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.

I was an assistant director on the 2022 summer musical at Paradise Valley Community
College. There were difficulties and numerous situations to maneuver, including COVID
related issues, peer conflict, ambiguous management, and a lack of
transparency/accountability among the cast and crew in reference to the director.

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

A blog from Baylor University gives a great definition of the political frame. "The
Political Frame describes an organization that competes within their group for limited
resources and time" (Oltman, 2013). This is exactly what happened with the production I
was a part of. There were several cast members who strongly disliked the choreographer.
Given that this was a musical, a good portion of the rehearsals were dedicated to dancing,
so those cast members spent a lot of time with the choreographer. Over time, a few of
them started intentionally trying to cause problems in order to have the choreographer
removed. This was extremely counterproductive, as instead of 'spending time learning the
dance for the show, they would spend the time trying to get someone fired.

Another instance of political influence is how the power demographic was displayed.
Since the maiority of the production's cast and crew were students in between the ages of
18-25, and the adults were professors within the school, making decisions and
challenging the creative proctss was difficult to execute. The director in particular had
most of the cast in at least one of her classes, me included. This made it difficult to have
healthy disagreements about the show in order to make it better. While I had positional
power, she still saw me as her student, not as someone whose opinion was worth listening
to from a directing standpoint.

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

If properly reframed, the political side has the potential to do the most amount of good.
For starters, I would like to use politics to remind everyone involved why they are even a
part of the show. It is the love of theatre and performance art! Hopefully this would unify
everyone in the show and assist in setting aside major differences. I would also like to
have spent more time getting to know how each person in the show worked. The textbook
is clear about why a lot of managers struggle. "Managers often fail to get things done
because they rely too much on reason and too little on relationships" (Bolman & Deal,
2021). Since my role was ambiguous, I ended up taking on more of a management role
than director. It would have been better for the show if I had done more work concerning
the feelings of the production members.

All in all, it was a challenge to manage the differences and hidden agendas with each
person. Using political tactics to get in the thick of the situation and handle them
accordingly would have done wonders for the people and for the production as a whole.
Getting more involved, balancing the relationships, and inspiring these relationships so
grow together instead of apart could have made my life significantly easier.

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

For things I would have done differently, I wish I had the courage to state my position
use my position to influence the show in more ways than I did. For example, I could have
used positional bargaining in order to get more accomplished. This would have assisted
in how rehearsal's were structured, who was participating in the rehearsals, and it would
have also allowed for value to be added to the show quicker. I would have also liked to
have "planted more seeds" with people involved with the show. I could have hosted
events or created bonding experiences for the cast and crew which would have allowed
them to trust me more to solve problems.

Now, as for things I would not have done differently, I do not regret in the slightest
jumping in and getting the set run chart completed. It was the technical director's job, so I
was encouraged to find a way to encourage him to do it. However, after weeks going by
without it and the set changes needing to be smoother, I took it upon myself to create it.
After it was drafted, scene changes were no longer a confusing aspect of the show, but
swift, concise, minimal movements accomplishing massive changes. I also stand by my
decision to keep the other assistant director and certain cast members as separate as
possible. It wasn't an ideal solution, but it worked.

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 References

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership,
7th edition. McGraw Hill-Ascent Audio.

Oltman, H. (2013, March 28). Reflection 6: The Political Frame. Step up. Retrieved February 5,
2023, from https://blogs.baylor.edu/haileyoltman/2013/03/28/reflection-6-the-political-frame/