It’s Official (Again): March Madness is Good for the Workplace!

Once again, it’s been proven that celebrating March Madness at work can be good for business. Tell your boss.

Last year, we reported on a survey — from staffing firm OfficeTeam – that polled senior managers on the impact of having employees follow the NCAA basketball tournament while at work.

In particular, the survey probed the effects of having employees following the tournament during the pivotal March Madness games.

We were expecting to hear all kinds of complaints from bosses across the country. After all, once in the grip of March Madness it’s hard to concentrate on such mundane things as work.

But a funny thing happened once the results were in: bosses reported that celebrating March Madness in the workplace had a positive impact on workplace productivity.

As if to prove that this wasn’t just some statistical anomaly – or a one-off result – OfficeTeam commissioned a new survey for 2015. The results were nearly the same!

According to OfficeTeam, half of the senior managers interviewed said that March Madness-related activities had a positive impact on employee morale. A full 36% of them said that these activities had even boosted productivity!

So, for more than a third of the managers surveyed, March Madness had actually been good for business.

If you’re struggling with the conflicting demands of work and basketball, you can take some solace in these findings. Better yet, take them to your boss. You don’t have to choose between work and basketball anymore.