Waco Task Group

Some of the skills that also contributed to the effectiveness of the group were Mayor Echterling’s focusing skills, which he used during the drug enforcement and road repair discussions to keep members from spending to much time on a subject or deviating too much from the conversation (Toseland and Rivas 2017). Eventually this skill was used to postpone the road discussion so that the meeting time could be used more effectively. Other skills used were also related to making an effective use of time and included clarifying content so that members could have productive conversations and making group processes explicit so that members knew how to interact within the parliamentary task group method. Both these skills and the bond of service that …show more content…
The task group could best be described as a cabinet that was holding a focus group to gather information because the group leadership was appointed in order to advise Mission Waco’s directors and develop policies to improve the future of the organization (Toseland and Rivas 2017). The primary purpose of the group was to gather feedback from people who had been involved in Mission Waco programs in the past 25 years in order to identify areas of strength and growth and set goals for the next 25 years. Associate Director, Ms. Kathy Wise; Mission World Director, Ms. Janet Dorrell; Board Member, Mr. Jeb Barr; as well as two third party advisors formed the group. The Mission Waco leaders were tasked with explaining what the non-profit had done so far and with recruiting people for the focus group, so they conducted the meeting. The advisors were present, but their participation in the focus group was limited because their focus was on making data-based recommendations over the course of several months. Other attendees came from a wide range of backgrounds including current and former Mission Waco program participants and program staff and volunteers. There were about 15 attendees who all appeared to be engaged and excited to be …show more content…
Ms. Wise’s role in the meeting most closely resembled that of a chairperson as she hosted the event in her home and helped keep the focus of the event in order to comply with the group’s time constraints. Still, her role was informal and her guidance was always phrased in firm suggestions such as “Thank you for the introductions, but let’s try and keep things brief so that we can stick to the allotted time and be respectful of other commitments”. The process was not at all like a formal parliamentary procedure except in the fact that most members were respectful of Ms. Wise or the other presenters and waited to be recognized before they