Phillip Treisman
LEAD 342
10/6/19
Team Introduction and Description
This semester, I will be working closely with the Oregon State University Vitis Club. The
Vitis Club is made up of students interested in viticulture, many of whom are specifically
studying the practice of winemaking, and some of whom are in related majors. Our team has two
distinct objectives, one aimed at our members and the other aimed at the OSU community more
generally. Foremost, our goal is to provide hands-on experience with winemaking, knowledge
from industry professionals, and connections to viticulture employers and research opportunities.
And second, we aim to provide the OSU community with information about viticulture and
enology, and create opportunities for those outside of the specific field of study with exposure
and access to winemaking.
In order to accomplish this, the team has an organizational meeting every month, and has
between one and three events each week that team members are encouraged to attend. During
organizational meetings, we plan and coordinate events for the OSU community aimed at
promoting viticulture and enology. The events for members include visits to vineyards for tours
and informational sessions, lectures from guest speakers, and most frequently, going to the
Lewis-Brown vineyard to work on our own vineyard plot, which the club is responsible for
maintaining and harvesting in order to make our own wine, which we use at many of our public
events.
The team is made up of sixteen people, and has three main leadership positions: the
president, the event coordinator, and the treasurer. I am currently not in a leadership position: my
field of study is not viticulture specifically, but agricultural science, so my role in the club is
focused on doing work in the vineyard and communicating what resources need to be allocated
toward vineyard maintenance.
In order to create a roadmap for improving our team’s dynamic and more effectively
accomplish our goals, I will analyze the quality of our teamwork on the five common problems
that hinder team success, and assess our strengths in the seven elements that foster team success.
While it is early in the quarter to make a very accurate assessment of this term’s success, I will
be going off of the patterns I have noticed over previous terms
Rating for five common problems that hinder team success:
(The score relates to severity of the problem - higher score means more severe, a lower score is
better)
Elements
Rating
Explanation
Lack of
commitment
4/5
Lack of commitment is probably the problem we struggle with the
most as a team. Few people are willing to take on leadership roles,
member events rarely reach above 75% attendance, and meeting
attendance peaks at 75%.
Productivity
Losses
4/5
This past season, our vineyard suffered from neglect and produced
very little grapes for winemaking
Poor
2/5
Communicati
on
The president communicates infrequently with the entire group,
however individual members maintain an effective and constant
network of communication
Interpersonal
Conflict
0/5
Members get along well and really like each other, which makes
our events appealing to attend
Poor
Leadership
1/5
Our leadership is committed and competent, however we need
more people in leadership roles
Rating for seven elements that foster team success:
(The score relates to quality level of the element - higher score means better quality, a lower
score is worse)
Elements
Rating
Explanation
Shared vision 5
Everyone in the club is interested in viticulture, and we all have
shared ideas about horticultural sustainability and social
responsibility
Trust
While trust is high among group members, we have many new
members at this point in the term, and people struggle to trust
people they haven’t known for that long.
3
Team Identity 5
As everyone in the club is interested in pursuing a career in
growing, our shared identity is strong.
Collective
Efficacy
3
When working together, as a team we are very effective and can
accomplish great things. Motivating individuals to actually do
work can be tricky though, as demonstrated by our failure to
adequately maintain our vineyard this past year.
Participative
Safety
4
Members are encouraged not only to express themselves and
communicate their opinions, but also to physically participate in
winemaking processes regardless of their skill level, and so far,
events have had high participation rates (of those who attend).
Task
Orientation
3
The team has been able to break down our overall goals into
concrete achievable tasks, and has found varied success in
completing these tasks
Support for
Innovation
5
Since we are a club and have no revenue or production quotas to
meet, our viticulture techniques are frequently experimental and
we are eager to constantly try new ways of engaging with the
community