March Madness is a slam dunk for fun—but a buzzer-beater for productivity.

Answer: Around $9.6 billion

Questions:

• Is productivity the most important thing in a workplace, or should companies also care about employee happiness and engagement?
• How do you think remote work affects distractions like March Madness?
• Do you think watching March Madness at work is really a big problem, or is the lost productivity overhyped? Why?

Here are the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (Challenger, Gray & Christmas):

"A 2019 survey by OfficeTeam found workers spend 25.5 minutes per workday on March Madness-related activities during the tournament. If that holds true this year, across the 16 workdays between selection Sunday and the championship game, workers would spend 408 minutes, or 6.8 hours, on March Madness related activities at work. That would mean the tournament could cost employers conservatively $9,607,085,968."

 
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About the Author

Dave Martin

Dave joins NGPF with 15 years of teaching experience in math and computer science. After joining the New York City Teaching Fellows program and earning a Master's degree in Education from Pace University, his teaching career has taken him to New York, New Jersey and a summer in the north of Ghana. Dave firmly believes that financial literacy is vital to creating well-rounded students that are prepared for a complex and highly competitive world. During what free time two young daughters will allow, Dave enjoys video games, Dungeons & Dragons, cooking, gardening, and taking naps.

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