Why Managers Should Embrace March Madness

I am so sick of hearing about how March Madness causes the wheels to fall off the American workplace.

Last year, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas estimated that "watching" the NCAA men's basketball tournament at work -- whether that meant checking scores online, taking long lunches to catch a game, or just talking about it with coworkers -- cost employers as much as $1.7 billion in wasted time.

Oh please. Those estimates make for great sound bites on the evening news, but as a cynical journalist, I think they're hogwash.

The calculations are based on the theory that if workers weren't engaging in basketball-related activities while at work, they'd be busily typing away on their computers or making widgets or earning big bucks for the company. Yeah, right.

The fact of the matter is, American workers regularly slack off at work. And if it's not one kind of slacking -- such as March Madness -- it's another. Cigarette and coffee breaks. Checking (ulp) stocks. Catching up with friends via IM, e-mail, or phone. Facebook and Twitter updates. Long lunches. Watercooler chats.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Suggesting that basketball pools impact productivity so much more than those activities is ludicrous.

And I'll go one step further to suggest this: Managers need to embrace some slacking. In this rotten economy, where fear of job loss is just around the corner for almost everyone, workers need to blow off some steam and create some balance in their days.

It doesn't cost managers anything to turn a blind eye -- or better yet, offer a nod and a wink -- to the annual office pool. Even better: Make it public and build camaraderie, team bonding, and fun. Skip the betting but offer a prize to the winner (a free day off, anyone?).

So forget the productivity-killer theories and embrace March Madness for what it really is: a golden opportunity to support employee well-being.