I used to work in our Comm centre and found that too many women in a too small room for too many hours made for some pretty interesting problems and issues.  Since the expansion of our radio room (the gals aren't sitting on eachother anymore) I've heard things have improved in that way, plus the addition of a number of male employees has cut down on the amount of estrogen.

Different shifts have different dynamics.  The ones that hang out together seem to play better together at work than the ones that don't.  There's also a pretty significant divide between the free single child-less gals and the married with kids crew.

When I left (over 3 years ago) I bid that place good riddance and would never go back voluntarily.  I loved the JOB...but the people drove me to distraction :)  Maybe I'm just a bitch!  I have friends left on a few shifts that say more space has definetly improved things, but it has also done away with the ability to chat without "little ears" overhearing every word, which makes nurturing friendships difficult.

Just my two cents!  In American I think that's still pretty much on par with the exchange!

We get along fairly well but sometimes I swear I'm in the 10th grade...

For the most part we get along great. We are a very small agency and i feel that has alot to do with it. However our bigest problem is just personality conflicts in general. We have a couple of older people that are employeed at our agency and when we paired them with younger operators, they were ready to kill eachother. Then of course we have emplyees that like things strictly by the book and want a policy and procedure for everything, then others are more laid back go with the flow and handle problems as the arise. I feel both groups bring alot of insight to the profession, the trick is learning how to balance the two so that everyone is happy.

When fully staffed (ha!) we have 5 on a shift but usually work with 4 because...well, because we're almost never fully staffed. Our shift gets along very well and I'd say most of the other shifts do also, but there are a few gossipy people and one person who is over 40 physically but about 16 emotionally, so it gets interesting from time to time but overall it's smooth.

At first I think my colleagues thought I was anti-social because I don't go over to the PD building (Comm Center is next door) when they BBQ and such. It's nothing personal, but I live 5 miles from work and what with working every other weekend and having many days off when my wife is working, I go home to have lunch with my wife. I don't socialize after work either, and neither does my wife with her colleagues, but again, it's just something I've never cared to do. Work stays separate from my personal life.

We work very well as a team, and have a fun time discussing the issues of the day, and in Metro Atlanta, there's plenty to talk about! For example, Clayton County (south of Atlanta) hired a new school system administrator on April 28 this year. A few days ago, the high schools held commencement and the graduates were puzzled and hurt when they returned to their seats after receiving their "diplomas" only to open the folders and find blank sheets of paper. See, Mr. New Superintendent had noticed that his name was not on the diplomas, his predecessor's was...so he had all the diplomas shredded. Reprinting them was going to cost $80,000 but the printer stepped up and saved the taxpayers the money but doing it free. Can you believe that egotistical jackass did that to those poor kids? You can't make this stuff up.

Anyway, sorry for getting off-topic.