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.

The situation at hand stems from a immense concrete shortage in Arizona that for months
in early 2022 prevented CPL from shotcreting pools, which is a critical step of forming
the pools. Months without concrete created a 300+ project backlog of pools waiting on
concrete; when this was resolved, the surge of jobs being pushed to the hardscape phase
of the project overwhelmed the in-house labor division. With the steep increase for
hardscape labor, effective communication has been lost between field staff, in house labor
office staff, and their relationship with general construction scheduling. This lack of
communication and poor dynamic directly affects the customer as there is incorrect or
very little communications between these three internal groups. Now, the CPL customer
experience is suffering.

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

California Pools and landscape has a mission to provide the best customer experience and
help people build their dream backyard. This means we also prioritize high quality work
and a smooth communication of the building process. One of the symbols I learned at the
very beginning was the culture aspect of the company; they are very family oriented and
treat their employees as such. One thing everyone knows about the company is the story
of how it all started 33 years ago by the same person who walks through the office every
day to say goodmorning. They pride themselves also in showing testimonials of how past
clients from years ago still keep in contact with their designers and built great
relationships through their business.

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

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 In my situation, we have had an immense and obvious case of broken communication.
We as a company have become quite divided. In this case, between in house scheduling
and general construction scheduling, as well as with field staff. This is all impacting the
customer experience. I think the answers are all within the core of CPL’s true mission and
origination, and its important to remember where we came from.

It started out as a mom and pop business with a few select employees. They all knew
each other well and made it a point to build those relationships beyond email and work
related circumstances. I would make it a point to do some sort of ritual a couple times a
year or more to bring departments from different office locations together. Some of the
general construction scheduling has never even met the inhouse scheduling team. Their
poor communication turned into formulating opinions on a character of a person they do
not even know. Whether it be an outing or a catered lunch that all are invited to, I think
that could bridge gaps and build relationships that may encourage better communication
and willingness to work together toward that goal.

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

I think a lot of this happened quickly yet so slowly at the same time. The lack of
communication and frustration on responsiveness and general expectations is not new;
these issues have existed for months now. Yet it has happened so fast with all of the
arguing between management on how to get things sorted out quickly to resolve the
customer side of things. I think that CPL has ignored the ways the symbolic frame has
impacted this situation and how little it takes to implement those things.

The thing I would change is being proactive rather than reactive, and to make sure
everyone is understanding and appreciative of each other. It is critical to see problems
before they happen or catch them early, in this case it went far too long and has created
more damage. Further, in house scheduling has had their work picked apart and processes
criticized by other management when they don’t even understand their day to day. They
do not feel appreciated or needed. I think making sure they are needed and appreciated
will also help them work harder and feel more dedicated to finding a solution to this
problem as opposed to them continuing to feel put down.

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 Reference

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass