Some Bosses Think March Madness Boosts Morale

Much of the first part of this week will not be spent concentrating hard on deadlines and meetings at the office.  Instead, big chunks of time will be spent online, filling out brackets for the NCAA tournament.

It's not just a guy thing....many women are on board with the bracketology at the office, and some bosses even say it's fine with them.  One in five bosses say March Madness boosts office morale, and seventy-five percent of bosses in a recent survey say the NCAA tournament doesn't impact productivity.  

One boss told USA Today that employees are going to fill out brackets and pay attention to TVs and internet streams during the tournament anyway, and he may as well "ride it out."

The trash talking doesn't just happen between cubicles and in the office hallways.  It happens largely online now, with more than 2 million Tweets about March Madness last year, and plenty of Facebook posts too.

Texas doesn't represent very well in the tournament.  SI.com says this is the first time since 1977 that Texas hasn't had one team in the Big Dance.  Have you seen the bracket they call the South Region?  Teams including Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, UCLA, and San Diego State are all playing to win the South Region.

Discussions about the lack of a Texas team, along with predictions about which team will win it all, will dominate the first few minutes of meeting time this week.  And bosses say that's okay with them.  They say it's a good icebreaker, and again, good for morale.

Missouri and Oklahoma are in.  Since we don't have any Texas teams, we may have to cheer for our regional neighbors.