By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
These skills will help you manage important documents efficiently, making you a valuable team member in any office environment.
Compiled by: Collins Onyango
Producing diagram documents is an essential skill for office administration professionals, as these visual tools enhance communication and improve understanding of complex information. In Kenya's dynamic workplaces, from small accounting offices to stationery wholesalers and law firm registries, the ability to prepare and produce clear, accurate diagram documents supports decision-making, training, and reporting. This chapter explores the preparation and production processes of diagram documents, equipping office administrators with the competencies to create effective visual representations tailored to professional needs.
A diagram document presents information as a drawing in which shapes, lines, pictures and short pieces of text carry the meaning, so that a reader grasps a process, a structure or a relationship at a glance. Preparing one means deciding what it must show, gathering the facts, choosing the type of diagram and then building it with the drawing tools in word processing or presentation software. The four basic building tools in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint are shapes, clip art, word art and smart art, and each has its own place on the Insert tab.
The type of diagram is chosen from the kind of information to be shown.
Accurate information comes before drawing. The preparer works through the following order.
The software is chosen for the complexity of the diagram and for what the office already owns.
The tool the office already uses and has licensed is usually the best choice, because the file can then be opened and edited by colleagues.
Shapes are the ready-made geometric figures that the drawing tools supply: rectangles, circles, ovals, diamonds, arrows, stars, callouts and lines. They are the skeleton of most diagrams, because each shape can hold text and be joined to others. In Word and PowerPoint they are found at Insert, Shapes, grouped into categories such as Lines, Rectangles, Basic Shapes, Block Arrows, Flowchart, Stars and Banners and Callouts.
Choose the shape in the gallery, then click and drag on the page. Holding the Shift key while dragging gives a perfect square or circle and keeps the proportions when resizing, and holding Ctrl draws from the centre outward. The round handles on the edges resize the shape, the rotation handle at the top turns it, and the yellow handle on some shapes changes their form, for example the roundness of a corner or the point of an arrow.
Right-click the shape and choose Add Text (Edit Text in PowerPoint), or select the shape and start typing. The font, size and alignment are changed on the Home tab, and the same font and size are used in all shapes of one kind. Text that does not fit is shortened, because a shape crowded with words loses the advantage of a diagram.
The Shape Format tab controls the look of the shape: Shape Fill for the colour inside, Shape Outline for the colour, weight and style of the border, and Shape Effects for shadow or glow. Shape Styles offers ready combinations. Fills are kept simple and light enough that text on them stays readable, and one colour meaning is used throughout, for example one colour for decisions and another for processes.
Flowchart shapes have agreed meanings, so any reader can follow the chart.
| Shape | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Oval or rounded rectangle | Start or end of the process |
| Rectangle | A step or action |
| Diamond | A decision with two or more outcomes, such as Yes or No |
| Parallelogram | Input or output, such as a form received or a report issued |
| Document shape | A document used or produced |
| Arrow or connector | Direction of flow from one step to the next |
Connectors from the Lines category attach to the connection points of shapes and stay attached when a shape is moved, which a plain line does not. Elbow connectors turn right angles, which suits organisation charts. Shapes are lined up with Align on the Shape Format tab (Align Left, Align Middle, Distribute Horizontally) so that gaps are equal. When the diagram is complete, the shapes are grouped so that they move and resize as one object, and a drawing canvas (Insert, Shapes, New Drawing Canvas) keeps the shapes together inside a Word document.
In Word a shape floats over the text unless a wrapping style is chosen. In Line with Text places it like a character, and Square or Top and Bottom places it among paragraphs. The wrapping is set before the final layout of the document, because it affects where the text falls.
Clip art is ready-made artwork, such as small drawings, icons, symbols and simple pictures, that is inserted into a document to illustrate a point or break up text. It is a quick way to add a recognisable picture, for example a printer symbol beside a list of print services or a truck beside a list of delivery routes.
Older versions of Microsoft Office had a Clip Art task pane. In current Microsoft 365 versions the same job is done from Insert, Icons and Insert, Pictures, Stock Images, which hold icons, illustrations and cut-out pictures, and from online picture search where it is available. Clip art can also come from a licensed image collection that the organisation buys or from free libraries whose terms allow business use. The exact menu names differ between versions, so the preparer looks on the Insert tab under Illustrations or Pictures.
Clip art is chosen only when it helps the reader understand. It must be relevant, simple and in a style that matches the other pictures in the document. Cartoon figures do not suit a formal report. One style, one size and one colour scheme are used for all clip art in one document. Too many pictures distract from the diagram and increase the file size.
After insertion the picture is resized with the corner handles, which keep its proportions. Dragging a side handle stretches it out of shape. A picture enlarged much beyond its size becomes blurred or blocky because it is made of dots. Icons are different: they are vector graphics, which stay sharp at any size and can be recoloured from the Graphics Format tab.
The Wrap Text setting decides how text flows around a picture. In Line with Text suits a picture used like a large character, Square places text around the picture, and Behind Text puts a faint picture behind writing, which gives the effect of a watermark (a true watermark is added from the Design tab). The picture is aligned with the margins or other objects using the Align tools.
Pictures copied from a website are usually protected by copyright, and using them without permission can be unlawful. The preparer uses images from the software's own library, a licensed source or the organisation's own pictures, and keeps a note of where each came from.
A short description added through Alt Text lets a reader who uses a screen reader know what the picture shows. Decorative pictures that carry no meaning can be marked as decorative.
Word art is text turned into a decorative graphic, with colour, outline, shadow, reflection or a bent shape. It is used to make a title, banner or headline stand out. A well-chosen word art title, such as the name of a staff training day on a poster, draws the eye to the document before any other detail is read.
On the Insert tab, in the Text group, choose WordArt and pick a style from the gallery. A text box appears containing Your text here, which is replaced with the wording required. The text is kept short, because long sentences in a decorative style are hard to read.
The Shape Format tab, which opens when word art is selected, has three main controls.
The font, size and spacing are changed on the Home tab like ordinary text, and the whole object can be moved, rotated and wrapped like any shape.
Word art is used for titles and headings, never for body text. One word art title is enough on a page, and its colours agree with the rest of the document and with the organisation's logo colours. Strong effects make letters hard to read, so the title is checked at a distance and in a black and white print to confirm it is still legible. Word art is chosen to match the tone of the document: a bent, glowing title may suit an invitation but not a formal report.
In a diagram document, word art usually carries only the title of the chart or a short label such as a department name. The labels inside shapes remain plain text, so that the diagram stays easy to read and edit.
SmartArt is a set of ready-made diagram layouts that turn a list of text into a designed graphic. The preparer types the text and the software draws the shapes, connects them and spaces them evenly. When an item is added or removed, the whole diagram rearranges itself, which saves a great deal of time compared with drawing each shape by hand.
On the Insert tab choose SmartArt. The dialog box groups the layouts into categories.
| Category | Use |
|---|---|
| List | Items that have no order, or are grouped in blocks |
| Process | Steps in a sequence |
| Cycle | A process that repeats and returns to its start |
| Hierarchy | Levels of authority, as in an organisation chart |
| Relationship | How items connect or overlap, including Venn diagrams |
| Matrix | How parts relate to a whole, shown in four quadrants |
| Pyramid | Items that build on one another, with a broad base |
| Picture | Layouts with space for photographs |
The Text Pane at the left of the graphic is used to type the entries. Pressing Enter adds a shape, and Tab and Shift with Tab demote and promote an entry to a lower or higher level. In PowerPoint, existing bulleted text can be converted to a SmartArt graphic from the Home tab (Convert to SmartArt Graphic); Word has no such command, so the entries are typed into the Text Pane.
A Venn diagram uses overlapping circles to show what groups have in common and what is different. The area where circles overlap holds what is shared. The Relationship category has several layouts, including Basic Venn, Linear Venn, Stacked Venn and Radial Venn.
Example: a procurement office wants to show how its buying team and its stores team work together. Buying has the items Quotations and Supplier selection, stores has Receiving goods and Stock records, and the overlap holds Delivery checks, which both teams handle. The overlap makes visible a task that needs the two teams to coordinate.
The steps for a Basic Venn diagram are as follows.
A Process layout suits a procedure such as the steps in handling a customer order. A Hierarchy layout is used to draw an organisation chart, with Add Shape on the Design tab adding a person above, below or beside the selected one. A Cycle layout fits a repeating routine, such as the monthly stock check. A Matrix layout can set out four groups of tasks by urgency and importance.
The Design tab holds Layouts, Change Colors and SmartArt Styles, and the Format tab holds fill, outline and text effects for each shape. A SmartArt graphic can be changed to another layout without retyping, so the preparer tries several layouts before settling on one. When fine control is needed, Convert, Convert to Shapes breaks the SmartArt into ordinary shapes, after which it can no longer be changed as SmartArt.
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Create a free accountThis chapter explored the preparation of diagram documents by examining key elements such as shapes, clip art, word art, and smart art including Venn diagrams. It highlighted the production of diagram documents in the workplace, emphasizing their role in enhancing communication and information clarity. The chapter detailed the basic principles that govern effective diagram creation and provided specific guidelines to ensure professionalism and accuracy in workplace documents. Attention was given to the importance of using high-quality paper and adhering to standard paper sizes like A4 portrait for printing diagram documents. The purpose of thorough proofreading before finalizing the documents was also discussed to eliminate errors. Additionally, the chapter covered best practices for saving diagram files securely and the proper methods for printing final copies. Finally, it addressed the systematic filing of diagram document copies to support efficient record keeping and easy retrieval.
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