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.

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

My promotion as a part-time Front End Manager was met by resistance by full-time

employees who had years working in the front of the store. As I settled into my duties
and delegation I navigate the new complex relationship I had with the full-time
employees.

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

In this Module’s chapters, Bolman and Deal (2017) focus on the political frame of
organizations. There are ways to which you can gain favor with coworkers, managers,
and executives to work toward getting your agenda met. If there is a policy or someone in
your way, there will always be a way around it or a way in using the situation to your
benefit. As you help people they will be more likely to help with your agenda even if they
do not agree with it. Working the system in your favor is part of the political frame that
exists in an organization.

In my situation, my manager was overwhelmed with the amount of paperwork she had to
do. Coupled with the fact she had tasks and supervisory duties to fulfill while completing
her paperwork. In the talk that she had with me, she stated that she was not allowed to
add another full-time member of management. However, she was liked by all managers
because she was helpful with their tasks and went above and beyond her work scope.
Therefore, the main manager used the policy in her favor, they could not add another full-
time manager but they could add a part-time manager. My manager used her influence to
get what she wanted, which was to have someone that could help with supervisory duties
and delegation.

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

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 The fact that the store was the 2nd highest-grossing store in the company, could have
gained favor with cooperate to change the policy for the store. Even though the size of
the store was small, which I think was a factor in the decision, the store pushed a lot of
products and served a large number of people. As Bolman and Deal (2017) write about
how using some kind of clout, in this case, money, to change or gain favor for your
agenda. I believe with the help of the main manager, this would have been something that
could have been achieved. With the amount of money coming in from this store, the
voice of the main manager was loud when talking to corporate. With the number of
people that visited the store, the managers still had it running as if it was one of the
biggest stores with many more managers.

Also playing into the political frame Bolman and Deal (2017) write about in this
Module’s chapters on bottom-up political pressure. Had the manager still not been able to
gain favor with the main manager and not be able to get help. She could have had her
work suffer not meeting deadlines and the front of the store start running sluggish. This
might have pushed the main manager to still push her agenda of getting help for her. As
now the pressure would be on the main manager to get the store back in line, there might
have been a call for hiring a full-time Front End Manager instead of part-time like I was.

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

Because of the organizational politics that came out of this situation I was named as the
part-time Front End Manager. I am glad that it did not go any other way because it taught
me a great deal and prepared me for similar roles in the future. When I started work at the
bottom, I saw that the harder you worked the more likely you would get moved up. So, I
worked hard to show that I could be left on my own and I could do any job they gave me.
Also, showing that I would do more than just my job, I would help people with their job
gaining favor from them. What gained me plenty of favor was the owner’s nephew, who
was an area manager. He came in while we were extremely busy and saw me working
hard as a sacker. He stopped me and gave me a pep talk and later I found out he talked
with management wanting to know details about me. So, this helped in my agenda to get
moved up in the company through organizational politics.

When it comes to the way that I was being treated by the full-time employees, I would
not change a thing. I did not retaliate and use my position to recommend reprimand even
though many of them thought that I would. I helped them with their problems and was
“Johnny on the Spot” when they need overrides and technical help. Eventually, this
gained my favor with the full-time employees where they would come to my defense
when I would make a mistake. I do wish one of them could have had the experience I
had, but I am also glad that I got to experience this situation early in life.

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 Reference

Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and Ledership. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.