Double the huddles
Teams unite for fun, twice-daily Hospitality Huddles

During the Hospitality Huddles attended by the UF Health Physicians Medical Oncology and UF Health Shands Adult Infusion Center teams, you’ll find that dancing, eating, laughing and answering trivia questions are regular occurrences.
Not long after UF Health launched twice monthly Hospitality Huddles in October 2015 to reinforce our Hospitality and Service Standards of Behavior, these staff took them to the next level and began huddling daily.
“Everyone has to step away and take a break every once in a while, so I figured, why don’t we do it together?” said Michele Scavone Stone, manager of both teams. “So we began huddling twice a day to make sure everyone has a chance to attend no matter what their schedule is.”
The teams address UF Health’s monthly Hospitality Huddle topic, and also tackle a variety of subjects specific to their units, including staff outages, events, workflow and policies.
“Without our daily Huddles, I’m probably not going to reach every person each day, but I can make great connections during and after these Huddles and it’s not too time consuming,” Scavone Stone said. “For me, it’s rounding with the staff and I want them to walk away refreshed to finish up or start their day feeling informed and connected to all of the disciplines on our team.”
The teams’ Huddles are fun and engaging, with a theme for each day: Motivational Monday, Trivia Tuesday, Wellness Wednesday, Thankful Thursday and Fun Friday. Trivia Tuesdays are a staff favorite — those who answer questions correctly earn candy bars. On Fun Friday, the Huddles begin with uplifting music ranging from The Jackson 5 to Sai.
“I’m definitely an advocate for these Huddles. I think they are a great thing,” said Devra Mathis, UF Health Physicians Medical Oncology service specialist. “My favorite aspect is that they create a platform for people to address concerns and suggest changes to improve our workplace.”
The Huddles only last five to seven minutes and have increased team unity.
Scavone Stone said, “If you are trying to engage a team for a Huddle, I recommend making it fun. It really does foster great teamwork and we feel that the morale is better than ever.”