OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Structural Frame Worksheet

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

The situation I am analyzing is a district retreat I was involved in during my first

year as a store manager. The district that I work in is in the mid-west and spans
two states and four cities. At my level, my peers and I get together six times a
year to discuss upcoming promotions, strategies, and objectives. My leader
decided that for this meeting she wanted to turn it into a team building retreat.
Retreats have been proven to be effective at team building, but intentional
planning and process will lead to better results (Brown, pg. 137). This retreat
was not planned, well thought out, or a successful team building event. It was
planned and communicated to us two weeks in advance, and in my company all
our scheduling is done three weeks out. This caused us all to adjust our
schedules which had impacts on our employees, customers, and business. The
activities planned for the retreat did not pertain to our role, and my leader was
directly involved in sowing distrust and frustration within the team.

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

The organization I am associated with is well established. It just hit their fifty-
year anniversary and is an international corporation. Due to their size and age,
they have complex and formal structures in place. They also have clearly
defined roles, responsibilities, and policies in place. The structure is set up as a
matrix structure, but managers still have direct reports they are responsible for.
Due to the organization having formal structures in place with clearly defined
responsibilities, my peers and I were familiar with what was expected of us in
our roles and in these meetings in the past.
With our leader presenting this meeting as a team building retreat, we
anticipated some unfamiliarity, but coupled with the routine and structure we
were accustomed to. With this expectation, we were immediately flustered by
the lack of organization, structure, and planning put into this retreat when we
arrived. We are a team-oriented group and are more than willing to help each
other out to achieve goals but our leader expected us to execute the objectives
of this retreat with almost no direction. Since she had authority over us, and
we were used to a hierarchal system, we did not feel comfortable pointing out
the flaws in her plan.

3) Recommend how you would use structure for an alternative course of action
regarding your case.
Since the organization is already well established with a complex and formal
structure that the team is familiar with; I would have utilized the system in
place to streamline the retreat. Aspects of a highly developed structure are a
clear strategy, a clear mission, well-defined roles, and clear coordination from
upper management (Bolman & Deal, 2021, pg. 48). A major area of discontent
during this retreat was the allocation of tasks, which is an important aspect of
organizational structure. I would have divided up the necessary tasks
associated with the retreat ahead of time between the team and sent them out
ahead of time so that everyone was aware of their role and responsibilities. I
also would have sent out an agenda that clearly stated what the goal of the
retreat was, and how we planned to get there.

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

My role as a store manager is to build my team’s capabilities, create plans to

drive business, and elevate my store’s experience for my employees and
customers while role modeling our company's mission and values. This is
accomplished through five leadership approaches, and five operational
approaches. After learning about this frame, I was able to make a lot of
connection between my role and the structural frame in general. It would have
been beneficial to my peers and I if the retreat were set up in a way that
reflected our approach. Since our organization also has certain scheduling
policies in place that our calendar is structured around, I would have pushed
back more on the impulsivity of the retreat so that it would not have had the
negative impact it did on our employees, customers, and business.
 References
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and
leadership (7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Brown, J. T. (2014). The Handbook of Program Management: How to Facilitate
Project Success with Optimal Program Management. McGraw-Hill.