OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Politcal Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the political frame
2. Apply the political 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.

Verbiage Clarification:

Call-out: Calling out of your scheduled shift right before the start time

Partner: Employees

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.

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 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
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 politics of the organization influenced the situation.

The politics within this situation describes the difficulty of change beginning with the
first manager who was overseeing the store that I had transferred to. Between the first
and the second manager, you can tell the obvious differences comparing their political
styles in leadership. The lack of cultivating networks from the first manager and the
individual partners outlines the failing system of accountability. It also highlights the
obstacles created to obtaining tasks and reaching daily goals.

Analyzing the second manager and their pollical style illuminates more transparency
between management and baristas. The forming of coalitions that allowed us to foster
with each individual grew our team synergy into one cohesive group. It was no longer a
‘them versus us’ culture that ultimately damaged the store collectively.

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

Putting myself into the shoes of a manager who would be coming into a store with this
type of environment that lacked necessary political relationships is comaparable to the
second manager described in the above situation. I think stepping into this situation
required various sources of power to uplift the dismantled store. A great reputation
would go a long way for partners to firstly want to be led by you. Allowing your
credulous reputation to be the backbone of the working environment.

Access and control of agendas that was described in Chapter 9 of the text is also a great
alternative course of action concerning how little power each partner had over their
stressful days. It is not just about obtaining power and using it to become authoritarian,

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 but giving that power of choice and autonomy for each individual to have charge of their
workdays.

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

I think my biggest loss and acceptance from these experiences of learning about the four
different frames is that I should have been more involved in the transformation from the
beginning. It always comes down to speaking up and finding that hidden confidence to
fight for the partners that were also struggling from the situation. The timeline could
have shortened in reframing our store and relationships and the transition to the second
manager could have created a path that led us to where we are currently even sooner.
Although we’ve reached goals that were set out, the time that it took to get us there was
lengthened because I did not have the confidence that I have now.

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 Reference or References

BOLMAN, L. G., & DEAL, T. E. (2017). REFRAMING ORGANIZATIONS. Place of publication

not identified: JOHN WILEY & Sons.