Flowcharting - The Old Warhorse of the Business Analysis World

Flow charting is an old process modelling / process visualization / business analysis technique. This technique gained prominence in the world of Information technology with the advent of programming languages where a program will follow a path with a start, an end and one or more intermediate , process steps , decisions etc. 
This old warhorse is given a steep competition by its new rivals from the UML and BPMN staple namely UML Actitivies and BPMN maps, descriptions and models. The new rivals - UML activities and BPMN models  have a rich notation, extensive documentation and have become de-facto and de-jure industry  standards. BPMN even promises what we call as CASE or Computer Aided Software Engineering by generating source code from a BPMN model.
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What Flowcharting is to Process Modelling Vanilla is to Icecreams

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So is flow-charting dead.  Has flow charting as a skill has got no value to the business analyst professionals, IT industry and its stake holders. 
Far from true.
No doubt where as  BPMN and UML process modelling skills are an absolute must for a professional Business Analyst the flowcharting skill has become something which is expected out of every one who has anything to do with IT industry. The reasons are many but all of them very intuitive

1. Flow charting technique is understood by almost all the stakeholders because of it being an old technique
2. The notations used in flowcharting technique are limited and easily understood
3. So easy that you can learn it in minutes, right when you see a flowchart first time in your life
4. Stakeholders from the business side are more comfortable with flowcharts

Flowcharting Notations or Symbols Courtsey Smartdraw website

Those willing to get into greater details of flowcharting notations (Please note notation is a better word then symbols) and associated with flowcharting technique visit this page on Smartdraw website :

                                                              Visit Smartdraw website for details on flowcharting notations

So friends just has vanilla ice cream  has not lost its charm in this era of Sundays, Baskins etc Flowcharting is here to stay alongside UML Activites and BPMN models.

If you are not aware what BPMN is   Click here
If your are not aware what UML is    Click here