OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I: PCA-Symbolic Frame Worksheet

OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:
PCA-Symbolic Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the symbolic frame
2. Apply the symbolic frame to your personal case situation
Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.
1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.
I work for one of the largest oil and gas companies in California, located in the San
Joaquin Valley. Within my organization I am a production technician, I am responsible and
oversee the daily production activities and safety within my organization. The situation I
chose to analyze revolved around how COVID-19 negatively impacted my organization in
two different ways. The first way COVID-19 negatively impacted my organization because
we were not prepared for the economic downfall, that was caused by COVID-19. Due to the
economy, we had to lay-many employees off and we had to cut over time, and a few
employee services got cut as well. The second revolves around how our day-to-day activities
at work have had to change. I feel that communication is important, the current supervisor we
have does not give clear and concise directions. So, when it comes to working with these new
regulations, nobody is on the same page.
2) Describe how the symbols of the organization influenced the situation.
When thinking about how the symbolic theory influenced the organizational situation, the
first thing that came to my mind was chapter 14 of the text. I say this because the part of the
symbolic theory heavily focuses on drama and organizational scripts (Bolman & Deal, 2017).
Bolman & Deal (2017), point out that even though performance and production my not be
improving, innovativeness and confidence in management increase because they are
“dressing” the situation up. I believe that my organization did this when it came to the
organization financial position during COVID-19. Being in the oil and gas industry, we know
and are aware that we can lose our job at any time because the market is so vile.
Unfortunately, when your organization reassures you that everything is okay, dresses up the
situation, and bam one day one-hundred employees are laid off. It makes you realize that
they were not being as transparent as you thought you were.
1
When thinking about how my organization has handled how we have been conducting
work, the first thing that came to mind was culture. Because COVID-19 changed the way we
conduct work on a daily basis, it negatively impacted our workplace culture. We no longer
have morning meetings, we are no longer allowed to have face to face contact (without
masks), and we are encouraged to stay inside our work vehicles as much as possible. So,
what this does, is it creates a culture of separation we are no longer as connected or on the
same page as we usually are. Because of that, it creates a lot of miscommunication, stress,
and frustration amongst the team.
3) Recommend how you would use organizational symbols for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.
After learning about the symbolic frame, I realize now how important the symbolic frame
is to build a workplace culture. I would use the symbolic frame to build a workplace culture
of transparency and honesty. Though it would be hard, I would have been honest about the
financial situation from the start. I would have sent out a bulletin or memo regarding the
financial state of the organization and potential repercussions due to COVID-19, but I would
let everyone in my organization know I would continue to fight for them and their job. Being
honest in my opinion, builds a workplace culture that is made up of trust and honesty.
The symbolic frame could be used to combat the organizational issue of conducting our
everyday work by continuing with staff meetings via ZOOM or hold a big outdoor meeting, this
way it helps continue and keep our workplace culture. I would also send our daily inspirational
quotes to boost the moral around the organization as well as do a weekly acknowledgement of an
employee in each area. I feel that even though we may not be able to continue to do wok as we
normally would, there is still a way to make us all fee a little less isolated.
4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.
After learning about the symbolic frame, I would do a few things differently. I would first
be transparent with everyone. I would create a workplace culture that was focused on honesty
and transparency. I believe that that our organization should have been honest and
transparent about the organization’s situation from the very beginning that way our
employees did not feel deceived or taken advantage of. Also, if our organization was honest
and transparent, it creates a sense of trust between employees and management.
When thinking about how we conduct work on a daily basis, I would be focusing on
continuing our workplace culture prior to COVID-19. If our organization were to focus on
ways that we could successfully do the daily activities we used to do prior to COVID-19, I
believe that we would have a staff who is not only happier but a lot more connected. When
you have a staff that is disconnected, it creates a lot of miscommunication, frustration, and
confusion amongst the team.
2
Reference or References
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(6th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

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OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Symbolic Frame Worksheet

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

2) Describe how the symbols of the organization influenced the situation.

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