| March Madness is upon us. While this annual event can impact productivity, employers may find that the positive effects it has on team engagement and camaraderie outweigh any negatives. Consider these facts from both sides of the coin: An estimated $1.9 billion is lost in workplace productivity during a typical March Madness tournament. (Challenger, Gray & Christmas) Employees will spend 25.5 minutes per workday on March Madness, for a total of 6 hours spread over the 15 workdays when games will be played. (OfficeTeam) As much as $3 billion will be bet on workplace bracket pools during March Madness this year. (FordHarrison) Nearly 9 in 10 employees who participated said participating in NCAA brackets at work helped build team camaraderie, and 73 percent said they look forward to going to work more when they are part of an office pool. (Randstad) So how can an employer embrace the fun of March Madness while still enforcing the rules? Whether you view the tournament as a minor distraction that creates an opportunity to boost morale, or as a potential pitfall of legal liability, missed deadlines, and dissatisfied customers, the ball is in your court. Here are five ways to maximize the positive aspects of March Madness while minimizing disruptions. Have fun: Make it clear to your employees that you want them to enjoy work and March Madness while not letting the tournament put a full court press on their work. Encourage employees to wear their favorite team’s clothing and/or decorate their workspace in their team’s colors. Watch together: If you have TVs in your break room(s), turn them on to the games so that employees have somewhere to watch the games other than at their work station. That way productivity is not lost even for those not participating in the Madness activities. Provide snacks for the viewers. Be careful with brackets: Organize a company-wide pool with no entry fee to avoid ethical or legal issues surrounding office gambling. Keep the brackets posted and updated in the break room. Be flexible: Allow workers to arrive early so they can work a full shift and still leave in time to see big games that overlap the end of their shift. Conversely, allowing employees to delay their start time the morning after big games may help reduce absenteeism. Follow the rules: Review applicable company policies—such as gambling, use of personal electronics and company computers, and work and break hours—with your employees before engaging in any March Madness activities at work, so it will be clear to all what is considered acceptable. Determine how March Madness fits with your business culture and customer deliverables. If employees are getting their work done, customers are happy, and the biggest problems are reduced internet bandwidth or a little more noise in the cubicles or lunchroom for a couple of days, it’s nothing but net. (See what we did there?) Decide how you’ll be playing this before the opening tipoff and the Madness begins! Keep in mind, though, that basketball isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and if you accommodate this kind of recreation, you should accommodate others. If you’re going to be flexible for March Madness, you should also be flexible for things that interest other employees, whether that’s running a marathon, volunteering, attending Pride events, or chaperoning school field trips. |
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