Hollywood, MD – The office intrusion caused by the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) annual Division 1 men’s basketball tournament—known popularly as “March Madness” begins in earnest Thursday, March 17.

Over 60 colleges and universities have teams participating in the tournament. Eight teams participated in four “play-in” games (PIGs) held Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Since the NCAA expanded the field to 68, creating the four PIGs, the games have always been played in Dayton, OH—perhaps because of the city’s centralized location.

On Thursday, eight tournament games are scheduled to be played during normal work hours. The same is true for Friday, March 18. Are these two workdays lost workdays?

Benefits Pro magazine writer Dan Cook referred to March Madness as “the Christmas Season for basketball fans.” While there is not widespread anecdotal evidence that “office Christmas parties for basketball fans” have caught on during March Madness, it is surprising what some of the office productivity experts are saying.

While Cook’s Benefits Pro thesis cited office pools, watercooler debates and using office computers to surf for stats to fill out brackets are major workplace distractions during March Madness, it also referenced survey results complied by OfficeTeam. The survey found that half of the senior managers who were polled said the tournament “boosted office morale and productivity.”

In a recent article posted in The Business Journals—written by Rosalinda Randall—it was stated that “employees are more likely to be watching games on the Internet during working hours, checking scores, updating their brackets and either boasting or sulking as they compare notes with coworkers and online forums. The cost of participating in March Madness at work goes beyond loss of productivity.”

Citing data provided by Challengers, Gray and Christmas Inc., All Business writer Laura Kerekes wrote, “the cost of lost wages paid to distracted and unproductive workers due to March Madness could reach as high as $1.9 billion.” In the same article, however, Kerekes wrote, “if managed correctly, it’s a great opportunity to establish an annual ritual that builds office morale, employee engagement and comradery.”

Whether it’s politically correct to do so or not, we wish all our readers a “Happy March Madness.” We hope everybody wins!

Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com