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SALT LAKE CITY -- Every year analysts complain that employees spend too much time on bracketology and not enough time on work. But University of Richmond professor Don Forsyth, who studies workplace dynamics, says there's a greater gain from all of this.
"It increases a cohesiveness in the workplace. People who haven't talked to each other before are now conversing openly. It creates a lot of energy in the workplace," he says.
Forsyth says companies pay consultants big bucks to do that but March Madness does it for free. Plus you may learn about different talents and aptitudes of some employees that can have different applications.
"You can learn a lot about your co-workers by seeing how they approach their choices (on the brackets)," he says. Some may do a lot of homework as they pick who will make it all the way to the final four.
As to productivity, Forsyth says people slack off anyway at work -- he thinks March Madness just replaces the other stuff.
"The time that they were spending maybe on the Internet, maybe talking to a friend in the office or planning for an upcoming wedding and looking at wedding gowns online" is now spent talking about basketball.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
