Talk:Effective Student Organization/Leadership and Communication

Contents =   * 1 Activities that build leadership skills among members=

I wrote an intro for this section because, besides for it being the only section without one, leadership building is an important part of a club's survival, regardless if no one specifically mentioned it. A club must actively train leaders if it wants to be able to effectively operate past a few years.

I added a paragraph to this section because there was no examples of ways to become or improve ones leadership skills, and why these types of activities are important.

I added an example from the Scottish County Dance Club because I thought it was a great way to show how a leader should be chosen, in a natural way. Rebecca slowly gained respect from the members and they grew to listen and trust what she said, the changes she made in any routines etc.

=   * 2 Challenges of Leadership/Communication= I added to this part of the page as I thought it would outline the positive of the rest of the page's content if the problems of being in a leadership role of an AS club were presented.

o 2.1 Ways to communicate effectively
I did an intro for this section because I thought it would be a more effective way to start of the section. Also I just felt like it needed an extra something to get the reader interested and ready for the section.

I added a piece about how leadership is the overriding factor that contributes to quality and prompt communication within a given club. Without a leader the club and its members can become very disorganized due to the multiple activities and jobs that each member has.

I just added some more relevant information to the intro. I stated that it was great to have modern technology give us opportunities to communicate effectively, but it was important that the leaders of clubs actually took the initiative to use this technology to actually communicate effectively on a consistent basis. It just felt like something to add on to the intro because it is also a very important aspect to group communication and leadership. Kimt7 (talk) 05:37, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

I made further revisions to this section because I thought the same ideas could be communicated more concisely while still drawing on the ideas originally presented. Gardnec3 (talk) 07:53, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

I made revisions to the section discussing how ineffectively technology is for communicating because it got a little blown out of proportion and was a little unrealistic because with the technology we have today communication is most definitely much more far reaching than before. Moraleg (talk) 03:01, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

I felt it was important to add a paragraph that concludes the importance of facebook as a communicator, since many groups brought facebook up as a very helpful source of communication. Wengerr2 (talk) 10:25, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

I added a section to the intro on effective communication about content, since there were some entries (ie sexploration) in that section mentioning the importance of the way content is presented during meetings, and it is a vital part of club communication in general. While I didn't really see any entries discussing the content of general club communications (emails etc), I think it's an aspect of communication worth looking into - now that it's mentioned, maybe someone else can expand upon it. Kelleya3

o 2.2 Working together
I did the intro to this because i feel like it needed something to start off the section. It is something that many people know about but it needed a transition from one paragraph to another.

I paraphrased what was written before because at some part I was very confused to understand. I wanted to clarify the point that person was making.

D. I added a short edit about the Western Strong Man club because their leadership situation is unique. They only have on real leader and they don't know what to do when she leaves.

I revised the paragraph about Setting Goals and Planning to make it more understandable and clear.

I made a minor edit in this category. The paragraph talking about the Student Coalition for Immigration Right, the "r" in rights was initially not capitalized and so I changed that.

I added to the content about the uncertain situation posed on the WWU Strongman leadership. I clarified that this club only has one 'active' leader because in reality several students run this club but only one does all the busy work. I also felt that it was important for the purpose of this page that the viewers know that maintaining a club is hard work that often times goes unnoticed.

I helped to summarize that having a strong leader in the group is a good method for group togetherness because if you have a lot of people just saying their ideas then how will you be able to choose which is the best one.

o 2.3 Maintaining Membership Diversity
I've edited the existing paragraph to expand and explain the original ideas that were presented therein. As well, I also added some helpful suggestions for how to effectively implement the strategies mentioned in the original paragraph.

I have further edited this post because I felt that something needed to be added to the introduction to incorporate how this person's statement was relevant to the wiki. I also wanted to make the transition smoother.

I have edited the paragraph by giving an example of how the club works and how do they create a safe place to talk about sex, also the example I added supports the ideas that were written by the other person. I deleted a sentence because I felt like it didn’t really fit with whatever is being said, and I felt like we didn’t have the right to judge the other clubs since we have never attended them.

I’ve edited the Harry Potter Club paragraph to include more reasons how everyone efficiently and effectively communicating is conducive to running a successful club.

I review this area of topic and realized that there is no summary, so I felt the need to put in a few sentences to sum up the topic.

o 2.4 Leadership positions
I decided to add an opening paragraph to the "Leadership positions" section because it seemed to just dive into the topic without initially summing up the importance of group leaders.

The changes that I made were in regards to the CCF category. The first edit was rather minor it went from "an so forth" to "and so forth." the next edit about CCF was the sentence, "Furthermore, WWU students, Skagit student, and WCC students weekly contribute money to CCF." I felt that the change was necessary to clarify who contributes to the club. I have been to the club a few times and know that my information is accurate.

Most of the paragraphs were well written, so the changes I made were minimal. I edited under the Dead Parrots section; with a few run-on sentences I placed a comma or broke it into two sentences to make it flow better.

I made a change to a paragraph about the club I investigated (Women in the Woods). This edit was made in Chapter 6, under the Leadership section. In the original paragraph, the flow didn't really make sense. I felt like the grammer could be changed and more things could be added becuase it was only a short paragraph and some things weren't mentioned. I added input on why when leaders graduate they need to choose a new leader that posses fantatic leadership qualities. Because if a strong leader isn't chosen clubs and their information could be potentially lost. I felt like this was a good contribution becuase if current club leaders at WWU look at our wikibook they will see that choosing a leader that has the same qualities (if not better) than them, then their club will succeed and the legacy will not be lost. (I wasn't sure where to post this the first time around. I accidentally posted it under "My Talk")

=   * 3 Qualities of strong Leaders=

I added an introductory paragraph for the "Qualities of Strong Leaders" section because it was awkward to just jump right into all the information this section has to offer without having an idea of that the following paragraphs will contain. Nelso81 (talk) 02:59, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

I added the last little bit to this page about being a strong and good leader. I added this specific thing because I believe that what I added is a serious and important quality in a strong leader that I learned in my previous leading experience.

I added a few sentences on the importance of a leader not only being strong, but leaving a lasting impact on those in the group. I felt that the information presented earlier was great, but it needed something about the emotional side of leadership rather then what you see as a result.

o 3.1 Organizing meetings
I personally added a concluding paragraph to this section. The flow of the overall section and the transitions between paragraphs need a bit of work, but I feel that the concluding paragraph brings the Organized Meetings portion of the WikiBook to a nice clear end.

I added a into paragraph to this section. It didn't really have on, it just dove into how a group organizes their meetings. I believe it helps the flow of the section better. I think if someone still needs to do more edits for grade they should throw some transitions in here between paragraphs. (TN)

o 3.2 Enthusiasm
I didn't do any editing in the Ethusiasm section but I DID edit in the goals setting section. In the goals setting section I expanded on it to add completing goals not just setting them. I think it was implied that if you set a goal you should complete it, but it never hurts to be more specific. I also used an example of a goal that a group could set and how they could go about completing their goal.

I added a conclusion paragraph to this section to sum up the importance of enthusiasm in a club as demonstrated by the previous posters.

I added an introduction to this section explaining why enthusiasm was important in a section so that readers would understand that it is necessary.

I expanded on the introduction and fixed grammar to make it more professional and to give a more extensive overview on the importance of enthusiasm.

o 3.3 Attitude
I added a summary to the Attitude section so users would understand what the section was about and understand the examples used.

I decided to change the word choice and the order in what was said. I felt like this brought the points together and was easier to understand.

I made some edits and changes to the first paragraph (second half) of the Attitude section because I felt that more needed to be explained about the description of an effective attitude for a leader. Before, it was just about being positive and not negative but I feel that it is important to note that a leader must be a team player too. I also changed some of the language from what was originally written to make it more sophisticated, less wordy, and clear.

3.5 Confidentiality

I added an introduction paragraph to this section because the discussion about Sexploration began without any explanation and seemed sudden. I added to this section of the wiki page because I feel that confidentiality is important for clubs. If members are not comfortable with the club or group then they will not attend the club. The clubs need to show that they are open to everyone and accepting of everyone to maximize member size. I added some thought on the attitude part about optimism and I thought i had to add them just to let others know what could happen if you think too positive. There was a nice description of stuff but adding it what i wrote might have brought up a different thought in their mind.

3.6 Adaptability

I added an introduction paragraph for this section since adaptability could have meant a couple things like adapting the meeting times, club goals, or club events. So I read the paragraph that person wrote on the subject and based it off of what he/she talked about.

=   * 4 Leadership Positions=

I decided to add an opening paragraph to the "Leadership positions" section because it seemed to just dive into the topic without initially summing up the importance of group leaders.

o 4.1 Types of Leadership Positions
I added to the information about the leadership positions available within the KUGS radio station because I felt that there were other more typical leadership roles and that they were not discussed. So I added what positions students can apply for within the radio station and a brief description of those positions duties. Hedluns (talk) 04:45, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

I added a conclusion to why the WWU Bodybuilding club worked when it came to their leadership so that it flowed more smoothly.

o 4.3 Passing Down Information and Tasks to New Leaders
I added an introduction paragraph because there were not any contributions to this page and i felt that the summary of the club i studied would also fit for other clubs as well. In general most of the clubs pick their new leaders in the same way, and i felt that with participant observation all clubs can benefit, and more effectively choose a new leader while passing down important information.

I added a part to the passing down of leaders because the leader of the Photography Club inherited her position, but was left relatively unaware of the clubs practices. She has relied heavily on current members, and has absorbed their information and is quickly becoming a great leader. This is an example of how great leaders do not dictate but work with the group.

o 4.5 Sharing Leadership
I added an introduction paragraph to this section because I thought it needed something to start off the section before it got into the details of specific clubs and their inner workings. Winkss (talk) 16:40, 4 June 2009 (UTC)