and what I’m thinking of doing is starting off with well opening a coffee shop now you’ll notice I utilize the start and end shape and all I had to do is once again click and drag it onto my page here now once you do that you’ll have your shape and then you can resize it using the sizing dock now if I wanted to write something in here the best part about it is all I need to do is start typing so if I start typing opening a coffee shop and then I click away you will now see that information inside of the shape of course you can manipulate that information as well if you haven’t highlighted you can just go up to the Home tab and inside of that Home tab this is where we can change our font options so I’m going to format it to be about 12.5 and I think that looks good now we can start to add more shapes to this and once again these are Universal shapes if everyone knows that it’s going to be a rectangle for process and a diamond for decision and you’ll start to learn these as well so I’m gonna start off with another process after this so I start off with the idea of opening a coffee cup and the first thing I’m going to need to do is I’m going to have to probably create a business plan now one of my favorite things about Vizio is that when you start to resize things once you already have a shape you can actually make them exactly the same length and width now I’m going to make mine a little crazier here there we go that looks good and it also has a lot of guidance now I’ll just start typing creating a business plan and I’ll make that font once again 12 points now I know I’m going to create another process and I could do the same thing where I click and drag the process shape over but there’s another little keyboard shortcut that’s going to make you more efficient if you just click on this shape and use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl D that equals duplication so once we do that Ctrl d I can now have a duplicate where I don’t have to resize it or even change the font to 12 point all I need to do is double click and change what’s in there in the next process after creating a business plan is to apply for a bank loan now the next thing I can do after this is make a decision Point even though we’re opening a coffee shop up I may want to sell some food too maybe muffins or Donuts so what I can do is go over to decision and drag it over here and once again I’m going to just resize this the same size that’s my other one there we go now I can start typing do we want to sell food too question mark now if we decide we do want to sell food that’s going to be a little bit different we’re going to have to create an extra sub process here so I’m going to actually use the sub process shape because if we decide to create sell food we’re going to have to create a food menu and once again I’m just going to use my sizing guidance here there it is and we’ll say faith of food and now I can take this and once again I’m going to just update the 12 point now let’s say we don’t want to create a food menu we’re not going to sell food instead what we’ll do and we’ll just make this 12 point as well instead what we’re going to do is we’re going to skip this and we’re going to go to renting the location so it’s another process and I’m just going to duplicate Ctrl d and I’ll just change the text to rent location now after that I’m also thinking that I’m going to want to start to finalize some of the hiring contracts and since contracts are documents we can use the document shape so I’m going to click and drag that one right here as well and I’ll just size it once again and I love those guiding arrows they tell me when everything is all aligned and at the time I’m going to say finalize hiring contracts and I’ll just change that font to 12 point now the next two shapes I’m going to do are well higher a thermometer I’m going to use a process for this so I’ll just duplicate and I’ll just say higher store manager and then the last thing I’m going to do is end this entire workflow now to do this I’m just going to once again duplicate the start netting because it is the same thing I’ll just use Ctrl D again and now I’ll just put in Grand opening and there we go the only problem is there is no flow to the chef there’s no connection between each of these processes or each of these starts or ends so what we need to do is create a nice workflow by using what’s known as connectors take a moment to catch up on this and then when we come back I’m going to show you how we can use Dynamic and static connections and what the difference between both of those are so now that we have our shapes what we’re going to want to do next is create connections now there’s two types of connections we can create a dynamic connection and a static connection and the difference between both is that a dynamic connection allows us to create a connection by any of the points on our shapes and once we move our shapes it will update it as we move them a static connection glues the point to each other point so if I want to do a static connection I’m going to go by the point system and if I want to do a dynamic connection I’m going to go by shapes so I’m going to show you an example of this but first what we need to do is move from our pointer tool which is our default over to our connector tool which is right underneath so if I go over to the Home tab you’ll see under fold we have three tools the pointer tool the connector tool and the text tool so if I click over to the connector tool you’ll see that I can actually connect its entire shape to this entire shape and if I do that by clicking somewhere in the middle in the middle it creates my connector now when I go back to my pointer tool to take a look at this you’ll see it has an arrow pointing from the opening of the coffee shop to creating a business plan if I want to move this shape take a look what happens it actually will move the connection with it so when we are in the starting position it was going from the bottom of opening a coffee shop to the top of creating a business plan but when I move this it is now going from the top of the opening of the coffee shop to the left of creating a business plan and this is an example of the dynamic connection where if I move these it will automatically update the connection point now we’re not going to always want this because maybe I want opening a coffee shop never be after creating a business plan because if I switch them around like this well now it looks like a little weird right going from top to bottom still if I wanted to what I can do instead it’d create what’s known as a static connection so I’m just going to delete this by clicking on it and pressing delete on my keyboard now when I go to my connector instead of connecting it from the entire shape I can actually connect it from these four connection points and I’m going to connect it from the bottom of opening a coffee cup to the top point of creating a business this creates that glued connection which is known as the static connection now if I go back to my pointer tool to move this around you will notice no matter where I move it it will always make sure the connection is from the bottom of opening a coffee shop to the top of creating a business plan so for most of this I actually like it that way I like how it will stay stuck like that so if I wanted to stay stuck like that I’m going to create a static connection now for this example we’ll keep it on static connections I think that will be good but you can always choose which one’s going to be the beneficial one for you so we’re going to create the rest of our connections here we’re going to go back to connectors and I’m going to make a connection from creating a business plan the bottom point the top of applying for a bank loan the bottom of the applying for a bank loan I will go to the top of the self food team now from the right side of cell food too I’m going to go over to the left side of creating a food menu I do have to make another connection because if we decide not to sell food we’re going to have to skip this so I’m gonna have to make another connection from the right hand side here and it might take a moment to just have it really picked there we go and we’re going to go to the left side of from the location but if we do decide that we are going to sell food too we would do this first and then we would go from here to there now we’re going to create a connection from run location to finalizing the hiring we’re going to go from the left side or the right side of finalizing to the left side of hiring a store manager and we’re going to go to the bottom of hiring a store manager to the top of grand opening now that we have our connections it looks great but take a moment follow along with those connectors and when we come back I’m going to show you how we can start to manipulate these drawings to make this a little more colorful and a little more vibrant now that we have our connectors and we have our process going what we’re going to want to do next is modify the shape colors because I’m just looking at this and I just see the default colors that Microsoft created so if you want to change the colors you’re more than welcome to if you do like this design you can keep them as well but I want to change it and just make these different colors maybe different sizes anything that you like so the first thing I’m going to do is choose here and we will go over to the design tab here and you’ll see here we have different things that we can choose from and just by hovering over these things we get all these different colors here which is pretty amazing it looks great but what we can also do is we can change these shapes one by one because the minute that you select these shapes you can go to the home path and you can change the way that they look by just simply changing either the font formatting or you can go to shape Styles and you can change the way the shape is filled or even the outline of the shape so for instance for this one I do want to make it a green fill so I’m just going to do a nice green color here like that’s when that looks good and I also want no line so I’m gonna just do no line so it looks like this now I don’t want to have to do this all over again so you can use in the Home tab what’s known as the format painter right there and if you click on a shape click on format painter I can then just click on this one and it will copy that format and it just looks great now for all of my processes I’m going to make those let’s do a nice orange color so I’ll just fill I’ll use orange and I don’t want a line effect and now once again I’m just going to use my format painter and if you double click on format painter it stays on so I can just keep going now quickly get this done and then when you’re done with format painter you could just click again to take it off you also want to change the way that this looks I want this one to be a nice little gold color and once again I don’t want any border now for the finalizing of hiring contracts we’ll make that a nice dark color here and since we’re using a dark color we are going to want to change the font as well so we can actually see the font and we’ll change that to a point font and then last but not least blind now the last one I’m going to do here is our sub process and I’m going to change this to a nice blue color but when you do change it to a blue color you’ll see that the lines are hard to see so I’m going to change the line to actually a white color so that you can see that it’s a sub process and it’s different from a regular process I’ll also change the font here as well too and there we go we’ve added some color to this I just love the vibrant color right it doesn’t look as just blue as Microsoft made it originally if you wanted to also change the colors of our connectors you could click each one and hold down the control key to select more than one connector those damn selecting all of these connectors here and you can change the line color of that so whatever you like I’m going to change it to Black and there we go now the last thing I may want to do here is add some text right because as you can see right here we asked the question are we going to sell food too and it would be nice to see where this flow is going of course if we say no then it’s going to go right here to run location we’re going to skip this but if it is yes then it’s going to go to create food menu then print location so I do want to make sure I make that stand out and for the first time ever we’re going to use our text tool so in our home tab we’ve used the pointer tool which allows us to modify and shape our shapes we’ve used the connector tool which allows us to make connections between our shapes and now we’re going to use the text tool to add text to our connectors I’m going to click on text and you can place it wherever you want I usually like to zoom in on this because it could get a little crazy so I’m just going to use control in my mouse wheel to zoom in and I’ll put the text right here now once I click there you’ll notice that the text actually the text box move down here that’s okay we will snap it right here once we’re done writing what we want to write I’m just going to write the word yes and of course you have all the same formatting I can make this a little bigger if I wanted to I’ll make it 14 and I’m going to make it a do a black font and there we go now of course the more you click around you’ll see like do something like that right you’re gonna insert a text you could just click away but now if I want to move the TS to here we’re going to have to go grab our pointer tool again and now we can click and you’ll see that little yellow Dot and I can click and drag that down to here and there we go we have our yes now I’m going to put my no right below it so I’m going to go to text tool click right here and once again it pushes the text box that’s okay if it does that just write your text make your changes here I’m going to go once again with the 12 point and make it a black color here and now I’ll go to my pointer tool and I’m going to move this here and I love this the reason why I didn’t do an insert and then a text box is because if you enter text box it just goes over the line as you can see here using the text tool will allow for that little bit of space so it looks like it’s really part of this entire flow so now looking at this if I zoom out a little bit this is looking really nice selfie too if yes we’re going to go to create a food menu then we’re going to run the location then we’re going to continue with our process if we sell food when we decide no we’re going to skip all this and go straight to renting location so take a moment try this out on your own and when we come back we’re going to call and use some call outs which will be a lot of fun so we’ll do callouts and we’ll also do some grouping as well so that we can start to group these shapes if we ever want to move them what we’re going to be talking about next is how we can create callouts Now call outs are great to give more information to one of our processes so like for instance maybe I do want to open a coffee shop but I also want to figure out what the name of that coffee shop is going to be so I can click on opening the coffee shop and I can go to the insert tab and inside of the insert tab right here you’ll see diagram part and we have a couple different things we have our containers which we’re going to be talking about in a later section and then we also have our call out and then we know what our connectors are right so we’re going to be using our call out now when you click the little drop down you’ll see there’s a quite a few different just looks whether it’s a piece of text call out or a cloud call out bubbles anything you like whatever makes sense for you and I’m thinking that I just want to do a nice text call out and then there it is it’s actually connected so no matter where you want to move this it’s still going to be connected to that shape which is really nice I’m going to put it right here and we’re going to call this a cup of gold since well my name is Joe right how it works great for us at Club code and I’m just going to make that a little bigger text there and I’m going to use Ctrl shift greater than and those are fun little keyboard shortcuts Ctrl shift less than or greater than two effective and then I’ll make this a little bigger here just like that and I think that looks great perfect so now we have a quick little shout out opening in coffee shop it’s called the cup of Joe’s and there we go now you can add other shout outs as well no matter where you want to go if I want to do print location maybe do a nice little call out there just a thought I’m thinking maybe I want to put this location and by the way you can turn this if you want you can taste the shape if you wanted to anyway you want thought through this and I’m just going to move this over here and then you’ll see it switches sides and I’m going to say that the thought on this one will be let’s do maybe I want to put it in San Francisco there we go and those little those little columns just work really well so take a moment try that out on your own and when we come back we’re going to talk about how we can start to group shapes together so we can move them without messing up our flow you’ll notice that when you move one of your shapes it also changes the connector and that’s because we made our static connections and we want to be able to move things without affecting the flow but the problem is what happens if I just want to move all this over maybe I want to create more spacing between this column in this column in this column well to do this you can group all of these shapes together move it as one so that you don’t always have to just move one single piece at a time and to do this there’s a couple of different ways we can use Ctrl a to select all of them like I just did here and that really selects every single piece of content on this page right now or if I wanted to just do it in sections I can just hold the Ctrl key down and select one thing at a time and you’ll see it is selecting it but the control a is going to be a lot easier for this example so I’m just going to use Ctrl a and now that I’m here in control a what I want to do is go to the Home tab and inside of my Home tab this is where you’ll see the arrange command group and this is where we can access our group setting now when I click on that drop down I’m going to group this together and now it’s all one piece so if I ever have to move this I could just click it and now it’s all one piece that I’m moving which is really nice and there we go and this will be a lot more helpful when you want to put it into let’s say like a presentation so if I decide to copy this into let’s say a PowerPoint now when I use control copy right Ctrl C I can then just Ctrl V into a PowerPoint I’ll show you what that looks like and we’ll just put it in a blank slide here and then we can use Ctrl V and look how nice that looks add some little coloration here and we’re good to go try that out on your own and when we come back we’re actually going to switch gears we’re going to name our project and then we will move on to building an organizational chart before we get into building organizational charts the first thing I’m going to want to do is rename my page so I’m going to come down here to page one and I’m just going to double click and we’re going to name it I’m going to call my business plan now the next thing we can do is click this little plus icon to add another page and I’m going to just click on that now we have a second page here and I’m going to show you three ways to build an organizational chart the first way is just manually building one the second way is using one of the starter diagrams that Vizio has provided and the Third Way is by using the Vizio chart wizard so if I want to build this organizational chart I can just go for my basic flow chart shapes here I can move up and we should have our basic shapes as well and you can just use any shape you want there’s no right or wrong here for this so I’m going to just use a rectangle I’ll Center that make it a little bigger just like that and then I can just start typing in I’ll be the CEO of this company the CEO and you can add your modifications to it maybe I want to make this a lighter blue maybe I don’t want any lines on this I think that looks good now I can add another rectangle one right here and for this one I’m going to put John Doe and John Doe will be my CFO and once again I can just make this any way I want that looks good I’m going to move it a little over here just like that and I’ll just change it to that looks great just like this and maybe no order now I don’t want to have to do this again so I’m just going to use Ctrl D for duplicate and there we go I may want to space this a little better and I think that looks pretty good and then I’ll just do Jane Doe and Jane Doe will be my co now I’ll just make my connections I’ll use my connector from the bottom to the top of that shape and then from the bottom to the top of the shape and then if you wanted to you can re -color these to whatever you like and that’s it there we go we have just made a quick little organizational chart and of course we can add more people here we can add more shapes we can change the shapes maybe we want to add circles for our other employees we’ll do employee foreign and then we can just do a duplication duplication duplication just like that that looks good and I love those lines those lines are always amazing call this employee two and play three and employee four and now all we have to do is set up our connectors and I’ll just go back to the connector just like that and just like that remember I know that part can be a little hard getting it at the same time but no worries if you go a little bit to the top here it should work pretty well there we go and then once again I might just change the connection color and I’ll just change those that and now we have a fun little organizational chart take a moment try this out on your own and when we come back I’m going to show you how we can create an organizational chart by using the starter diagrams so even though creating an organizational chart manually is great and we can do that it’s going to take you a lot more time because we have to build out the shapes and the connectors but Vizio actually has templates for organization charts so what we’re going to do is we’re going to go over to the file tab and click new and here is where you’ll see the organization part template now all we have to do is click on that template and you’ll see here that it gives us a couple of different options we have organization chart corporate charts Department charts all different types so you’re going to pick whichever one makes sense I’ll use this department chart for example and I’m going to click on create and once I do that it’s going to create a new drawing for me I’ll just put this drawing down and I’ll take a look at this one first so we see here that it also gives us a little bit of a guide it says listen you can use data from sources such as Excel or exchange to create more complex org charts on the org chart tap select import to instantly create team drag employee shapes onto their manager shapes and then feeling crowded use the spacing option on the org chart tab to create better spacing once you’re finished with these tips we can select pin and press delete so I can just click on this and press delete so look at this they set it up pretty nice now all I need to do is add some fun pictures and I can go in here and just change the name and I’ll put my name then we can put in someone else’s name and there we go and I just love the design but not only that when you use a template like this you also see here that we have new organizational chart shapes that we can use and not only this but up top we now have a tab for the or part so if I click into it you’ll see here that we can change any of these so if I decide that I want a different design there it goes pretty awesome so we have here all different types of designs that we can use not only that but what we can also do is we can read layout or we can relayer this in different ways horizontally vertically side by side we can do a best fit page so that everything fits on the page we can change or enter pictures we can import the data really amazing so with that said take a moment try it out for yourselves and when we come back we’re then going to talk about utilizing the chart wizard so even though this is a great way to create an org chart there’s one more way that I want to show you and it’s by using the organization chart wizard now once again we’re going to go over to file and click on new and we’re going to use the organization chart again but this time instead of selecting one of these three we’re going to select this one right here the organization chart wizard and we’re going to click create the first thing it’s going to do is pop up this dialog box it’s going to say okay I want to create my organizational chart from information that’s already stored in a file or database or I want to enter using the wizard now we will be talking about this option A little later in the lesson for now we’re just going to use the information that I enter using the wizard and I’ll click next that was going to ask me to choose the type of file you want to enter your data into you can choose the limited text or Excel if your fund of excel you’re more than welcome to use Excel and then you can choose to name the file and I’ll just call this practice Vizio works now I’m going to click next I’ll click next again and then it’s going to take a moment it’s going to open up right here a sample data in Excel and I’ll give you some little samples and you’ll see here Joe Jane and John pretty cool since we’ve been using those examples to begin with now you’ll see here that we have name who the person reports to the title the department and the telephone number and they even give you a little note on each of these which is really nice so for the first one I’m going to put my name and I report to no one because I’m CEO and we’ll just keep the same telephone number then we have Jane Doe who reports to me right we want to make sure these are identical here and here that there is a connector that’s created and then of course undo as well and John Doe will report to me and then we can start to create a couple other people as well we’ll call this the marketing department we’ll say marketing and we will just say employee you know you could put whatever you want foreign we’ll do advertising agent and then we’ll put a couple of people I’ll use my friend Carly you’re amazing at marketing and Carly reports to we’ll say Jane Doe and we’ll have one more person as well in marketing and we’ll just make up the phone number okay it’s like that and we’ll do my friend Keller’s here and Taylor will report to Carly you know what yeah that looks good let’s do Carly because Carly’s gonna be the senior advertising agent and I think this looks good just for a little practice now all we have to do is click save close this out now it’s going to say you can also import pictures from your computer of those people now I’m going to say that I don’t want to include pictures now if you do have pictures of each employee you can put that file in there I’m just going to say no because I don’t have any of those and I’ll click next I will say your org data may contain too many in place if not on one page what do you want to do if that’s the case do you want to specify how much of the organization is displayed on each page or do you want the wizard to automatically break into pieces across different pages and I’m like yeah I think that looks good name at the top of the page should be the top executive and we can also create hyperlink for the employees and synchronize them through across the pages if it is breaking other pages once I click finish there it is looking great there we go and I just love the way this looks now this connector you can move this connector it looks like it is a static connection so you’re more than welcome to move this look amazing so we’ve gone through three different ways to create organization charts manually by using Vizio starter diagrams and also by using this chart wizard when we come back we’re going to switch gears and we’re going to get into designing a floor plan with Vizio what we’re going to be talking about next is designing a floor plan and we’re just going to make a very basic floor plan today so I’m going to open up a new file again file new and we’re going to click over by the template and we’re going to access the floor plan right here now once we do this and we open it up we’ll have all these different types of tablets whether you want to do a home plan or an office layout or just say normalized floor plan and for today Let’s do let’s have some fun with this let’s do a whole plan this would be a lot of fun and we’ll click create now let’s say that we want to create a new I don’t know maybe a new kitchen space right we’re remodeling our kitchen you’ll see here over on the shape side of things that we have our wall shell and structure where we can create exterior walls or rooms or start Windows in there we can also go to Garden accessories you’ll see we have brick Pathways all these different things to allow us to start to build this out Furniture as well if we keep scrolling up we have electrical tell us where our dockets are our wall lights are and if we keep going we have some trying tools as well so we have everything we need to start to really draw this out now the first thing I’m going to start off with is wall gel and structure and we’re going to build out the room that’s it we’re just designing a room so I’ll click and drag this right on here and I’m going to make it as big as I think the room’s going to be and then I’ll zoom in a little I think this room will be about for the kitchen we’ll say 40 by 32. so now that we have this we’re going to start to put in some of the spacing so that we know the square footage and of course it says office by default if I’ll right click and you’re more than welcome to go into the properties and you can change that from office to kitchen or whatever it’s going to be you can even put space hiding you can do the base elevation and other calculations as well for the shape data but we’ll talk about shape data in another lesson now I can click ok and I can start to spread this spacing out just like that and now we have our kitchen face it’s going to be 1282 square feet nice size kitchen for us so now I can start to put in some of the information like maybe I want to put in some furniture maybe some cabinets so I’ll scroll up a little bit we have furniture we have Bath and Kitchen plans so we have the cabinets the sink everything we need we have other Furniture as well I’ll go into cabinets and let’s say I do want to put a cabinet let’s do let’s do one of these and you can have so much fun with this whatever you want to do there’s no right or wrongs here so maybe I just want a cabinet right over here there we go now if you weren’t worried about the actual like size of this and you weren’t getting the specific you could just do a quick layout design where you don’t have to worry about this thing like of course this cabinet is pretty big which I wouldn’t have a cabinet this big but you’re more than welcome to choose any way you want now I’m also going to put another cabinet I have one here I may want to put another one over here maybe a bigger one actually a little bigger there we go and I’ll just make sure that everything dies right and you can do this too there’s once again no right or wrongs here and I’m thinking maybe in between these two cabinets there’s going to be some sort of let’s say probably a sink right now I’m gonna go over to my kitchen plans so you can go over to Bath and Kitchen and I’m going to put a sink in there let’s do a two sink there dual things just like that now of course I do want to put in the information like the stove things like that and if you’re trying to look for it and you’re like yeah I don’t see the stove I can’t find these things of course you’re more than welcome to start to search for them as well so you could go to search and you can put in the stove and then you’ll see there’s a stove here so really nice that we have those options we’re going to make that stove a little bigger there that looks good there we go now I’m going to continue to design this and once again just feel free to put whatever you like in here there’s no right or wrong you can put whatever you like I might want to do a table so I’m just going to search for table and let’s do a well this table Boat table just like that I might want to turn it as well which table there and there we go we’re just really starting to design this I’m going to add some plants in there too why not let’s see if there’s any plants maybe I have a palm plant right over here make it a little bigger and you can really find this out so take a moment try this out for yourselves have some fun with this really get into designing it just think maybe who knows maybe somebody out there is really trying to redesign a kitchen this is going to help you out to know exactly where the placement is what your idea is getting it from your head to Vizio on paper physio is really great about giving us tools to effectively create our flowcharts and what we’re going to be doing next is creating a flowchart based off of a basic flowchart template now when I go into file new instead of using a basic diagram I’m actually going to use basic flowchart the reason I like this is because it sets us up with the stencils that we need right away so when I click on it it’s going to open up and say well do you want to use one of these that we’ve created or do you want to build one from scratch and that’s what I’m going to do I’m going to build a basic flow chart for Scratch and click create now right off the bat I have my basic flowchart shapes and this is great and I can now take my start and end and bring it right here now I can just resize it and we’ll do the same example as we did before we’ll say that the first thing we want to do is open up we can say this time of pizza shop we’ll make it a little different so I’ll say I’ll click into it open a pizza now once we do this you may notice something when we hover over we get these little arrows here and these arrows what they allow us to do is quickly choose whether we want to use a process a decision a sub process or the end of a flowchart so when I click on process it’s just a quick way for me to continue to build this down the one thing I want to know though is do you think it’s going to be a dynamic connection or a static connection well if we move this around we can see that it’s actually a dynamic connection so if you don’t mind that you’re more than welcome to change it if you do but if you don’t mind we could just leave it so I don’t mind in this case I’m just going to resize my things here perfect get a little bigger that looks good and then for this next one I’ll just say create business plan now for the next one once again I can use the little quick access I’m going to click here again and for this one I’ll say apply for bank loan and I’ll just resize this as well and then the next one I’m going to do is the decision and I’ll resize it and for this one the decision on this could be do we also want to sell let’s see Pizza and maybe dessert too right maybe we want to sell dessert too it’s like that next up we’re going to make a sub process and I’ll just put that one right up here and that sub process is going to be just get that sizing right create or decide on flavors we’ll say or decide on desserts menu that sounds good I’m going to click another one and let’s do a process and this one’s going to be rent location and then another one but this time I only have the access to the process the decision the top process in the end I actually don’t have access to the document so this one I will have to drag here and resize and then form that connector and I’ll say this one is finalize hiring contracts and then I’ll create that connection and for this one I’ll just keep it the same Dynamic just like the rest of them and there we go now I do need to make another one here because if we decide to go to location I do need to sell dessert to run location if we decide not to so I’ll go to connector and I’ll make another connection here as well the last thing that I want here is another process and this process is going to be hire a store manager and then last but not least the end process which will be open store and I’ll make that one the same price as the other one and there we go we have our process now of course once again you’re more than welcome to start to add in these coloration shape modifications like we did before so if you did want to change the shapes you can hold the control key and select both the start and end and fill that shape with that green color we liked we can select all of the process there we go and we can do a orange color I think we did a gold color for this one the darker color for this one and we also did the text we changed the text as well and then we did a blue color for this one and we made sure to put the lines in as well and change to text and there we go looks great now once we have this the next thing we’re going to talk about when we come back is being able to utilize containers containers can help us to map out when we’re going to get these different tasks done so that we can open up this pizza shop so take a moment create this and then when we come back we’ll put them in containers now that we have this set up we may want to put this in some sort of timeline whether that would be phases or quarters we can apply what’s known as containers to allow us to contain these tasks or these processes in each container pertaining to a certain time so the first thing I’m going to do here is just move these a little bit over and change where they are on our page here there we go just like that and now I’m going to start to activate our containers by going over to the insert Tab and you’ll see here container now before you click on container we do have to select what we want in each container for the first container I’m going to select this shape along with the connector the next one the connector the next one the connector and the next one now all of these and you can include these as well are going to be in that first container now that I have been selected I can go to container and I can choose which one makes more sense for me and I’m thinking I’m going to use I like this one then I can just click on the heading and I can type whatever I like let’s say that these four tasks are going to take place in phase one now I can do the same thing for the other ones as well the sign on the dessert menu hold the control key click run location while holding the control key click on the connector and finalize hiring contract and click on the connector once again go to enter container and choose which one you like and then I’ll just rename this phase two now you can move these containers as well a little bit further down so that they are matching as close as possible to the other one perfect and then I can make this a little more just like that I think that looks great now the next thing we’re going to do is phase three once again I’m going to just click hold the Ctrl key click on the connector and click again while holding the control key and then go to insert container and we’ll put a third one in and I may made that a little bigger just like this one and make that a little smaller here maybe move it down a little as well and there we go now I’ll just name this one phase three and now what we have here is our three phases our flow chart and when they’re gonna happen so take a moment try this out for yourselves and when we come back we’ll finish up all right thank you all so much for being here as you can see Vizio is an amazing tool to visualize your ideas and get them on paper and then be able to really create these projects or create these business plans or create these floor plans or whatever you’re trying to create this is a great way to do it with that said thank you all so much for being here stay safe stay healthy and I’ll see you all next time thanks for watching don’t forget we also offer live classes and office applications professional development and private training visit learnit.com for more details please remember to like And subscribe and let us know your thoughts in the comments thank you for choosing learn it [Music]

By Amjad Izhar
Contact: amjad.izhar@gmail.com
https://amjadizhar.blog

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