The workflow is understood as the rules by which signed solutions are promoted within an enterprise or institution from the moment they are received to archival storage. The basis of this concept is the receipt of a document, its consideration, transfer to the executive bodies, organizational measures for execution, certification, execution, storage.
This is a process that takes into account the instances of the document's movement along with the speed of its movement through these instances. Document flow is a process that must be correlated with the information activities of the administrative apparatus, with documenting each individual decision, storing newly received documents.
A huge number of shortcomings in the activities of many administrative apparatuses is connected precisely with the poor organization of the movement of documents. For example, the process of circulation of a management decision document should include three mandatory components:
- information support for the decision being made (this includes reliable information,confirming the correctness of the decision);
- documenting the decision itself (regulatory document);
- control over implementation (which includes the organization of the proposed work, methods of completing the task, compliance with conditions and deadlines).
As can be seen from the above example, the workflow is the collection of information on the basis of which an administrative decision will be issued; preparation of the decision itself, including editing, coordination, drafting up to approval. All of the above stages require the movement of the document not only between structural divisions of the enterprise, but also between performers, from technicians, specialists, to managers. The conclusion from this example is as follows: the higher the speed of movement of the document, the higher the quality of its execution at each specific stage, the better the process of managing the enterprise as a whole.
The term itself appeared in the literature as early as the 1920s. Then it was believed that the workflow is the organization of work aimed at the rational construction of the state apparatus as a whole, the distribution of responsibilities between various performers and services. In 1931, the Institute of Management Technology made the first attempt to regulate uniform principles for organizing office work. The rules were set out according to which the acceptance and delivery of documents, the rules for execution, and the regulation of signing should be carried out. The next stages of economic development received legislative regulation of such a concept asoffice work, where the main emphasis was on individual technical operations. The document management program was not mentioned by these legislative acts, although in fact it all came down to organizing the movement of documents. Starting in 1974, the main document was signed that regulates the entire process of document management, which is still in effect.
This piece of legislation is called the "Unified State Records Management System" (USSD), the paragraphs of which are devoted to the organization of the movement of documents, technological methods of their processing and application rules. This collection formulates the basic rule: "Document flow is the operational movement of a document along the shortest path, including the minimum time and labor costs." Only by applying the approved rule in practice, one can count on improving the life of the country's population, the growth of the state's economy.
To achieve these goals, smart, disciplined, responsible leaders are needed, for whom the introduction of a workflow based on the USSD will be a matter of honor and conscience.
