Menlo Park company gives March Madness water cooler talk [an almost] stamp of approval

To NCAA basketball tournament watchers, the last 48 hours have produced both “bracket busters” and “buzzer winners” – heart breakers and heart stoppers. All that excitement made this correspondent recall the many Monday morning management meetings she’s attended over the course of her career. In her mind, at the best of these companies the first five (or so) minutes were allocated to a rehash of what happened in the Tourney over the weekend. And at the worst – well let’s just say it was like they didn’t know March Madness existed. How boring.

There is now validation to her sentiment, thanks to a recent survey by Menlo Park-based staffing company OfficeTeam, part of Robert Half International. The company recently asked more than 1,000 managers whether March Madness activities, such as watching game highlights or engaging in friendly competitions, affect morale and productivity. Forty-one percent of those surveyed felt the college basketball playoffs have a positive effect on employee morale. The majority (56 percent) also said March Madness activities do not impact productivity, and 22 percent of respondents believed the festivities actually boost workers’ output.

So, even thought they are a bridge away, let’s give a big shout out to bracket-busting St Mary’s. Go Gaels!