Which of the following best describes flowcharts in performance improvement?

Flowcharts are best described as a linear representation of steps in a process. They visually map out the sequence of activities, decisions, and interactions within a system, making it easier to understand and analyze a workflow. This representation is crucial in performance improvement as it helps identify inefficiencies, redundancies, or bottlenecks by illustrating how tasks flow from one to the next.

Understanding the step-by-step processes becomes essential for organizations aiming to refine operations and improve quality. While decision-making and cause analysis can be components of a flowchart, they are not its primary function. Flowcharts summarize a process rather than its outcomes, focusing on mapping how work is executed, which is what helps teams to visualize and optimize their processes effectively.