It's that time of year again. The NCAA college basketball season is winding down and the big event, coined "March Madness" is right around the corner. Each year, the top 65 mens and womens college basketball teams compete in a highly publicized tournament that take place during the month of March and into the beginning of April. Cities bid big money on the opportunity to host mini tournaments based on tournament seedings all leading up to the "Final Four" teams that play over three days in selected city.
The tournaments have become part of our culture with many people of all ages following the game results during the daytime at school and work and at night on television. There is a lot money that is wagered between friends and at the office as everyone and anyone is filling out their tournament "brackets".
An aspect of the tournament impact that goes unnoticed is the loss of worker productivity on the job while employees are updating their brackets and following the games live on television.
Read the article link below:
http://www.ibj.com/ncaa-tournament-may-cost-employers-18b-in-lost-work/PARAMS/article/18557
In 2 paragraphs (at least 5 sentences for each paragraph), respond the following questions. In paragraph # 1 (a minimum of 5 sentences) give your thoughts on the article? In paragraph # 2 (a minimumm of 5 sentences) consider this situation. You are the owner of a small business employing 25 people. You have computers set up with internet access and you are not at the business location all the time. What policies regarding the NCAA tournament would you employ to discourage the loss of worker productivity during the NCAA tournaments? Be specific.
Please sign your name to the bottom of your blog entry.
I think that people shouldnt spend so much time caring about March Madness. People should focus on their work. I think that the article wasn't that good. People aren't just going to blow off the responsibilites. If they miss a lot of work people are going to saty late after work to make up for what they have missed. So saying that these companies are losing all this money isn't fair to say.
ReplyDeleteIf I owned a small business and I wasn't there and my people were going on the computer to look up March Madness I wouldn't be that upset up about. People slack off at work all of the time anyway. The March Madness comes around once a year and as long as the people make up the time and work I wouldn't care but the people staying late to work on the work they should have been doing aren't going to get over time. they wasted my time and theres.
Nastasja Lewis
I felt as though this article really bring to light all of the "slacking" that goes on during the march madness tournament. I never thought about how a basketball tournamnet could cost a buisness so much but it really does make sense. I liked the part about how offices attempt to deal with it. For me, I think that it should be used as a bonding expirience through out the workplace. THe reality is that no one is just going to stop entering pools and betting on the games because its clear that there are many many pools to be involved with arounf that time. I think that, yes, the buisnesses lose money but 20 minutes a day isnt bad when you work a 10 hour work day.
ReplyDeleteIf i was a small buisness owner, I would allow watching of the games as long as the job that each and every amployee gets done. Realisticly, there is no way that I could monitor the things that my workers would be doing and if I were to set a rule about what to, and not to do then clearly it would not always be followed. I would rather know what the people in my office are doing rather than them haveing to hide it from me. I would most definitely allow an office pool also because I feel like that is something small that everyone can get into and be a part of.
Taylor Murnane
I feel like the article is a somewhat fair analysis of the situation at hand. I do however, think that the article should have placed more focus on the fact that workers are putting in extra time to finish their responsibilities to make up for the fact that they are participating in tournament festivities. I also found it interesting how much money is lost and won during march madness.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a business owner, I would attempt to make a profit off of the event. I would charge each of my employees a fee in order to participate in the event. I would also charge the winners a portion in the prize money. i would require my employees to finish their extra work at home. I'm trying to get my gwap up.
Max
March Madness is a big event where everyone joins together and watch the top college basketball teams play in the tournament. In the article it states that 53.5 million people in the U.S. who are employed cares more about this event than their job. I believe that they should finish their work first then watch the game when you are at home. If you don't do your work then your boss is going to fire you. And I know that this event is not that important.
ReplyDeleteOwning your own business you have to have polices and rules. If I had my own business and the NCAA tournament was going on I would tell my employees that they have to finish their work first then they can watch the games. I would block any basketball websites because I can not trust them. When I finish my work too, I would watch the games with them. And I would have their computer screens on my computer so I can watch what they are doing.
Jerome Mitchell
I think that if these were allowed and the business gets a share of the money then they have a good thing going. But if the dont do this then they will lose money, so i think that they should allowed it. Also if a compnay is strict about this then people will more than likely do this as hate for the restrictions put on by their bosses. If i were in this situation then i would not do this, but i would if i were at home, just to make a little more cash.
ReplyDeleteIf i was the owner of the business i would allow this as long as i get some of the maney they make as the losses i would recieve from this. That way i would be making more money for my business and everyone would be happy. But one restriction that i would impose is that they do not waste to much time doing this because there might be more losses then profits. I would be an easy boss but sometimes you have to work, then play later.
March madness like the super bowl is a big event in some office places. Many offices hold brackets in which people pay 5 dollars per team or something. These pools are very popular becuase they make an interesting event even more intreging. When people tend to do these pools they tend to try to watch the game instead of doing work.
ReplyDeleteIf i was a small business owner i would set in place a way to monotor the workers activities on the computer the way fairfax county does. I wouldnt necisarily block the website becuase if they wanted to they could watch the game during their break or luch but any time over that set amount of time they would not get paid. with this you would have to keeps records so that they cant claim that you didnt pay them for their work hours and you could say that it is in thier contract and that you have records of what happened. Blocking all the websites that are unnesisaryt may seem like the employees are trapped and they feel as if they dont have any freedom.
march madness is a a huge thing that alot of people watch because they have money on it and includes alot of people who are betting on the games. its not suprising that most people care more about sports than their jobs because jobs can get boring and the games get exciting and people want to win money.
ReplyDeleteif i was a leader of a big company or corporation i wouldnt block websites or penalize people for watching the games because its their responsibiltly to get their work done. i think i would mostly dock their pay based on the performance level.If they can get their work done and watch the game then i have no problem with it.
I think the article lacked solid information. The survey contradicted itself although it was contucted by a U.S. department the meplyess still prove to have a good work ethic. There was no personal story/instance to make the story seem true. In the end it came off as a copy and paste publication.
ReplyDeleteAs an emplyer regarding the internet I would simply be sure to put a block on ever website that doesn't concern business matter. I would designate someone to be responsible for looking over the employees when I'm gone. I would approach the situation in an adult manner by asking all the employee's in a group meeting, buying lunch, or planning a gathering to respect the business policies.
Ayananh Crawley
March Madness is a big event where people squeeze the basketball games into their schedule. Teens and adults all over the country watch this event. In the article it says millons of employers make March Madness their first priority. I think its kind of funny that people gamble at work, but then again lots of people gamble on sports. The number of employers that do watch the game rather than do their job is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteIm not sure if i can disallow my employers watching the games. I think it would depend on what kind of business i own. If i own a car mechanics business maybe i can allow my employees to listen to the games on the radio because i dont have to worry about them being distracted by looking at a screen. I will not allow gambling in my business, they can do that at home. I will set some rules and policies. I will let them know that there will be cameras watching. With the employees knowing theres cameras, its less likely they will break the rules. Your job should be your first priority anyways. Adams Miranda
March Madness is unavoidable, no matter what. A large percent of people are associated with it somehow, including employers and employees. The article mentions statistics on businesses losing money during the first week of March Madness due to all of the focus on the brackets and game outcomes, along with what actions employers take at the workplace. Although these are good statistics, the article states that employees who compensate for lost time from the 'Madness' were left out.
ReplyDeleteIf I were in charge of a business and I could not be on site all the time, I would form some policies framed around March Madness which would make everyone happy along with not allowing the business to lose a signifgant amount of money from lost work time. As long as the employees are being productive and getting their daily tasks done, I wouldn't mind allowing them to create an office pool and use a little bit of time during the day for catching up on games/socializing/working on the brackets. But, if their time gets out of hand, I would only allow websites that are linked to the NCAA to be accessable for a limited time during the day, and after that, any time they have AFTER getting their tasks done. Probably towards the final game, or for the final game, we would have a party, provided that we remained productive and efficent during the entire March Madness mania.
The article on March Madness highlights a lot of things about the workforce and the event itself. The event is a way for people to enjoy themselves in a sporting event that everyone can involved in but also has a down side to it. The fact that people will go out of their way to look up the event while at work shows that employees are not just indulged in this game but also not using their time 'wisely.' Employees shouldn't be doing anything that isn't relevent to their work during their work period but sometimes it's unavoidable. When it costs money though, most people would want to minimize it because then the business is losing money itself.
ReplyDeleteIf I owned a business I would try my best to have people avoid the March Madness through policies and rules about internet access. But to be honest, rules will be broken sometimes just like in school when students find ways to get on Facebook or gaming sites that they aren't supposed to be on. If anyone is caught through internet history that they've been on the March Madness event online then I would impose the fact that they'd have to make up for lost time since they are being paid to work and not watch the March Madness. If they have time on their lunch break I would allow them to look it up or leave a television on in the lunch room, but other than that, I would try to avoid it. I also think that if there is in-office pool bracket betting then I would probably make it so that if whoever wins and does not watch the game while on the job will get an extra incentive. Another way to show some incentive is having a small gathering at the end of a work day for workers, once they are not on duty, to get together at a restaurant or just in the office and all watch the games together with some food and drinks. This way, they look forward to the end of the day rather than being tempted to watch the game during their work hours.
April Nimjareansuk
I think that the employees should just focus on their despite everything else that is going on around them. A lot of slacking is going which creates controversy for the buisness itself. If they don't enjoy doing their job, they should quit. But I dont agree witth them wasting time and not getting their work done.
ReplyDeleteIf i were the owner of the buisness where the problem is occurring i would set up a two warning policy. If my employees were caught surfing the web irresponsibly i would give them a suspension from the job without pay and the next time they will be fired. The working place is no where to play around, personal life should be left at home
SERENA COOPER
I thoughtthis article was interesting and very true. I've read before about how much the March/April Madness can hurt businesses, with people using sick days to stay home and watch games, or checking scores if they have inetrnet access in their workplace. A lot of the "madness" is run through the office itself, with gambling pools and money being placed on the line. The March Madness element has taken a new twist in recent years, with ESPN360.com broadcasting live games online, where employees can watch for free when they should be working.
ReplyDeleteIf people in my workplace want to watch the college basketball playoffs, which is understandable, I as the boss would have to implement ways to keep them on task and producing for the company. Not being in the workplace, I would have to put someone responsible who I trust in charge to keep people on task. But because people will find ways to check scores and watch games, I would have to do something else to keep them motivated. I could put up a screen with a projector or a scoreboard that broadcasts live scores where the whole office could see it, so they can periodically check up on games as they work. I would also not pay people if found not working for long periods of time, and I would give bonuses to workers who work through March Madness effectively.
Russell Clark
I think that the companies should try to be a little more strict. A lot of people love to watch the NCAA tournament. Iknow I watch it every year. The reality is almost no matter what businesses are going to have workers slack a little and watch the games. I don't think they should really even worry about it a whole lot. Its really not a big deal because most people probably slack a little anyway.
ReplyDeleteI would offer some sort of reward for the 2 people who were most productive. The people who were most productive could maybe get the day off of the final four or something like that. They could just go home and watch the game uninterupted by work. The people that just watched the game would be forced to work hard on those days so that they couldn't watch the game. I think that would at least keep a few people working hard.
-Kyle Crooch
This article is sort of surprising when they say that companies lose money when they watch the games for 20 minutes. People don't really think about it like that at all. I think that bidding on the tournament is a good way for the company to have fun. But, it should probably be dealt with after work instead of during work. Or, it could be dealt with during lunch or a down time.
ReplyDeleteVeronica Hohweiler
If I had my own business, I would tell people that they're not allowed to do anything with the NCAA tournament during business hours. UNLESS, it's their lunch time or some sort of break that they have during the day. I would tell them that if they do have anything to do with the tournament during work, there will be consequences. I don't think that it's fair that my company would have to suffer because of another company or event. Therefore, I would try and keep a close watch on what my employee's do during the work day with the tournament and future tournaments.
I think in the NCAA Tournament that's alot of money going to the men's tournament. I also think it's a great idea towards the NCAA. I personally think that they should work first then watch the game. But i do see how they can earn money from this event. March Madness is a big event that alot of people like to be apart of or just like to watch the game. I mean just think how much money their making on this one event.
ReplyDeleteSo i own a small business of 25 employees. I also have computers set up with internet access. I might not be in my office all the time to see if my employees are actually doing their work. During the tournaments i would block certain sites, so they wont be able to watch videos and play on the computer. Just get their work done. Which leads me to;My goal would be during NCAA Tournaments, to get them to work first then watch the games. Because if they do the opposite then we might lose money and that would be bad for or business. It just make my business look bad.
Anna McMullen
I really had no idea how much 'slacking' was done in the office during March Madness. It was an informative article and I now agree with everything it says. If the employees dont keep on top of their work, they could force the company to go under in the lack of productivity.
ReplyDeleteIf i was a small business owner I wouldnt care that much about my employees watching March Madness, JUST as long as they get their work done. I say this because I know i'm going to be watching it too so what kind of boss whould I be if i didn't let my employees watch too. :D
J.Rock
this article is about how businesses lose money during march madness. People slack off and dont work because they arent focused. This is a problem because businesses lose alot of money. Some offices have pools which i think is a good idea. Money is still lost though and this is a problem
ReplyDeleteif i had a business i would let the workers watch the game. If my business lost money thats fine, it would come right out of their paychecks. If you want to watch the games rather than work then you can lose money.But if you can watch the games and still be productive then there wont be a problem.it might even motivate the workers to work harder because they can take a small break now and then
mike counts
March Madness is one of the nations biggest and most anticipated tournements in the nation. The tournement is affecting employers and employees across the nation, that alone is a big statment of how big this tournement really is.I believe that that it is unfortunate that the work productivity is going down due to the popularity rity of March Madnes.The statistics are very surprising of the lost of money during the first couple weeks of the tournement. The magnatude of this tournement can cause so much loss of productivity and not only affect the employers but people across the nation in need of their resources.
ReplyDeleteAs an employer I would set strict polcies reguarding the use of the internet. I would let my employees know that if I walk in and catch them on anything that has no productivity their would be harsh consequneces. Of course I think as an employer its important to keep a good relationship with the employees so working out a solution such as giving them longer lunch breaks so they can access what they desire would be a very nice. However,the productivity can not decline, because that would be unfair to me. As a professional its very important to focus on the task your job asks of you everyday, their is no excuse or the loss of productivity.
March Madness is a very intense tournaments between the best teams in the nation. This could cost alot of companies profit. People tune out there work just to go see this. Everyone knowsthat people will bet and gamble throughout the tournament. Also the amount of hours that you work could vary on the amount of money lost.
ReplyDeleteCarlos Escobar
The NCAA tournament is one of the biggest events in this country. Me as the leader of my company i have to make sure i enforce rules so my workers do not go and waste time and my money by looking at highlights and the games for 30 mins or more. I woulld let them watch the events during breaks or if they get there work done early. If they break any of these rules they would get a warning and the second maybe third time they would be fired. They would have to work overtime just to get everything completed.
in the article above it talks about the how buisness's lose their money because their employers due to march madness and i think its true, but then if you would try and tell them they cant they would probably do it anyway so i would just tell them to not do to much.
ReplyDeleteif i owned a buisness with 25 people working for me and it was march madness so i aready knoe their going to check it anyway so i would tell them that they can only watch the games during their breaktime but here and their ill allow them to check the scores.