Sankey charts have become increasingly popular in recent years for their ability to visually represent complex flow and process data, making it easy for anyone to understand the relationships between various elements. These charts are particularly useful in business and project management, where they can be used to visualize the flow of resources, people, or information between different projects, departments or organizations. The article will discuss the concept behind creating sankey charts, their applications in business, and a practical way to create a sankey chart.
A simple start to understanding sankey charts:
A Sankey chart is an interactive diagram that shows information flow, usually represented as a series of parallel lines and lines with arrows. The main purpose of this chart is to help businesses to understand key processes and connections between different entities, employees, or resources. This is not limited to a single process; it can cover multiple processes or a complex flow of information between different entities.
Applications of sankey charts in business:
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Flow of resources: In this case, you can represent the flow of materials, such as water, people, vehicles, or materials through projects or departments. You can also show the flow of information between different projects.
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Manpower: You can show the flow of personnel between departments, teams or individuals.
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Processes: You can show the flow of information, or the flow of resources (people, materials, information) between different processes.
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Dependencies: You can also identify the relationships and dependencies between different processes, individuals, or entities.
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Creating sankey charts: Practical Steps
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Decide on the main points that need representation: Before starting the sankey chart, you need to decide which concepts or processes should be represented. Be clear about which areas need to be visualized.
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Decide on your x-axis direction: This is the direction your main line will be pointing. This is usually the first line of the sankey chart.
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Decide on the direction of the line: There should be one arrow pointing from the source of the flow to the end. This arrow indicates the direction of information flow.
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Decide on the color of the line: The color of the line will depend on the direction of the flow and the value of the data represented.
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Add labels to the sankey chart: To make sure that the sankey chart is easier to understand, labels should be added to inform the reader about the direction of the line, the color of the line, and the values represented.
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Add arrows to represent the arrows
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Review and refine: Make sure that each process is clearly represented, and only the relevant process is added to the chart. Finally, review and refine the chart as necessary.
In conclusion, sankey charts are an excellent way to visualize complex flow and process data. This type of chart is a practical tool that can be used for a wide range of applications, from manufacturing to project management. Sankey charts help to identify dependencies, show the flow of information, the flow of resources, and the flow of personnel between different processes. Creating and analyzing sankey charts involves a few practical steps, such as deciding on the main points, adding colors, adding labels, arrows, and refining the chart as necessary.
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