Understanding the role of documents in a hierarchical flow of work

Studies of work and document flow in a German Ministry show that when documents cross organisational boundaries their status, and associated responsibilities change. These changes, trajectories, deadlines, are recorded on the document. WorkjZow, in this case, is not abstract, prespecified, independent, conceptually or physically separated from the artefact whose movement it controls. It is inscribed, developed, and updated on the artefact itself. This empirical fusion of workflow with objects has major advantages. It enables strong bureaucratic rules to be reconciled with local, ad-hoc, fine-grained contingencies and discretionary action. This is an important lesson for the design of organisational CSCW systems.