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 current situation I want to describe is on my current project where the client has
asked us to start work without an IFC’d (issued for construction) design package. A quick note
about construction and the design drawings are that there are 4 parts, Schematic Design (SD),
Design Development (DD), Construction Documents (CD), and Issued for Construction (IFC). As a
rule of thumb, you do not start work until the final design (IFC) is issued for construction by the
engineer to avoid any issues with changes in the design.
One of my key roles is to review drawings as early as possible to identify the material
that is needed for the scope of work. I will also identify any long lead items based on the
historical date of material deliveries and reach out to our contractor and vendors for lead times.
Doing so helps our team build and adjust the schedule accordingly. As each package is issued for
construction, I identify any changes in the design and log the risk. I then take the changes and
risk to the owner so that the risk is captured and change orders can be issued for the change. As
one can imagine, this gets expensive quickly. Thankfully, we are avoiding a lot of issues by
reviewing previous packages, spec requirements, and collaborating with the owner directly to
ensure that there are minor changes to the design between CD and IFC

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

I think that the politics of the organization influenced the situation in a number of ways.
For one, there had to be mutuality from both the customer and my organization when agreeing
to work on packages before they have been issued for construction. I know that there was a lot
of negotiating going on and that ultimately led to the decision. I think that there was also a level
of openness when it comes to understanding the associated risk with working outside of IFC.

Finally, I think that there was a good amount of networking involved. We have been
working with the client for the past 7 years. The client would not have asked us to accomplish
this task if they felt we were not capable of delivering the desired product. Having a good

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 rapport with the client and having that network of connections allowed us to secure the current
project.

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

I think that one alternative course of action regarding politics could have been a better
understanding of morality and openness. There are times when the client disagrees with what
we propose as a path forward and want to renegade certain terms. But we have to remind them
that the contracts have already been executed and changes usually come with a price. I think
that one thing we do well is maintaining our openness with the client and our mutuality to make
sure that every decision we make is in the best interests of both parties.
         I also think we have done a good job of identifying channels of communication which
help map the political terrain (Boleman & Deal, 2021). The simplest way of doing this is making
diagrams to map out the people involved (Boleman & Deal, 2021). I think that we do a good job
of this and have a good understanding of not only the client but our own structure as well. This
allows for us to have effective communication between both parties.

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

One thing I would not do differently is how we deal with morality and politics. I think
that we do a great job of this and even use several methods mentioned in the readings
(mutuality, generality, openness, and caring). However, we can still improve upon these
processes as they are not perfect and I do not think that they can be perfect. One question I like
to keep in mind is the one from the reading regarding whether you would want to be the one
receiving your actions (Boleman & Deal, 2021). We make sure that the decisions we make are
just and fair to both involved parties.

One thing I think that we can add, is improving the way in which we do bargaining with
the client. There are times where we agree with the client and end up eating the cost out of our
contingency. While this isn’t always the case, I think that we could use a more calculated
approach in some instances. One thing I learned from the reading is how important it is to
understand the organization as political agents. The client that we are working with plays a huge
factor in communities as they provide hundreds of jobs for the community. The company that I
work for relies on them to provide us work, however, they also rely on us to build their new
facilities which will bring more jobs to the area. Understanding and being able to navigate the
politics of both sides plays a crucial role in my work environment and is something I want to
improve on.

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 Reference
Bolman G. L., & Deal T. (2021) Reframing Organizations Artistry, Choice, and Leadership 7th
Edition. Published by Jossey-Bass