Process Checks

What Is It Good For?

A process chart is a good brainstorming tool to decide what issues affect other issues. While flow charts show one path through a process, process charts show all of the factors involved in a process and how these factors are interrelated. By focusing on relationships between issues, the chart can unveil significant aspects that might otherwise be overlooked.

A process chart depicts influences and processes as groups of circles, arrows, squares, etc. These diagrams can take on many different forms, depending on the relationships you want to depict. Charts can be highly stylized--spatial accuracy is not required for this overview.

Charts that show processes such as water cycles, linked relationships such as dam operations to fish survival rates, etc., help give the reader the overall view necessary to understand the components of the study. These charts can be laid on an actual map to show how elements affect each other or can take the form of a flow chart to depict the steps involved in a process.

How Do I Use It?

 
1. List the steps in the process or links in the relationship that you want to depict.
2. Create a key to show whether something is a cause, result, issue, decision point, or other pertinent factor.
3. Either superimpose these steps or links onto an existing map of the area, draw a stylized map that highlights these steps or links, or create a flow chart that shows a process.
4. Clearly label these steps or links.
5. Draw influence arrows between these steps or links. (Different types of influences may require different types of arrows.)

You may want to highlight a central decision, result, or resource by placing this main parameter in the middle of the page.

Keep the relationships as simple as possible. For reciprocal relationships, depict only the stronger influence. For example, if ocean harvest of salmon is a stronger influence on ocean survival than ocean survival is on ocean harvest, draw the arrow in one direction, pointing towards ocean survival.

Use one process chart for each main resource or parameter.

Use the same symbols throughout a document or study to avoid confusing the reader. (If a decision is shown as a red diamond in one chart, then it should be shown as a red diamond in all charts.)

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