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 have been with Starbucks Coffee Company for nearly five years now and I had started
in sophomore year of high school. I was a barista for 3 years and working part time and now
currently working as a shift supervisor for close to 2 years now. I am looking to further my
career with the company in management or the corporate world of the company. Starbucks
also provides me with the college achievement plan through Arizona State University so I
can go to school at no cost other than working a minimum of 20 hours per week.

While working for Starbucks I had a challenging time going from a barista to shift supervisor
for the store I worked at. This was a challenge for me because I was friends with all of my
coworkers as I worked side by side with them for years and got hired with my close friends. I
had to separate my friend life with work life to be a supervisor, so I was able to lead them and
direct them what to do without feeling weird about it.

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

I feel as if the symbolic frame was the least to influence the situation of mine, but in
some ways it still did. The culture of Starbucks allowed me to build such great friendships in
the store which was apart of the symbolic frames. The people I work for inspire me to keep
chasing my dreams and go higher up in the company.

The symbolic frame influenced the situation in ways that the symbols associated with
Starbucks as in the culture and mission are valued. The culture is a big part of how this
situation was dealt with since Starbucks wants all partners to treat another with respect
and fairly.

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

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 I would value Starbucks’ culture and build friendships in the workplace and keep them
just at work, not outside of work. This is due to me making things harder for my self. I
know people should understand if they were my friends that my job is to be their boss,
but I felt anxiety doing that for some reason.
Starbucks mission statement and promise to the community entails how everyone
is welcome and they nurture the limitless possibilities of the human connection.
Starbucks values our relationships at work. I should have remembered this while
applying, I now have a balance friendship with my friends at work.

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

Regarding symbolic frames I would put meaning in my work and look at the
situation differently. If I thought to myself that this is a personal goal and need of mine
and I was being silly to focus so much on how my friends would feel is unnecessary.

If I were to do it all over again, regarding my situation I would have kept

friendships in the workplace to a minimum just to make my life easier and have a balance
of more of a friend/ professional relationship. When it is more of friendship then it is hard
to become their boss and tell them what to do.

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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