You don't have to be a basketball fan to enter March Madness pools. Between the 45 percent of office workers who participate in their office pools, I'm betting not everyone is a die-hard fan, and this time of year, it's pretty common to join in on the fun — so much so that not even employers are caught off guard by the event.
If past years are any indication, March Madness isn't exactly a work-productivity booster. This year, there may be an estimated $1.8 billion in employee losses when pools in the office can mean about 20 minutes of employee time lost on basketball, i.e. not working. Still, there are employers out there who embrace the time, touting it as "a powerful social process [that] builds relationships and rituals within the group. Everyone is included." In short, the kind of team-building effect that a company might "pay an expert" for, but "March Madness does it for free." What's the take on March Madness at your office? Are you getting in on the action?
Lacoste
black'Up
Free People
More like, my office doesn't participate in March Madness. I work with mostly older ladies, and one man who's more into pro sports. I'm an NCAA lover, so I'm kind of in the spirit of things on my own, despite my own beloved team's lack of skills this year.
1i live in Canada where it's just not as big...but even so, for Olympics and that sort of thing, there wasn't much going on...there was one Olympic flag in the hall but it wasn't until after the fact that someone said "they really should have had updates on medal counts"
2Not offered here but if it was I'd do it in a heartbeat!!!
3Nope. Our office doesn't have a March Madness pool and no one's really that into basketball.
4Nope, my office doesn't have a pool going but I've done it in years past. It is a productivity waster but does help office morale.
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