HR Soapbox - Monday-Morning Quarterbacks In Your Workplace? You Can Bet On It!

January 18, 2007

Volume 6, Number 9

In This Issue...MONDAY-MORNING QUARTERBACKS IN YOUR WORKPLACE? YOU CAN BET ON IT!

Have you reviewed your employee handbook lately?

If not, the next person reviewing it might be a disgruntled employee's attorney. We can help you prevent this from happening. AHI has teamed up with employee handbook expert Jim Collison to present a 90-minute audio conference:

EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK HAZARDS:
Spotting Mistakes And Omissions That Your Employees
Could Use Against You

Wednesday, February 7, 2007
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Eastern Time

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MONDAY-MORNING QUARTERBACKS IN YOUR WORKPLACE? YOU CAN BET ON IT!

Sports may just be one of the biggest productivity killers in workplaces all across America. Between the talking and trash talking, forecasting and Monday-morning quarterbacking, bragging and teeth gnashing, there are a lot of workers, well, not working. And I'm just referring to those who threw a few dollars into an office pool. It seems to reach a fever pitch during this time of college bowl games, the Super Bowl, and then March Madness, when both the sports fanatics and the gamblers share a common interest. Is there any way to stop the "madness" and maintain productivity (those games span a good three months!)?

The bad news is, you need to accept that you can’t stop the madness. You can't take away people’s interest in a sporting event. But the good news is, you can take steps to keep it from overtaking their interest in their next assignment.

Do not endorse office pools. After all, they are technically illegal. And when a company gives permission to employees to organize pools, it gives them implicit permission to track scores, discuss results, and engage in other non-work activity on work time.
Talk to IT about blocking access to sports and gaming websites. Such restrictions are especially important during March Madness, when games are played throughout the workday.
Designate talk time. Give employees, say, 15 minutes in the morning to talk about the previous night's game(s) — "goofing off" that will not be held against them. The tradeoff is that they may not have extended conversations about it the rest of the day (during work time). Carving out approved time shows that you don’t want to kill all the fun, but you just want to manage it.
Support your on-staff athletic supporters in a way that doesn't affect productive time. For example, encourage them to display team paraphernalia in their workspaces. Or relax the dress code and allow them to wear team colors or clothing on a designated day.

I personally can't wait for the Super Bowl! Even though my hometown boys, the Giants and the Jets, didn't make it past the first round of the playoffs. And I don't even really like football. So you won’t catch me chatting up my co-workers about the match ups and debating the merits of Romo, Manning (the other one), Garcia, etc. But just wait 'til I pick the right box that corresponds with the final score of the big game...

Good luck, stay legal, and stay on track.

Gloria Ju
Editor in Chief

READERS GET ON THE SOAPBOX

Here's what readers had to say in response to last month's issue on:
WHAT'S THAT I HEAR? IS IT LAUGHING?!?

We had a flannel pajama day which was a hoot!
One time we had everybody bring in funny baby or early childhood photos of themselves........then everyone had to guess who was who. It was hilarious
how almost no one guessed correctly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love your suggestion
about the pet photos and I'm going to do that here. It's always more fun to come to work when you know most everyone has a sense of humor and we can find something to laugh together about.

Note: Responses may have been edited for clarity and length.

Review past issues of HR Soapbox here.

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