How to Create a Flow Chart in MS Word

1. Open Microsoft Word, which automatically defaults to a blank portrait-oriented page on the screen. To change your flow chart to landscape orientation, click the 'Page Layout' tab at the top of the screen and click the 'Orientation' button directly below it. The page changes to landscape.
2. Type the name of the flow chart at the top of the page, such as 'Weather Closing Phone Tree.' Highlight the words, click the 'Home' tab at the top of the screen and change their appearance using the options in the 'Font' section of the ribbon/toolbar, such as font style and text color.
3. Click the 'Insert' tab at the top of the screen. Click the 'SmartArt' button on the ribbon/toolbar below it, which opens the 'Choose a SmartArt graphic' window.
4. Scroll through the different flow chart options, including vertical hexagons, triangles of different sizes and boxes and arrows in a horizontal line. The flow chart options in the 'Process' section of the window may be especially applicable to a flow chart.
5. Double-click a SmartArt shape group and it appears on the Word window. Enlarge the flow chart to fit the page by grabbing a corner and dragging it toward one of the edges of the Word workspace.
6. Click one of the '[Text]' words within the SmartArt flow chart shape and type the shape's information, such as a worker's name. Repeat this to fill the rest of the flow chart with labels for each shape.
7. Recolor the flow chart (optional) by double-clicking anywhere on it to bring up a new 'SmartArt Tools' toolbar. Click the 'Change Colors' button on the toolbar and hover your cursor over the options in the drop-down menu. As you hover over each group of colors, the flow chart changes. Click a color group to commit the change.
8. Click the 'File' tab, click 'Save As,' give the flow chart a name and save it to your computer.