Work and organisations

Directions for this passage: Numbered portions are marked [n]…[/n] (underlined on paper, highlighted online). Each numbered portion matches the question with the same number. A boxed number such as [[8]] marks a question that refers to a location or to a larger part of the passage. Paragraphs are numbered for reference.

The Six O’Clock Huddle

Paragraph 1 At Larkspur Diner, breakfast service begins at seven o’clock, but the workday really starts an hour earlier. Before the first customer arrives, the entire staff gathers beside the walk-in refrigerator for what the owner, Renata Vasquez, calls “the huddle.” In about ten minutes, the head cook announces the day’s specials, Renata reviews [1]each servers[/1] section of tables, and anyone can raise a problem before it grows.

Paragraph 2 The huddle was not always part of the routine. When Hector Palomar was hired as a dishwasher eleven years ago, mornings at the diner were chaotic. Orders were lost, the coffee ran out, and servers and cooks blamed one another for every mistake. After one especially rough Sunday, Renata proposed a short meeting before each shift and asked Dolores Byrne, the head server, and [2]he[/2] to run it. Neither employee was enthusiastic. Both had worked at Larkspur for years without a daily meeting, and the idea [3]seemed like a total drag to them[/3].

Paragraph 3 [4]Although[/4] the first few huddles were awkward, the staff slowly learned to use them. [5]Standing in a tight circle beside the refrigerator, problems were raised by the staff[/5] one at a time. Servers mentioned regular customers who needed gluten-free bread, and cooks warned when the eggs were running low. The dishwashers, who had rarely been asked for their opinion, suggested moving the bus tubs closer to the kitchen door. Within a month, Hector noticed that fewer plates were being sent back.

Paragraph 4 [6]The diner also serves lunch on weekends.[/6] When Renata considered buying a larger grill last spring, she brought the question to the huddle before calling any suppliers. Hector, who by then was running the grill, pointed out that a bigger model would block the narrow path servers use to reach the pickup window. After some discussion, the staff chose a grill that fit the existing space, and Renata placed the order that afternoon.

Paragraph 5 Renata still limits the huddle to ten minutes, and it still takes place beside the walk-in refrigerator. “I don’t have all the answers,” she says. “Usually, the people closest to a problem already know how to fix it.”