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.

Amid the pandemic, the owners of the facility where I work as the director decided to
open their second location. Because of the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, opening
another location was an already risky move. The owners decided to announce our opening to the
public without first speaking with our contractor and obtaining city permits. We were forced to
push our opening back months at a time which left many customers that were planning to begin
classes disappointed. We finally opened our facility without the proper equipment for quality
classes, no marketing strategies in place, and limited policies and training for our staff because of
the financial crisis. The lack of communication the owners had with myself, the contractor, and
the rest of our team left us confused and frustrated regarding how we maintain class quality
without foundational operating procedures and equipment in place. The team lost pride in their
jobs and as a result, staff turnover was high and morale was low.

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

There were several symbols of the organization that influenced this particular situation.
My company, My Gym, is known for providing a safe and inclusive place for children to learn
and play. We recently had a major revamp of our brand to provide a “premier” experience for
our members. Within this new model, members’ payments increased by 30% and we were
supposed to enhance our facility with new equipment and a high-quality appearance. Rather than
following suit with what corporate suggested, the owners took the cheapest possible route and
bought incorrect color paint, previously used equipment, and the wrong color carpet. We were
not on brand with how each My Gym facility was supposed to look and because of this, members
did not associate us with other My Gyms worldwide. We chose to disregard tested systems and

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did not have the luxury appearance that a premier brand should which caused members to feel
our membership prices were too high.

Throughout the pandemic, there was a large movement to support small businesses,
specifically women-owned. We tried to market our company with this movement in mind and
use this symbol to our advantage. However, because the owners were never present, our
community did not make the connection. While we tried our best to maintain our class quality
and remember why we perform our jobs each day, we found our staff losing pride in their work
because of the owners’ disregard for the facility’s appearance. The lack of pride transferred to
our classes and the instructors were not performing to the standard parents hoped they would.

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

Something my organization did well in terms of symbols was listening to each

employee’s story to better understand how they fit into our culture and what they can bring to
our team. What I would have changed is also teaching our team to listen to our members’ stories,
as well. Because we are a service industry, we work closely with children and their parents and
we are only successful if we can display our value to customers. By listening to our instructors'
stories, not only can we emphasize our vision of inclusion, but we can strengthen our
relationships and build rapport that eventually will create bonds and reinforce our vision.

Second, I would have waited to open our facility until we had every premier aspect in
place to better showcase the My Gym brand. With the wrong color carpet and walls, our facility
did not meet the standard that the organization strives to uphold. The owners chose to disregard
these requirements to open earlier, begin selling memberships, and make revenue sooner.
Although we were able to open a little earlier, we are now required to change our walls and
carpets within a limited timeframe, which is a costly expenditure. By ensuring these
requirements were met in the beginning, money would have been saved and our reputation could
have been better upheld.

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

Other than focusing on the stories of members and instructors, I would also develop
rituals for various training milestones for my team and for children that move up to a new class.
Creating these rituals would not only help my team feel accomplished and keep them happy, but
it would highlight the appreciation our leadership team has for each individual. Developing these
types of rituals gives meaning to the work that we do each day (Bolman & Deal, 2017). Because
high staff turnover is a large cause for members to cancel their membership, developing these

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routines and milestones could help organizational teams truly understand how important they are
to the success of the company.

It never occurred to me how necessary maintaining a universal language is for an

organization. Communication is key to have successful operations and this language lies within
the symbols of each company. Ensuring the team is on the same page with this language and
emphasizing the importance of asking questions when necessary will limit confusion and verify
everyone is on the same page. In my organization, my team sometimes assumes our members
share our adapted language which confuses our members, hinders sales, and lowers class quality.
Training our team to use this language to help with internal operations rather than sharing
externally would benefit our organization in the long run.

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 Reference

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(6th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass