OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Structural Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the structural frame
2. Apply the structural 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 situation which our organization experienced was a revamp of our current CRM or
customer relationship management system. We were utilizing a system for both our back
and front office team and recognized that there were issues with how it was initially built
out and ways to implement it for the front office team members to include an applicant
tracking system. While the project seemed straight forward, I was not initially on the
project and as Operations Manager at the time, I recognized that this was going to be an
issue. As the Operations Manager I was responsible for working with departments to
ensure that day-to-day operations were smooth and efficient. We had a director from a
different department who was the project manager on the revamp and while he
understood what he needed from the applicant tracking side, he didn’t realize all the
changes he would be making would affect different departments in a drastic way. This
caused an issue with our initial go live date and the way in which the system had to be
built out to allow it to continue to be used on both the front and back end. Once I realized
that the project was going to require more than just his involvement, I helped to oversee
the implementation and allow for testing, process development, and training for all on
what would be restructured in the new environment.

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

Because the structure of our organization is still that of a small business, it is much more
open with the hierarchy of approvals for new systems. While our organization knew that
this was a project that was going to be taken on by our Director of Recruitment, because
of the lack of structure within the organization and leadership not discussing this prior to
pushing it forward, it caused confusion and angst amongst the team members. Being a
smaller business and not having a robust technological footprint, we used outside
vendors, which also helped to influence the situation. While they understood the
technology side, they didn’t understand how we operated and were only hearing what the
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 project manager was saying needed to happen rather than multiple departments. Once I
realized that this was more than just an add on service to our already working system, I
immediately went to my COO to discuss the complexity of the project and how it would
impact the various departments as well as the need for oversight.

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

In this and other instances, I would use a more hierarchical approach for implementing
new systems within the organization. Because we are growing, we want to ensure that the
new systems in place will not hinder other departments from completing their work. By
allowing department leads to be involved in the decision-making process this can help to
identify who is needed for the project and what type of undertaking it will be.
Additionally, since this was a bigger project that was taken on, I felt that a more
structured approach to projects would be beneficial as well. Working through project
management deliverables such as a work breakdown structure and risk analysis can help
everyone to identify whether the project is right for where the organization is heading.

Additionally, I think another course of action would be to identify a project manager for
this and future projects within our organization. “The most basic and ubiquitous way to
harmonize the efforts of individuals, units, or divisions is to designate a boss with formal
authority (Bolman & Deal, 2021). I think by designating who is the project manager, this
would help us on the situation which I described and other future projects we undertake.
By having this formal authority to oversee, it would alleviate many of the issues between
department leaders of the same level.

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

One of the first things I feel I would do differently, is implement a process for approvals
for projects in our organization. While we are still considered a small business, we are
rapidly growing and have added on multiple team members and department directors.
With these added positions, I think it is important for the departments to go through a
more formal approval process rather than being much more open and lackadaisical. I feel
that a formal approval process can help not only the department requesting the approval
but other departments to know what the project will do and how it will impact that
department and potentially their own. What worked for us in the past, isn’t going to be
what works for us now or as we continue to grow, and I feel that having more structure in
place will help to better define where we are headed.

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 Another thing I would do is standardize our processes within each department and
formalize policies on how a project is reviewed. Again, with our company being a
smaller business we don’t have a great deal of processes in place or policies on how
certain aspects of the organization are handled. While this worked when there were only
five to ten of us, with the growing departments we have and difference in our reporting
and organization structure, I feel that more standardized processes would help those to
see when other departments need to be involved and help to standardize procedures
moving forward. With these guidelines I feel that it would allow for more collaboration
and transparency in what is working and what needs to be addressed.

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 Reference

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass