March madness has descended upon us once again. Brackets are
being completed and water cooler talk turns to basketball. Research companies
spend millions conducting surveys on how much productivity is loss in the
workplace due the NCAA tournament. Some companies buy into the fears and direct
IT departments to monitor and restrict network time and strictly enforce
company policies.
Modis, an IT recruiting company conducted a survey regarding
the burden put on IT professionals. The survey found that 42% of IT
professionals responded that March Madness historically impacts their networks.
37% reported a network slow down and 34% reported that networks are essentially
shut down during the tournament. Expecting increase in network burden, 65% of
the survey’s respondents said that their IT departments took some action to
slow or hinder streaming video. Jack Cullen, president of Modis said of March Madness time,
“It’s an event that boosts office morale and builds camaraderie for many
American workers, but it can put a significant burden on office networks, and
the IT professionals responsible for maintaining them.”
Employees watching games is a burden to computer networks, but
how does March Madness affect worker productivity? Challenger, Gray, & Christmas, Inc. is one of the most popular
research companies when it comes to tracking worker productivity during March
Madness. The results of the Challenger, Gray, & Christmas, Inc. survey for
2012 reported that 2.5 million workers spend 90 minutes a day watching
basketball. With employers paying distracted workers some $175 million over the
first full days of the tournament. Further distraction comes prior to the
tournament while workers spend time completing brackets.
Statistics are showing hours and dollars loss, but what is
not measured is how many workers who put in extra time or multi-task to make up
for the loss time. With the prevalence of streaming video, workers are able to
watch games from their desks while completing other tasks, either through
company computers or personal devices.
Experts concede to the burden on networks, but also agree
that March Madness builds worker morale and camaraderie. While some companies
go out of their way to impose tighter restrictions, some embrace the time. To help ease network traffic, some companies
install TVs in break rooms or have events and their own brackets or pools.
Whatever your position on this time known as March Madness,
employers have to balance protecting their networks while at the same time
ensuring productivity meets standards while not affecting worker morale. Good
luck.
www.mazzellainvestigations.com
