A change request should name the file that currently holds the intended edit. When two people work in different views of a process, an unexplained “refresh” instruction can conceal which version they meant to retain.

This task uses an existing desktop Data Visualizer diagram in Visio Plan 2 and its paired Excel table. Keep backup copies of both. Use a fictional process description for the trial, with no formulas in the source table.

Choose the direction explicitly

After editing Excel, save the workbook. Select Visio’s diagram container to expose Data Tools Design, then choose Refresh Diagram. In the reverse direction, edit the diagram and use Update Source Data there. For a workbook on a desktop or network server, save and close it before that reverse update.

The refresh affects shapes and connections inside the container and preserves their formatting. Source updates can prompt for conflicts; overwriting can turn Excel formulas into their results. Read any conflict before accepting an overwrite.

Trial Review A as an Excel description and inspect the refreshed diagram. Then change it to Review B in Visio and inspect Excel after the reverse update.

Retain an editing agreement

Keep a brief revision note naming the editor, intended description and file changed. If another person made a concurrent change, resolve the disagreement from those records rather than treating whichever file was opened last as authoritative.

Before applying the workflow to live process documentation, agree where new edits will be made and who will reconcile conflicts. The original backup should remain available until the process owner has confirmed the resulting description.

Compare the accepted wording with the change request in both views. A successful command is only part of the check: the content must still express the intended process, including any qualification that an abbreviated shape label might omit. Keep that decision with the paired files.

Sources: Microsoft official guidance.