Does March Madness Really Cause Lost Productivity?

I came across a report that March Madness could cost employers a total of $1.8 Billion in lost productivity this year (link here). It's a pretty interesting read, and the logic is there. Let me give you the highlights, in case you don't want to go for the deep read.

• This report is based on 20 minutes of daily time wasting. They go on to say it could consist of trash talking at the water cooler or watching live videos of games during business hours.
• That 20 minutes is then applied to a number (45%) of Americans who planned to enter at least one bracket pool this year and multiplied by our total non-farm work force.
• Finally, they take that times an average hourly rate times the number of days in the tournament to get a total of $1.8 Billion.

But this report irked me. Because I think there are some important things they overlooked. CBS kind of gets this, as they had some fun with this concept, introducing the Boss Button in 2008 -- a button you could quickly hit to pull up this image (below) and immediately hide your streaming video of the NCAA Tournament plus turn off the sound. According to CBS, it was used 2.77 Million times last year (link here, wow). That would allow you to pretend you weren't actually watching the games but were hard at work on a pretty spreadsheet. (which would never work for someone like me who could never make a spreadsheet that hot!)

But that's not the point. The point is this whole concept is fun. Which brings me to my issues with this statement of lost productivity.

1. Time wasting. This is an assumption on 2 fronts. First, that people who would "waste" 20 minutes talking about the tournament would otherwise be working and not "wasting" time talking about television shows, movies, music, family, or current events. Second, that the act of enjoying banter with your co-workers is actually wasting time. I've found that the more comfortable you feel around your co-workers, the more productive you actually end up being...
2. Nothing else changes. I've found that if you can find time to get a workout in during the day (in the morning or at lunch), I end up being a LOT more productive the rest of my day. The point they are making is that we end up wasting 20 minutes and then don't get any more (or less) productive with the rest of our days.
3. Camaraderie. What is the value in feeling more connected to those who work for you, or who you work for? Much like a team lunch can bring people closer, so can the NCAA Tournament!

I think it is safe to say the NCAA Tournament pulls people away from their desks and connects them to others in ways we can't quite measure. And reports about the "lost" productivity hide the gains in productivity from being energized around a topic and connecting with your peers.