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U.S. NEWSThursday 17 March 2016
American Living:
Some businesses to let workers enjoy March Madness
JOYCE ROSENBERG
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — March
Madness is taking over at
small companies that are
letting employees watch
the NCAA basketball tour-
nament while they work.
Staffers at the marketing
company Phelps will be
able to keep an eye on the
games at their desks or on
conference room TVs. CEO
Joe Phelps says his 86 em-
ployees are hard workers,
often staying late or com-
pleting projects on week-
ends, so he’s fine if they
work a little less hard during Craig Barbee turns the
when games are on during
office hours.
“If you hire the right people
in the beginning who are
motivated and productive,
then we’re past the time
of measuring and having
everyone with their nose to
the grindstone all the time,”
says Phelps, whose compa-
ny is based in Playa Vista,
California.
March Madness can be a
distraction at many com-
panies, especially during
daytime games. The games
are streamed online, and
many people continu-
ally check scores on their
smartphones. Productivity
can slip, with an estimated
$1.9 billion in wages paid to
staffers who aren’t working
because they’re preoccu-
pied with games, accord-
ing to Challenger, Gray
& Christmas, a company
that helps laid-off people
find jobs. And if everyone’s
watching a game at the
same time, it can slow a
company’s computer net-
work.
But many small business-
es have found it’s better
to let staffers watch the
games, and that output
doesn’t really suffer. They
find that a little slack makes na-based The Bookkeeper. fans fill in, predicting which ier says, suggesting bosses
for a better workplace. Like other bosses, Barbee teams will win at every lev- instead use the tourna-
And because the decision acknowledges that his el of the tournament. The ment or events like the Su-
will likely be made by the staffers work hard and are more accurate fans’ pre- per Bowl and World Cup
owner, and not layers of responsible, and that he dictions are, the more likely soccer games to build ca-
executives as in a big cor- can trust them to get their they’ll win money if they’re maraderie and a positive
poration, the boss can just work done. But he also be- participating in a pool. atmosphere.
say, go for it! lieves that because The Owners who want to forbid “Try to embrace it and cre-
ate opportunities around it
Joe Silverman, right, poses in the lobby of his New York computer repair shop while employee as a way to get people to
Alex Lokshin watches the company’s big-screen TV. Silverman realized last year he was losing be closer — people who
productivity to the NCAA college basketball tournament, as the 20 staffers of his computer repair wouldn’t normally mix to-
company kept checking their phones for scores during the games. His solution was to allow them gether,” he says.
to have the games on the big-screen TV he had installed for customers, but to let them know they Some companies aim for
do need to focus on their tasks at hand. Silverman keeps an eye on the games, too. middle ground to get work
done and still allow work-
(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) ers to see the games. At
SchooLinks, which oper-
Bookkeeper is located near employees to watch games ates a college application
NCAA into a party for the schools that often make even on their phones are website, CEO Katie Fang
five staffers of his Raleigh, NCAA appearances — and going to have a hard time will invite the seven staffers
North Carolina, bookkeep- Duke and three branches enforcing an outright ban, to watch the last quarter of
ing company. The first day, of the University of North says Eric Cormier, a human televised games together.
there’s a barbecue with Carolina are in this tourney resources specialist with In- “Our team will be able to
burgers and hot dogs, ev- — he can’t expect anyone sperity, a Houston-based focus on their work know-
eryone brings in a side dish, to ignore the games. company that provides HR ing they’ll get to watch
and it’s OK to stop working “College basketball is huge services. the good part,” says Katie
for a while. here,” he says. “If you can’t beat them, Fang, CEO of the Austin,
“We normally watch the Many workers are inter- join them. You’re not going Texas-based company. She
first half of the initial game ested because they’re to stop people from watch- also plans to take everyone
together, and we leave a part of pools that bet on ing just as you’re not going out to a bar to watch Fri-
large TV on in the confer- the games. The American to stop people from click- day afternoon games.
ence room so people can Gaming Association, an ing on the Internet,” Corm- Joe Silverman realized last
saunter in and out through- industry group, estimates ier says. year he was losing produc-
out the day to check that 40 million people com- Moreover, trying to clamp tivity to the tournament as
scores,” says Barbee, own- plete 70 million brackets, down on workers is likely to the 20 staffers of his com-
er of Raleigh, North Caroli- the printed or online forms be a morale buster, Corm- puter repair company kept
checking their phones for
scores. His solution was to
allow them to have the
games on the big-screen
TV he had installed for cus-
tomers — and to let them
know they do need to fo-
cus on their tasks at hand.
“When there is work to per-
form, they know to listen to
it in the background,” says
Silverman, owner of New
York Computer Help, locat-
ed in Manhattan.
He’ll keep an eye on the
games too.
“I’ll watch when it comes to
the end of the half and the
end of the game,” he says.