Seven ways to conduct an effective Hospitality Huddle
Hospitality Huddles have become embedded into our culture of hospitality and service, and we’ve spent the past year gathering feedback to help us keep improving the Huddle experience for faculty and staff. As we move into our second year offering Huddles, we encourage you to help create an environment that supports open conversation and sharing.
Mary Reeves, UF Health Shands Clinical Laboratory Services director, has spearheaded her department’s Huddles for the past year. Their Huddles include an average of 100 members from several of Reeves’ teams, including the Core Laboratory, Microbiology and the Blood Bank. Reeves shared some tips with us based on discussions she leads alongside her colleagues.
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Allow different managers to present, and empower staff to lead Huddles as well.
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Use the script as a guide and tailor discussions to address your team’s roles and missions.
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Encourage team members to share personal and patient stories, but ask them to protect sensitive information and be sure to omit names, titles and possible identifiers.
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Send Outlook reminders and start a Huddle bulletin board to maintain a consistent schedule and hold team members accountable for attending.
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Take staff away from their workspaces and hold Huddles in a less confined, more casual setting.
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Schedule Huddles in advance and stick to the schedule to ensure team familiarity with meeting times.
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Keep Huddles short and sweet — between 10 and 15 minutes is a good range.
To share some of your favorite Hospitality Huddle tips, visit the Hospitality & Service Bridge site (under “Employee Services”) and click the “In Your Words” tab.