OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Structural Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the structural frame
2. Apply the structural frame to your personal case situation

Name: Ricky Reese

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.

My situation describes my fear and processes throughout the time that I was transferring
to a new and busier Starbucks location. I was hired at a moderately paced location that
was not built for a drive-thru, also known as a café store. The store is at the center of a
large outdoor shopping center in a small town adjacent to San Jose, CA. We rarely dealt
with ‘call-outs’ because it was slow enough to manage our tasks promptly and just about
busy enough to keep us engaged in our work. It seemed like the perfect mixture for my
work-life. After a little over a year into my role as a barista, I found that my days became
monotonous and I put my interest in being promoted to supervisor for my location.

Week after week, I waited patiently for an opening but discovered that my best chance at
a promotion would be to transfer out. The only other store that had an opportunity for me
was the drive-thru location that more than tripled our earnings in a day. The pattern of
stories I have heard about this store was their excessive and appalling partner turn-over
rate and call-outs. I promptly fastened my fear and anxiety and attempted to change that
feeling into excitement for something new and challenging. Fast-forwarding my situation
as a new supervisor for this new location, I had learned that the stories were unfortunately
true. My team grew from 2-4 partners at a time to 6-9 partners. What seemed like every
other day, I would receive a call from a partner that would explain to me why they could
not make their shift that day. Nothing was ever done to hold the partners accountable.

It was not until we received a new manager that structure, cohesiveness, synergy, and
accountability were applied. My new and current manager worked closely with me to
help change the atmosphere and culture of the store. We discussed and aligned our vision
to provide support and encouragement for our partners. We changed how we operated

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 almost completely while still fostering an environment that was being built on trust,
inspiration, and passion. We did end up letting go of a very few partners that could not
adjust from the old habit of calling out of their shifts minutes to hours before they started.
In Chapter 2 of Reframing Organizations, it quotes, “Targeting individuals while
ignoring larger system failures oversimplifies the problem and does little to prevent its
recurrence.” (Bolman, L. & Deal, T., pg. 28). What worked was reframing the store
almost completely and although it took time, a ton of planning, and hard work, we found
our way. At our highest point throughout this process, we managed to have the quickest
drive-thru time in California.

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

In my situation, the previous structure was extremely relaxed and disconnected. Because
of this, it led to partners choosing when they wanted to show up to work or not show up.
There was no accountability and no real leadership presented within the store that I was
working at. Every shift you would feel on edge and in the back of your mind, you would
ask yourself, what is going to go wrong today. This environment was very stressful to
work in and it caused a lot of people to quit.

When working with the new manager that took over, we worked together with great
communication and planning to lead our partners into the vision that we had developed.
Overall, we wanted to inspire our partners to become passionate about what they do and
believe in the skills that they can acquire. We wanted them to feel like they are not just
punching in a clock to only go home and regret their day. In chapter 3 of the text, it
quotes, “Effective structure fits an organization’s current circumstances (including its
strategy, technology, workforce, and environment)” (Bolman, L., & Deal, T., pg 48).
The new structure was forged with appropriate goals and proper leadership to get us
there.

3) Recommend how you would use structure for an alternative course of action
regarding your case.

The way that I provided structure into my store was through proper strategy. We were
going back to the basics of our training which was undeveloped with the new partners
that I was working with. Because of the loose framework, I needed to coach and lead
them to follow the standard. This provided a better depth of knowledge and skill to carry
out their tasks throughout the day. It gave them confidence in their roles and their
judgment as well.

Through the intense rushes that we would have in the morning and lunchtime, I would
strategically place my partners where they can provide their best quality efforts. This
would minimize the ‘bottleneck’ situations (a situation that causes a long pause in our

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 workflow). I would provide the support that they needed to work through these rushes
and in return, they produced quality products. Once we developed and maintained this
strategy day in and day out, there was an obvious sense of team synergy and work-flow
that gave us the satisfaction of accomplishment every day.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

There were a lot of moments of trial and error going through any new reconstruction of
the structure. Although our failures within this process are what gave us more knowledge
and understanding of how to work better with this team, there are situations that I would
do differently in the future. For one, I should have started sooner. I did have previous
conversations with the last manager about how we can create a better environment for
people to want to work, but I think I gave up too quickly and easily. Another fault in my
strategy was assuming that my partners knew exactly what to do and when to do it. I had
not thought about what they learned or why they didn’t do the tasks that they were
supposed to do with initiative. It took time before I realized that, they didn’t work
because they were lazy, they just didn’t know exactly what to do yet.

This process aided my ability to become a leader for them. It helped me look at
situations differently and to give support when it was needed. I had to learn when to
coach and when to let them work. I think the most significant learning aspect for myself
was transitioning from micro-managing to trusting that my partners know what to do
now.

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 Reference or References

BOLMAN, L. G., & DEAL, T. E. (2017). REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS.: JOHN WILEY &
Sons.