It seems quite active – it does all sorts of things! On the other hand the most frequent references are to people being filled with and baptised in holy spirit. So let us go back to the original Greek words:

Pneuma is a noun of the neuter gender and hagios the adjective that describes it, so for starters it is neither male nor female (not that such definitions exist in the spirit world, although Jehovah and Jesus are both referred to as ‘he’ for our benefit). If spirit is a common noun and holy spirit is without a personal name then perhaps it is an impersonal force that is used by God, even though it is said to do things itself. My wife cooks by electricity. She decides what tasty dish she wants to create, she chooses the ingredients, she combines them appropriately and then she uses electricity to create heat in the oven or on the hob. She controls that power until she has achieved the desired effect – those different ingredients coming together to form a satisfying and delicious meal. She cooks the dinner using the power at her disposal. Electricity cannot of itself cook anything edible – it is a flow of electrons along a conductor. Nevertheless it is powerful and extremely versatile. We use it to heat and light our homes, to power transport, to entertain ourselves, to operate computers… the list is endless. Without electricity this world would no longer function. It is harnessed in so many ways for so many purposes, but that does not make it personal. It does not have a name, it does not have a personality, it does not do anything useful, it just exists, as it always has done. Only upon being harnessed does it becomes very useful. Is this perhaps an appropriate analogy for holy spirit? An extremely versatile and powerful force that Jehovah uses and controls for all sorts of wonderful activities?
The problem is that, at times, things attributed to the operation of holy spirit go wrong. Referring back to that verse in Acts 20, not everyone who is appointed in the congregation remains in the faith. We likely all have heard of, or even know of, men who having been appointed, in very short time leave the congregation altogether, or who use the privilege to pursue personal ambitions and agendas, or worse, to get into situations where they can satisfy disgusting and perverted cravings. It seems that such activity is relatively rare, but it does happen. Does this mean that the holy spirit is sometimes confused, and on occasions makes completely wrong decisions? Never may that be! Sometimes my wife overcooks her ingredients or burns the food. Does she blame the electricity? She might out of her frustration, but in reality she knows that she failed to control it properly, perhaps setting it too high, leaving it on for too long or simply by being distracted at a critical moment. She has failed to work in complete harmony with that power and so we can say that it is equally possible to become out of step with the direction of the holy spirit.
So how are appointments made in the congregation? Here is the opening summary of chapter 8 of ‘Shepherd the Flock of God’:

‘After the meeting is opened with prayer, the Scriptural requirements should be read aloud from the Bible. Although no one could measure up perfectly to these requirements the brother being considered should measure up to a reasonable degree, not significantly lacking in any one of the requirements. The circuit overseer relies on your good judgment [sic] and spiritual discernment in this matter.’ 202305_sfl ch8

There is no stated requirement to sit in a circle, in the dark, holding hands, and waiting for verbal instructions from on high! We come to the light for the works of darkness are wicked (John 3:9-21). Thus the appointment is made by men, specifically the circuit overseer on the recommendation of the local elders. The reasons for appointment, or deletion, should be open to scrutiny, based solely on scripture, and with evidence that has been carefully considered from all sides. Especially is this true when it comes to deletions. The circuit overseer, acting as judge and passing sentence, needs to be certain that the case of both the prosecution and the defence has been, and has seen to have been, fully and impartially considered. The problem is that, being human, we all fall into the trap of being influenced by what appears to the eyes. Was not Samuel guilty of this upon seeing the tall, dark and handsome Eliab? What did Jehovah say to him? ‘For not the way man sees is the way God sees, because mere man sees what appears to the eyes; but as for Jehovah, he sees what the heart is’ (1 Samuel 16:7). Conversely David caused much injustice by accepting the contrary words of Ziba and Mephibosheth at face value (2 Samuel 16). Unlike Jehovah and Jesus who can and do read hearts, appointments can only be made based on the evidence presented to the elders. Most of the time the process works well. Most appointments turn out for the good. But sometimes they do not. Why? On the one side, some men are very good at pretending to be what they are not, or in hiding dark secrets and desires. Those making the recommendations cannot be expected to know the ‘secret person of the heart’ (1 Peter 3:4).
On the other side there may be elders wanting to appoint so-and-so for his own personal reasons; nepotism and favouritism spring to mind. Would bribery ever be involved? I cannot imagine it, but worse things have happened! How then is holy spirit involved in the process? In the opening prayer, the chair will seek the direction of the holy spirit and that will come through the reading of the relevant scriptures. ‘All scripture is inspired of God’ (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible is a product of holy spirit, so by reading and meditating upon it, a decision is made. That decision is entirely the responsibility of those making it. Do they have the qualifications clearly in mind? Are they making a recommendation for the right reason? Have they performed sufficient background checks – do they truly know the brother? Have they shared with him in the preaching work, socialised with him, extended hospitality to him and his family? You see, it is so easy for a brother to look the part – being at all the meetings, answering, registering impressive hours on a report (remember those days?), etc. Whilst holy spirit is very much involved it does not directly make the recommendation. It cannot do so. It is an impersonal force. Therefore it would be wrong for a body to blame the holy spirit, or in some other way, use it to excuse any failings on their part to properly and adequately evaluate the candidate.
Of course, Jehovah could use it to indicate his will in an unmistakably direct manner. I love the account in 2 Chronicles 20. Jehoshaphat is facing a large army and prays to Jehovah for direction. Suddenly, from somewhere in the middle of the crowd, Jahaziel, who was no one in particular and had been quite happily minding his own business, jumps up and starts declaring Jehovah’s instructions for the king. Why? Because the spirit of Jehovah came upon him. That sort of thing tends not to happen these days! That said, those who are anointed to reign as kings and priests with Jesus in heaven do experience something similar, although they rarely shout about it. Somehow they receive an indication of the heavenly calling and they know. Apparently they just know, because in some way God’s spirit bears witness with their spirit (Romans 8:16). It is, at this point, just an invitation to an incorruptible, undefiled and unfadable inheritance, reserved in the heavens (1 Peter 1:4). It is up to each individual to make that calling and choosing sure by their manner of life, whilst they see out their remaining days here on Earth (2 Peter 1:10).
Another factor to bear in mind when reading the Greek Scriptures is that Jehovah used his holy spirit in a more active and direct manner whilst forming the first-century congregation (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). The gift of holy spirit was accorded to the apostles. We read of Peter and John using the spirit to heal the sick and raise the dead. Paul, directly appointed by Jesus to be an apostle to the nations, also did likewise. Did James - Jesus’s half-brother - and the other non-duodenal apostles (including Barnabas) receive the spirit to use in such an evident manner? There is no record of their personally having done so if they did. Yet all 120 in that upper room were able to speak in tongues! When, in Acts 16, we are told that the holy spirit forbade Paul to speak in Asia it seems that Jesus personally intervened to direct the apostles to a more fertile field, ‘perhaps by audible revelations, dreams, or visions, the spirit prevented them from preaching in the district of Asia and the province of Bithynia, later reached with the good news.’ (w15/6/90). The point is that this extraordinary usage of holy spirit was but a temporary feature as adequately explained by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13:8-13). All of Christ’s disciples were anointed with holy spirit in those days. The nascent congregation of Jehovah was born amid opposition and persecution; it needed all the help it could get to mature and thrive. Once it had reached that self-sustaining position and once the recipients had deceased, those overt and remarkable gifts would be withdrawn.
Understanding how the holy spirit works today is a much more nuanced affair. As a rule we see when holy spirit has been in operation by the effects. We see unity and love within the congregation where none, humanly-speaking, should exist; we see results when the expectation is of failure, from the most unpromising of situations. When the holy spirit has been in operation we know. We just know. Nevertheless we cannot presume upon it to make up for our own failings. Jehovah will use it in marvellous ways to help us to do his will, even making up for our deficiencies (and we all have plenty of those!), but when things go wrong through our own lack of preparedness, then we cannot shed the blame and expect the spirit to pick up the pieces and restore matters to what we had hoped. Each person, each body of elders, carries their own load (Greek phortion) of personal and non-transferable responsibility (Galatians 6:5).