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 work for a high volume craft brewery and taproom in the Bay Area of California called
Fieldwork Brewing Company. This company is headquartered in Berkley, CA and has
seven different taprooms across the Bay Area. I have worked for this company for two
and a half years now and have been able to work my way up to an assistant manager
position. About a year ago, my company decided to switch the way we provide service
and our point-of-sale system. Where we used to provide table service through a server,
we now allow guests to run their tab through a QR-code that is on each table and we
would drop off their order to them. Our sales have noticeably gone up due to this change,
however it comes with a few downsides. The biggest downside is that the company
needed to lay off multiple servers across all taprooms as that role became obsolete. Our
guest connection also has gone down as many of the taproom associates simply run
drinks and food from the bar to the table, limiting their interaction with the guests.

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

Laying off all of our servers had a negative effect on the rest of the staff. It felt like there
was a large disconnect between the company and its employees. In this situation, it felt
like there was a lack of organizational symbols which only heightened the tension
between staff and management. There were a few symbolic changes after we switched to
the new POS systems and the server position became obsolete. We used to have regular
team meetings, but after the switch we haven’t had a single one in almost a year.
1

 The use of team building exercises, including meetings, is a great way to nurture the
relationship between employees and their organization. Bolman & Deal state, “Meetings
may not always produce rational discourse, sound plans or radical improvements. But
they serve as expressive occasions to clear the air and promote collective bonding,”
(Bolman & Deal, 2021, p. 302). With a lack of team meetings, a lot of the staff felt unsure
of where they stood with the company, and there was little to no opportunity to voice any
concerns. It became clear that the company no longer had any inclination to keep the
remaining staff in the the loop on changes that took place, and we just had to process and
carry out information as it came.

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

In a way to promote team building and cohesion, I would recommend using regular team
meetings or team building exercises as an organizational symbol. I think this would really
help improve morale with the remaining staff during a rocky transition. Providing team
meetings creates an open dialogue with upper management and the staff. I also believe
another organizational symbol that could have been implemented in this situation is the
creation of an award system.

Awards are a great way for organization to boost morale and motivate their staff by
recognizing their hard work and commitment, especially during a rough period. Awarding
staff can take on different forms in this specific situation. If I were a part of upper
management during this transition period, I would look at creating an employee of the
month type of system that is based on votes from other eligible staff. I would also look
into the possibility of providing for staff appreciation events. It can ben extremely
beneficial to invest in providing organizational symbols because it helps promote
motivation and cohesion amongst the staff. “Perhaps most importantly, instituting
symbolic awards shouldn’t feel like a daunting, Herculean task. The whole point of
symbolic awards is that they’re cost-effective (typically free!), easy to implement, and
can go a long way when done right,” (O’Flaherty, Sanders & Whillans, 2021).

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

Based on what I have learned about the symbolic frame, I believe I would have acted a
bit different in this situation. I would have put more emphasis on creating symbols that
promote unity and cohesion. I think one of the biggest downsides of my team not feeling
connected to the company or the work they do is that it is apparent to consumers. Our

 guest connection scores have decreased, and I do believe it is because the employees
struggle having the motivation to go above and beyond for the company.

Specifically, I would like to have created a dialogue with upper management on the
tension and lack of motivation that was growing within the taproom. I think this would
have at least brought it to their attention and hopefully they would have realized how
beneficial it would be to create a change. I feel that I held back from speaking up about a
lack of symbols for staff to fall back on because I too was a bit fearful for the security of
my job. The upper management at this company typically doesn’t like it when employees
question their actions, so I held back. However, I do believe that organizations ultimately
benefit from providing symbolic gestures for their staff.

 References

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership

(7th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

O’Flaherty, S., Whillans, A., & Sanders, M. (2021, September 17). Research: A little recognition
can provide a big morale boost. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/03/
research-a-little-recognition-can-provide-a-big-morale-boost