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.

I am a Store Manager at Backyard Bowls. Backyard Bowls is a sustainably

company that focuses solely on Acai Bowls. Our menu also ranges from smoothies,

porridges, toasts, and more. We focus a lot on being and staying healthy, offering a lot of

enhancements to add to bowls and smoothies that are beneficial to your health.

As a new Store Manager, transitioning into this position in March 2022, I was

vaguely informed of the responsibilities and changes that would need to occur. Since the

interview, I was told that the last Manager had neglected office duties, back of house

organization, and cleanliness of the store. When I was hired on and started my training,

that is when I was informed of every detail. Because of the lack of detail, it took me by

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 surprise and I had to have a change of focus on how to deal with the current issues at

hand. Though it was an overwhelming experience, I was able to prioritize individual

situations and make improvements starting from the most important.

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

A physical symbol for Backyard Bowls is the job titles for each position. From

the bottom, we have the team members, then shift leads, location managers (managers

who manage a location), and regional managers. Each of these roles have different

responsibilities that are significant to the organization. Also with seniority, there is

opportunities for advancement within the company when available position opens rather

than hiring from individuals outside the organization.

This symbolic approach has a major influence on the day-to-day operations and

the way employees interact and perform their duties. In my situation, proper training

allows individuals to be set up for success when training is complete and they are asked

to perform the duties they are responsible for that position. Coming into my role, I was

not necessarily set up for success, not having gone through the training I have my current

team members go through.

3) Recommend how you would use organizational symbols for an alternative course of

action regarding your case.

Through the symbolic frame, the alternative course of action regarding my case is

following the core values of Backyard Bowls, which in short represents EQOLS. E stands

for experience, Q stands for quality, O stands for ownership, L stands for leadership, and

S stands for sustainability. Through each one of these values, keeping these as a priority

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 when it comes to day-to-day operations, brings our team to value each other and our

customers.

These core values align with the physical symbol of the job titles for this position

because it develops each individual to have the responsibility of sharing each value in

their unique way and bringing that to overall team’s performance.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned

about this frame.

Given what I have learned about symbolic frame, I would assure that I had

received the proper training in order to have myself be set up for success in my current

role. However, seeing the outcome of this situation, though I was challenged in this role

despite my lack of training, I was able to overcome this situation.

Moving forward, in learning what I know now, I can avoid these situations by

having a plan set in place in order to set my team members up for success through new

hire training or any future promotions. While also core values play an important factor

when it comes to job titles and what an individual can bring to the team’s overall

performance.

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 References

Backyard bowls. Backyard Bowls. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2022, from

http://www.backyardbowls.com/

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and

leadership.