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OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Political 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.

The situation is how I was affected by the Salt River Project (SRP)’s shift from an
in-person to a hybrid workspace in Fall 2022. The purpose of this change was to create
more office space for their personnel that had been relocated. Within its implementation,
the organization allocated shared workspaces, technology to work remotely, and
integrated platforms to foster virtual collaboration.
At the forefront of this transition, I joined the Quality Assurance and Asset
Management team (QAM) as Digital Asset Management intern. In this role, I manage the
photo and video files created by SRP. In turn, I assist the editorial and marketing team in
distributing their message to the community. Sadly, it was a field and environment that I
was unaccustomed to. Due to that unfamiliarity, this transfer required significant effort to
acclimate to the team and daily processes.

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

According to Bolman & Deal, politics are the process of decision-making and
distributing assets when facing scarcity and conflicting interests (Bolman & Deal, 2021).
In this situation, the scarcity was their office space and conflicting interests were how to
intertwine the departments. Instead of keeping the teams separate, the organization
viewed the integration as more beneficial. This decision was polarizing as many had
solely operated in their previous offices for the decades prior. Therefore, the choice led to
frustration and reluctance among the employees to make this transition.
To institute change, the organization utilized top-down political action. By this,
the board of directors decided to shift to a hybrid environment, relocate their employees,
and roll out new software platforms. Ultimately, they relied on the leadership below to
streamline the process. That decision resulted in several meetings where leaders
explained the change and offered a demonstration. While beneficial, the plan failed to
realize how each team fit. Particularly, this strategy caused dysfunction within the newly-
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created QAM team, as we operated in separate buildings. Despite needing team

discussions on its impact, there was limited time due to the separation. As a result, that
distance caused the team to be unprepared when these changes rolled out.

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

Using organizational politics, I would implement two of the four political skills:
networking and building coalitions, then bargaining and negotiation (Bolman & Deal,
2021). Although the organization had a vision and strategies to implement, they struggled
to understand the unique team needs. With networking and building coalitions, leadership
identifies who might oppose realignment and the reasons behind it. By acquiring this
knowledge, leaders have open discussions with those who disagree. This opportunity
supports the leaders in understanding the employees’ concerns before offering
suggestions to alleviate them. Those conversations help the employees feel that their
opinion matters and increases the perceived credibility of the organization’s plan.
After conversing, leaders are better equipped to negotiate concessions. By
exhibiting Fisher and Ury’s third bargaining strategy, management invents new options to
benefit both parties (Bolman & Deal, 2021). With this, leadership takes those demands
into consideration before evaluating their possibilities. Ultimately, this strategy provides
a healthy medium that retains the central plan while conforming to unique team needs.
Through this process, leadership can prepare contingencies for the expected obstacles. In
addressing those concerns, they simplify the integration and minimize immediate
backlash.

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

Upon further reflection, I would advocate for Fisher and Ury’s four strategies of
principled bargaining. This strategy entailed separating people from the problem,
focusing on interests, finding mutual gain, and developing objective criteria (Bolman &
Deal, 2021). Through the bargaining process, managers help their employees facilitate
discussions with leadership. Rather than being upset about the change, they actively
encourage the workers to consider outcomes that appease both sides.
While SRP successfully implemented the agenda-setting political skill, it failed to
understand its employees’ hesitations. Because of this, I believe SRP can improve the
situation through open discussions before corporate rollout. In taking that time,
leadership can quiet the initial outrage. Instead, involving representatives of the
employees in the planning process. That inclusion then insinuates that this isn’t
something forced upon them. Rather, that this decision is for the employees’ benefit and
provides meaningful value to their daily efforts.
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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.