Temporal Frames

Abstract

Time is of the essence in modern organizations; yet most of the work of managers, workers, service providers and a wide range of professionals is conducted routinely through the time-intensive activity of everyday, informal talk. This article examines the reflexive and recursive relation of time and talk in the constitution of organizations. It suggests that organizational work is paced and positioned through a variety of `temporal frames'; these, in turn, are achieved in and through the quick exchanges and extended meetings that make up the business of talk. They provide ways of filtering past practice into present agendas that are both pragmatic and adaptive. Organizations are made to `tick' through talk.