Are you dealing with March Madness?

When you see the phrase March Madness, what do you think of?  Do you think of gymnasiums full of people watching young men or young women struggle to score baskets in order to attain glory in their high school or collegiate years?  For many of us, that is exactly the picture.  I think of this kind of March Madness on many occasions (Go Belmont, Murray State and Auburn), but I also think of another kind of March Madness, a madness that encompasses many of us as we make the annual transition from the cold, short days of winter in to the longer, warmer days of spring.  This transition has an effect on many parts of our lives and that is the subject of my post today.

March Madness manifests itself in many ways.  Here are a few of the more obvious issues:

• the improvement of the climate drags the focus away from the work at hand-people are less productive
• people start to think about new opportunities versus the current role they are part of
• people get more engaged with their family and related activities (not a bad thing at all)

The bottom line is that these issues detract from workplace productivity and need to be considered, and in some cases, dealt with in order to keep productivity at a high level.

How will you deal with this Madness in your workplace-here are a few suggestions:

• encourage the camaraderie that this massive event provides; don't get hung up on the fact that people may not be as productive for a day or two
• consider creative ways that you can incorporate the spirit of the season into work related activities-basketball is a team sport and getting teams to work together is important in every workplace I know of
• find a way to channel the passion of one's favorite team into passion in the workplace

You may not find a way to completely translate the excitement of winning at the buzzer, but you can find ways to increase passion and teamwork in your office environment.

Every possession counts; don't let your team give up before the horn sounds.