Yesterday was Selection Sunday in the Kingdom…  Today is Bracket Monday and the day after daylight savings time. How much coffee did you drink today?  68 College Teams will play in 31 games to determine the NCAA Champion.  Your staff, along with 23.7 other million workers are filling out their brackets today.  Even if you don’t watch College Basketball, 81.5 million people will be engaged until the net is cut on April 3^rd.   Get ready for the loss of productivity but the possibility for a morale boost.

Games begin on the 14^th and will go all day during the workday on the 16^th and 17^th.   56% of workers say they will spend an average of an hour of their workday on March Madness activities.  They will check their brackets, discuss with their co-workers and stream games.  The average viewership for the first two days of the tournament are 8.5 million.  9.9 million unique views streamed games on NCAA March Madness live in 2014.  Someone in your kingdom is watching.

Companies stand to lose 2.1 billion dollars in lost revenue for unproductive and distracted workers during the dance.  What is an employer to do?  You can’t cut the internet, so Embrace the Brackets.

• Print out the brackets and put them up in the break room. Assign the person you know is going to look anyway to update it for everyone.
• Have departments pick a team to cheer on.
• Let people dress in their favorite team gear on game days.
• Set up a TV in the lunch or conference room with the games running.
• Organize a work viewing party if your local school made it in. (Go Northwestern!!)
• Set clear limits. Specify when/if you allow streaming and basketball research. Remind employees, absolutely no cash office pools (gambling is a misdemeanor)!  Blame HR, we can take it.

Working during March Madness is all about balance.  Set your boundaries but give a little during this time.  Embrace team spirit and find some inspiration.

Who are you cheering for during the Madness?  I’ll be cheering for Northwestern until they come across Notre Dame, then all bets are off.  I love a Cinderella story and the Wildcats sure have one!

Need to fill out your bracket, here is the 2017 blank bracket.

Here is the schedule for 2017 with channels, take note of games during working hours.

*Statistics credit:  Challenger, Gray and Christmas and The American Gaming Association