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.

My role within Global Self Storage is Senior Assistant to Vice President of Operations

and a Site Manager for one of the eleven facilities we operate and manage. Within this role,

members of our organization are required to advise me of any attendance occurrences. The

situation at hand is trying to overcome the challenges of attendance.

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

The symbols of my organization influence this situation by myths and heroes.

Occasionally, our legacy employees will share stories of how many stores Global Self Storage

owned at one time in the past. When sharing these stories, there is a sense of pride that they hold

for being a part of Global Self Storage history. Even though Global Self Storage sold majority of

its property, employees at Global Self Storage remains prideful for what our history stands for.

But it is this history that also influences employees to feel that they can get away with not

following procedures implemented, such as attendance.

Secondly, Global Self Storage hero’s also influence or maybe not influence the situation.

The president of Global Self Storage is highly respected and is known to be someone you can

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reach to for guidance. Referencing our legacy employees, they have known our hero prior to him

becoming president but knowing him at a lower role within our organization. The legacy

employees feel that they can personally use their relationship with our hero for their advantage.

In my situation, when I address any type of attendance occurrence, especially our legacy

employees, they tend to use the excuse of, “Well, our hero would say differently” or “maybe I

should send an email to him”. This is beyond frustrating for many reasons.

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

Using symbols for an alternative course of action regarding my case would be to use the

concept of “Example, not Command” and the concept of “Soul is the secret of Success”. With

the first concept in mind, it is important for leadership roles to lead by example and not just

demand they come to work. In chapter 13 of Reframing Organizations, “Subtle and implicit

signals rather than concreate and explicit guidelines or decisions held the group together and

directed it toward a common goal” (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p. 290). This supports my

recommendation of leading by example because it will provide signals for what our common

goal is.

Secondly, I would use the concept of “Soul is the Secret of Success” as a tool to help

revive the spirts and energy back into our organization. I feel that when this is done correctly,

Global Self Storage would notice a change and decrease to attendance. As stated in Chapter 13 in

Reframing Organizations, “Members of such groups consistently “felt the spirit,” a feeling

essential to the meaning and value of their work” (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p. 290). This will

further support my recommendation to build an understanding for our employees to feel that

their work is value and missed.

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

Given from what I have learned about this frame, it is important to provide employees a

cheerful spirit and meaning to their work. By doing so, it is essential to remain consistent with

the rituals that are in place. What I would do differently would be to shift the focus on our

employees to feel as though their work is valued and not so much of the exact policy of

attendance. By doing this, I can create a setting of team building and deliver meaning to the work

that they do.

To further support, applying rituals would strengthen our record on attendance. This concept

will allow leadership under Global Self Storage to create an environment of team unity. This

type of influence will then create a dynamic of high spirit within Global Self Storage. In

addition, supporting an environment with high spirit will result in success at Global Self Storage.

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 Reference or References

Bolman, L.G., Deal, T.E. (2021) Reframing Organization:Artistry,Choice,and Leadership

(Seventh ed.). Jossey-Bass