Mapping with arrows and text boxes

How to use arrows to show communication flows and text boxes for explanations.

Peter Olsen avatar
Written by Peter Olsen
Updated over a week ago

Arrows and text boxes allow you to highlight flows and decisions in the diagram for a better overview.

This article covers this particular part of the mapping process flows. To learn how to map with other shapes take a look at the other articles in this collection.

Are you new to process mapping? Read our Guide to simple process mapping first

Working with arrows

  1. Click and hold the arrow in any shape to drag an arrow to another shape. 

  2. Click on the arrow's line to make an angle.

  3. Add a text to the arrow to write e.g. Yes or No and show splits in your process.

You can now adjust the point to which the arrow is connected and you can adjust the position of the label.

This animation shows you how:  

Pro tip: Select dotted or solid line to indicate a mandatory vs an optional flow.

Adding text boxes

Text boxes let you add small notes to the diagram. This way you can avoid creating activities for very small tasks, like sending an email. By using a text box, you also can add information to a topic without it being necessarily related to any particular activity. This is video demonstrates how to produce a text box:

Tags: Process mapping, process diagrams, process blueprint

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