Sports News – Being that I have the ability to work from home and be my own boss, I fortunately do not need to hide that during March Madness the TV will be on in the other room when the basketballs are playing. I will also have espn.com’s live scoreboard open on my desktop to keep track of the scores and see if there are any exciting game endings I need to go watch.
However, unless you are working in a sportsbook in Costa Rica most likely you will be blocked or reprimanded for watching the games. We all know that the last thing an employer needs to do is give employees an excuse not to work….they will take it each and every time.
But if you are self motivated and are able to produce and watch the games at the same time we have a few ways you can do so.
Here are some ways to watch the NCAA March Madness games at the office—and not get fired, or at least not if you act quick.
- NCAA.com offers the “Boss Button,” which allows you to watch games online without getting caught. If boss pass by, just click the button and your browser window fills with professional-looking emails. If you are supposed to do emails after work this might not work for you. Use common sense.
- Howcast offers useful tips, such as getting in early on game days to tackle work before the noon matchups, and suggests employees wear a headset while streaming games so that colleagues assume you’re on an important call and cannot be disturbed.
- As the tournament progresses, schedule minor medical procedures that require some at-home days of recovery.
- Another trick is to tell your boss you need to take some visitors out to a long lunch.
- Just watch openly and dare the boss to take action.
- Of course, if all else fails, you can always track the games on your smartphone. LATimes has this nifty rundown of apps that can be used by iPhone and Android users.
Of 1,000 senior managers found that 20% felt March Madness activities helped improve employee morale, and only 4% felt that watching the games had a negative impact.
Enjoy the games…..sorry all you employers that have Costa Rican workers, but do not worry with semana santa coming up in Costa Rica you already lost 2 weeks of productivity. Costa Ricans mentally clock out about 3 days before a holiday and about 4 days after is the time for gossip. Hope there are no pressing deadlines.
