Maddie Orgen

Organizational Leadership, Arizona State University

OGL 481: Pro Seminar I

Dr. Kenneth Willmott

February 11th, 2024

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.

The situation I am going to be analyzing was an incident that happened during my tenure
as the Vice President of Philanthropy for my Sorority. I lead a small team of people that were
aiding me in planning events and working on small event tasks that I did not have time to
complete. During our meetings I was assured that all the tasks for a specific event were being
completed and that the team was fully on track, just to find out that I was being lied too and
that the work was not being done and the event was critically behind.

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

After thorough reflection of the situation and the reading, I have come to conclude that it
was the lack of organizational symbols were present in the given scenario. As we learned in
the reading organizational symbols encompass a lot of aspects in organizational life such as
ceremonies, rituals, communication style, traditions, etc. and so much more that contribute to
the organizational culture (Bolman and Deal, 2021). These aspects are unique to the
organization at hand and are used not only to make it a unique place, but also to give
employees a sense of belonging and ownership over where they work.

On my team, before this scenario happened, I really didn’t take the time to distinguish
anything that would make my team different and give the team a sense of belonging. The
only thing that I attempted was a regular schedule of meetings/communication and thought

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 the rest would fall in place naturally. This is a perfect example of how much the leader can
impact a team and set up habits and culture surrounding the day-to-day operations. I also
think the lack of camaraderie that symbols provide was missing from the team dynamic,
causing the issues that I was feeling in the accountability and productivity aspects of my
team.

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

First, I would have empowered the use of ceremonies and rituals. As we read in this
week’s materials, these aid in building a culture and employee satisfaction relying on more
than just monetary gain. Though from an outside perspective they might seem silly or
unprofessional, when there is employee buy in, it creates a bond between employees. I think
that if I had implemented a reward system in the beginning of my tenure surrounding
performance in planning and award the members after the events, there would be something
to look forward to. I am a very self-motivated and driven person and so sometimes I forget
that not everyone is like that, and they need more support in getting the job done. I also
would have liked to empower something that wasn’t solely work related maybe once a month
bonding activity where the team was able to let loose and connect so when it came time for
work to get done, there were relationships built.

It is very interesting to examine leadership symbols and communication. As I reflect a

bit on above leadership in some respects can be easily impacted by the tendencies and
preferences of the leader. I think that If I has been able to use symbolism and a culture
focused mindset that I would have been able to take away the “leader” and “follower”
complex that was present. I felt that desperately wanted a team culture that was collaborative,
but my team responded to more of a top-down approach in that they would rarely share ideas
or collaborate when given the opportunity. This practically falls to the communication issues,
but I think is a huge part of culture as well because for some reason they did not feel as if
they could collaborate and bounce ideas around in the environment, they were operating in.

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

In this situation I would have empowered the tools I spoke about above to foster more
of a culture centered around collaboration and team building. I think the lack of
communication and proactiveness in the team stemmed from a lack of ownership. There was
a a lack of fulfillment coming from the roles and the team that needed to be corrected un
order to move forward. In summary I would have empowered the use of team rituals and
traditions that make it a fund place to work and an environment in which ideas could be
shared and created.

I was a young leader at the time and still had a lot to learn. I had the vison of the team
I wanted, and I tried hard before the work started to amount to establish a culture. This was a
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 time that we were coming back from COVID, and we were online/virtual in the beginning of
the team’s life cycle. I think this had implications on what I had planned for the team and
shifted the expectations early on. I wish I had taken more time to establish a reward system
and a team culture of having each other’s backs regardless of if it was an individual’s
assigned work. Through the examples we read about this week, it seemed as though the
leaders were able to establish a culture so enriching that the employees wanted to show up
and do the work, take initiative, and remain loyal to the team. I was navigating younger,
unpaid professionals, but I will have high hopes that a culture of loyalty and drive would
prevail. After the large situation happened, I learned how to facilitate better communication
but never was it a fully cohesive team and I attribute that to the lack of symbolic culture.

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 Reference or References

Bolman, L. G. & Deal, T. E. (2021) Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership (7th ed.).

Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass