CBS's "Boss Button": NCAA Tournament Superhero

CBS has promised to bring out the big guns this year when it comes to broadcasting the "madness" of this month's NCAA basketball tournament. This includes the announcement that they will be broadcasting all but one of the sixty-four games live, online, hallelujah. If you think that's making everybody happy . . . well, you're pretty much right; especially if you're thinking of the 9-5 daily grinders you know. As many games will be broadcast during the days' work hours, many workers may be slacking off for a few minutes to catch the updates of their most anticipated games.

"No way," some may think, "is any boss going to let their employees get away with this."

Au contraire, friends; CBS has thought of just about everything when it comes to pleasing the nation's blue collar fans. Making another appearance during this year's tournament will be the beloved "Boss Button."

According to The Press Enterprise, CBS's streamed videos will include the Boss Button. This feature replaces the streaming video with a spreadsheet and shuts off the volume from the game, just in time to create the look of fervent working when your boss stops by to see what's what. Sports Illustrated refers to this little work of genius as "the Holy Grail" of enablers.

Of course, one only need take a quick look at this so-called Holy Grail to see it's little more than a Dixie Cup solution. Testing out the Boss Button on the March Madness On-Demand (MMOD) website reveals a spreadsheet of some really relevant information: snacks consumed during past year's tournaments. Yes, an employer would have to be pretty blind not to spot something slightly amiss on your monitor with this spreadsheet displayed in a blaze of glory.

The good news is many employers don't really seem to care if their employers take a few minutes to check out some NCAA action. According to a report from ReliablePlant.com, this sort of distraction may be "just what the doctor ordered" in light of recent increases in work-related stress as the economy becomes more and more unreliable (along with job security). The key is finding ways to incorporate the madness of March Madness into the busy-ness of Busy Businesses!

While several employers are offering suggestions of what businesses can do to encourage work in light of March Madness, here are a few more that might suit your business:

1. MMOD Break! Set aside a half an hour to an hour for employees to check out their teams' progress in the tournament. Either consider a group lunch hour when the game will play in the work lounge, or simply let employees know that they can take that half-to-full hour to check out the action, as long as they are responsible to get back to work after their time is up.

2. Office Bracket. Use the NCAA tournament as an office teambuilding opportunity by setting up an office bracket. Let employees interested in the tournament fill out public brackets posted on a public bulletin or in the employee lounge, and keep score to reward a nice prize at the end of the tournament. Think of favored local restaurants that offer gift cards or certificates as possible prizes.

3. MMOD Workers' Relief. There are a few days in which the NCAA tournament games will be broadcast during the workday. Consider allowing workers to come into work early so they can leave before the game. Or, if that isn't a possibility for your workplace, have a publicly visible television set up-without volume-so workers can take quick glances at the game while it's on. 4. Check out the Boss Button Yourself. If things are getting out of hand, you may want to know what this Boss Button spreadsheet looks like. Start doing checks around the office during work-hour-scheduled games; if you see that suspicious looking spreadsheet showing up on monitors around the office consider setting up some sort of reasonable penalty for slacking off during work hours. (i.e., reduced lunch for time spent monitoring the game instead of customers.) You may also want to set up a reward system for those who manage to keep their eyes on the prize instead of the basketball!