Processes appear in nearly every working deck: how an order is handled, how a request is approved, how a product is made, how a new customer is onboarded. Shown as text, a process is a list nobody remembers. Shown as a flow, the audience sees the order, the branches and the bottlenecks without reading every word.
| Your process … | Best shown as | Tool |
|---|---|---|
| is a straight sequence of three to seven steps | Chevrons or connected boxes in a row | SmartArt Process |
| repeats in a loop | A cycle | SmartArt Cycle |
| has decisions and branches | A flowchart | Flowchart shapes and connectors |
| involves several people or departments | A swimlane diagram | Shapes, connectors and a table or rectangles as lanes |
| runs over time with dates | A timeline | See our timeline guide |
Simple processes with SmartArt
Insert a process graphicWindows and Mac
Choose a process layout
On a Title Only slide choose Insert → SmartArt → Process. Good choices: Basic Chevron Process for phases, Basic Process for boxes with arrows, Step Up Process for progress, Continuous Arrow Process for steps along one arrow.
Insert → SmartArt → Process Type the steps
Open the Text Pane with the arrow on the graphic’s left edge. Each line is a step; Tab indents a line as a detail under its step. Keep step names to one to three words.
Text Pane with four steps Restyle
On SmartArt Design choose Change Colors and a flat style. To mark the current or problem step, click its shape and change its fill on Format → Shape Fill.
Turn a list into a process
If the steps already exist as a bulleted list, select the text box and choose Home → Convert to SmartArt, then a process layout.
Flowcharts with shapes and connectors
When a process branches — “Is the order in stock? Yes: ship. No: back-order” — SmartArt cannot show it. PowerPoint’s Flowchart shapes and connectors can. Connectors attach to shapes at connection points and stay attached when you move the shapes, so the diagram can be rearranged without redrawing lines.
| Shape | In PowerPoint | Means |
|---|---|---|
| Rounded rectangle or oval | Flowchart: Terminator | Start or end |
| Rectangle | Flowchart: Process | A step or action |
| Diamond | Flowchart: Decision | A question with two or more answers |
| Parallelogram | Flowchart: Data | Input or output |
| Wavy-bottom rectangle | Flowchart: Document | A document or report |
Draw a flowchartWindows and Mac
Place the first shapes
Choose Insert → Shapes and pick Flowchart: Terminator for the start. Add Flowchart: Process boxes and Flowchart: Decision diamonds below or beside it. Type into each shape directly.
Insert → Shapes → Flowchart group Make them the same size
Select all process boxes and set the same Height and Width under Shape Format → Size. Then Align → Align Center and Distribute Vertically for a straight, even column.
Shape Format → Align and Size Connect them
Choose Insert → Shapes → Elbow Arrow Connector (or Straight Arrow Connector). Hover over the first shape until grey dots appear, drag from a dot to a dot on the next shape. Move a shape a little afterwards: if the line follows, the connector is attached.
Label the branches
Put “Yes” and “No” in small text boxes beside the lines leaving each decision. Keep yes branches going down and no branches going sideways, consistently.
Group the diagram
Select everything and group it (Ctrl+G / Cmd+Option+G) to move or resize it as one; ungroup to edit.
Swimlane diagrams
A swimlane diagram adds one more dimension: who does each step. Each person, role or department gets a horizontal lane, and the process flows across the lanes. Hand-offs — the moments where work moves to another team — become visible, which is usually where delays hide.
Build swimlanesWindows and Mac
Draw the lanes
Insert a table with one column and as many rows as lanes (Insert → Table), or draw long thin rectangles. Put the role names in a narrow column on the left and give alternate lanes a light fill.
Lanes drawn as table rows Send the lanes to the back
Select the lanes and choose Arrange → Send to Back, then lock them in Microsoft 365 (right-click → Lock) so you do not move them by accident.
Place the steps in their lanes
Put each process box in the lane of whoever does it, left to right in time. Connect them with elbow connectors; the vertical segments are the hand-offs.
Process flows in Google Slides
Insert → Diagram → Process gives ready process diagrams with a chosen number of steps. For flowcharts, Insert → Shape → Shapes has the flowchart shapes, and Insert → Line → Elbow connector attaches to shapes like PowerPoint’s connectors. Align with Arrange → Align and Arrange → Distribute.
Rules for readable process slides
- Seven to ten shapes per slide. A full process map belongs in a document or a whiteboard tool; the slide shows the part you discuss.
- One direction. Left to right or top to bottom; avoid lines that cross back.
- Verbs in steps: “Check stock”, “Send invoice” — not “Stock”, “Invoice”.
- Questions in diamonds: “In stock?” with labelled answers.
- Highlight what you talk about: the bottleneck in the accent colour, everything else neutral.
- Reveal step by step: animate the shapes with Appear in flow order so the audience follows your explanation.
For long processes, show an overview slide with the main phases as chevrons, then one slide per phase with its detailed flow. Insert → Zoom → Slide Zoom on each chevron makes the overview clickable during the talk.
Process flow templates
PowerPoint templates for process flows save drawing time: search “process” or “flowchart” under File → New, or browse SmartArt’s Process category for ready structures. Paste template slides into your deck with Use Destination Theme, and check that the shapes are real shapes with connectors rather than a picture.
Example: an order process on one slide
A customer order process described in a document might run to a page. On a slide it becomes eight shapes:
- Start: “Order received” (terminator).
- Step: “Check payment”.
- Decision: “Paid?” — No leads sideways to “Send reminder”, which loops back.
- Step: “Check stock”.
- Decision: “In stock?” — No leads sideways to “Order from supplier”.
- Step: “Pick and pack”.
- Step: “Ship and send tracking link”.
- End: “Delivered” (terminator).
The slide title states the point you want to discuss: “Stock checks cause two thirds of our delays”, with the “In stock?” diamond and its No branch in the accent colour. The full process map with every exception can live in an appendix slide or a linked document.
Designs for this kind of deck
Every design brings its own colours, fonts and layouts to the whole deck.
Process and flowchart slides in ExpertSlides
Process slides are one of the largest groups in the ExpertSlides library: steps in a row, chevrons, numbered stages, cycles, funnels, customer journeys and flowcharts, each in many arrangements. Describe the process in a sentence or paste the steps, and the AI chooses a fitting layout and writes each step’s label and description to fit its shape — no text spilling out of a chevron.
The editor’s Insert tab has 36 shapes, among them process steps, chevrons and block arrows whose heads keep their proportion when you stretch them, and Change shape turns one form into another while keeping its text and colour. In the PowerPoint export (Pro and Business) every step becomes an editable PowerPoint shape with its label inside, ready for the steps above.
Related guides: timelines in PowerPoint, shapes and symbols and infographics. Ready-made looks are on our PowerPoint templates page and in Design Templates.
Questions, answered
How do I make a process flow in PowerPoint?
For a straight sequence, choose Insert, SmartArt, Process and type the steps in the Text Pane. For branches and decisions, draw flowchart shapes from Insert, Shapes and join them with elbow arrow connectors.
How do I connect shapes with arrows that stay attached?
Use a connector from Insert, Shapes, such as the Elbow Arrow Connector, and drag from a grey connection point on one shape to one on the other. The connector follows when you move the shapes.
What do flowchart shapes mean?
A terminator marks start and end, a rectangle is a step, a diamond is a decision, a parallelogram is input or output, and a wavy-bottom rectangle is a document.
How do I make a swimlane diagram in PowerPoint?
Draw one horizontal lane per role with a table or long rectangles, send them to the back, place each step in its owner’s lane and connect the steps with elbow connectors.
Can ExpertSlides make process slides?
Yes. Its library has many process, chevron, cycle, funnel and flowchart layouts; the AI picks one for your steps and writes each label to fit, and the shapes export to PowerPoint as editable shapes.
