Marlot Kuiper

75 Research Perspective: Professional routines and location of hand dispensers and sinks for example, suggest that providing numerous, conveniently located alcohol dispensers can increase the performance of a hand disinfection routine (Boog et al., 2013; Somner et al., 2007). The availability and location of these object thus affects possible action patterns. Drawing on the above, I assume that the performance of a routine is guided and constrained by the routine as prescribed in the artefact in relation to its situational context. So, materiality and space afford different action possibilities. Getting back to the example of hand dispensers; both the design of hand dispensers (material) and the way in which dispensers are located in the environment (spatial) have consequences for its affordances; the perceived possible ways in which the dispenser can be used. Thus, if we want to advance our understanding of how rule-embedded artefacts function as intermediaries of routines, we have to take into account not only the characteristics of the artefactual representation (the checklist) itself, but explicitly link it to its spatial affordances. 3.3 Connections and connectivity As the title of this book indicates, connections and connectivity are central concepts in this study. Different expressions of ‘connectivity’ have emerged in various bodies of literature in recent years, for instance in media studies (e.g. Haythornthwaite, 2005), gender studies (Hawthorne & Klein, 1999), metaphysics (Laszlo, 2004), social network studies (Björk & Magnusson, 2009; McDonald, 2007) and more recently also in studies on the reconfiguration of professionalism (Noordegraaf, 2016; Noordegraaf, Van der Steen, & Van Twist, 2014). The introductory chapter showed how developments internal and external to the professions push towards a (re)organisation of professional work. Complex cases require collaboration beyond professional borders. Workflows need to be reorganised to treat multi-problem cases. Trust in the professions and their services is not guaranteed, but performances have to be transparent and proved constantly. Standards (backed in artefacts) are deployed as vehicles to organise ‘connective routines’ in performance-oriented environments. Hence, connections are crucial and can take on different forms and appear at different layers. A ‘connection’ refers to an interaction or a structural tie, which can lead to a status of ‘connectivity’ or ‘connectedness’. I will elaborate on three types of connections that I deem particularly relevant for the purposes of this study; 3