merging departments becomes a problem when the management of volunteers comes into play and would only result in people not getting the feedback they needed. if you want to merge departments but have separate branches then what is the need to have them all in the same department anyway? I can't really see any real rational reason for department merges, aside from perhaps rv but I know that that is under revision right now.
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scottish; merging aside, are there any features or management styles from the past that you miss, being a 10 year veteran?