I eat out a lot for business and run into this situation all the time:

My party of 3 or more is getting seated in the middle of a busy restaurant. I think the first person behind the host should walk all the way around to the chair furthest away so we can all sit down in order. Usually the host will lead the first person in line to the first chair they come to forcing the others to break formation and find a chair while walking around the person trying to sit and the host. It gets tricky, especially if tables are close together.
Any suggestions? Is there a "rule" about this?