This major sporting event doesn't just have to disrupt your team. Photo via Getty Images

For sports enthusiasts, one of the most popular competitions that attracts tens of millions of viewers is here – March Madness, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. As fans gear up for three weeks of action, employers are also excited, but for very different reasons.

March Madness can be a distraction in the workplace that hinders productivity. According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., lost productivity during the tournament can cost employers over $13 billion, with nearly 50 percent of workers spending more than six hours of work time on March Madness activities. With an increase in hybrid/remote workers, the stage is set for more employees to view games during the workday, leading to higher levels of productivity losses.

Although these numbers are staggering, savvy employers can leverage March Madness to promote team building and boost employee engagement, which can have a positive impact on long-term success. Below are four tips for business leaders to consider as they embrace March Madness.

Embrace the reality

Employers should accept the reality that employees will participate in March Madness activities regardless of company policies. With access to the tournament through streaming services, updates on websites, social media discussions, bracket activities and more autonomy in remote situations, it is impossible for employers to monitor.

Companies that embrace the madness will experience less frustration for management and greater appreciation from workers. More importantly, it demonstrates a human side when companies incorporate current events into daily interactions that support the interests of employees, along with business needs.

Understand the reality

While the tournament is a short-term event, the way employers handle it can have long-term benefits. As countless businesses look for ways to extend the culture to remote workers, leaders can rally around this event to facilitate more interactions and develop stronger bonds, further connecting employees to the company.

With proper management, levels of employee engagement, morale, performance and retention increase, which can have a dramatic effect on future initiatives and the bottom line. When leaders extend trust and enable employees the flexibility to enjoy the tournament in some manner, they are investing in the future.

Set guidelines

Business leaders should be proactive about March Madness by recognizing employees’ excitement and setting guidelines. A best practice is to distribute an email about the tournament and expectations surrounding activities, along with a reminder that sports gambling is illegal in the workplace.

For those coming into the office, enable televisions to display games so employees can get quick updates or watch games during breaks/lunch hours. When employees understand expectations, they are better able to manage their responsibilities and appropriately share in the festivities, leading to continued performance and improved morale.

Nurture the culture

March Madness is an ideal way to incorporate relevant activities that nurture the culture and involve remote employees. Encourage employees to wear jerseys of their favorite teams on game days, take pictures and post them on the intranet/social media. Hold a contest for the best-decorated workspace that includes home offices.

Hosting virtual events like bracket-picking breaks, game-watching gatherings and hoops happy hours offer groups a chance to connect. Awarding gifts cards to employees who pick winning brackets for the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight and Final Four promotes friendly competition. A PTO raffle for picking The Big Dance national champion is a bonus. When employees are part of a fun environment, it increases camaraderie and team building that nurtures the culture.

As the hype around March Madness builds and people scurry to finalize their brackets, employers should join in on the excitement and seize the opportunity to bring remote teams closer to the fold, promote the culture and position the company for continued success.

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Jill Chapman is a senior performance consultant with Insperity, a leading provider of human resources and business performance solutions.

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Rice University MBA programs rank among top 5 in prestigious annual report

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Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business MBA programs have been ranked among the top five in the country again in The Princeton Review’s 2025 Best Business Schools rankings.

The university's MBA program in finance earned a No. 3 ranking, climbing up two spots from its 2024 ranking. Finance MBA programs at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business and New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business were the only ones to outrank Rice, claiming No. 2 and No. 1 spots, respectively.

Rice's online MBA program was ranked No. 5, compared to No. 4 last year. Indiana University's Bloomington Kelley School of Business' online program claimed the top spot.

“These rankings reflect the commitment of our faculty and staff, the drive and talent of our students and the strong support of our alumni and partners,” Peter Rodriguez, dean of Rice Business, said in a news release. “They are exceptional honors but also reminders — not just of our top-tier programs and world-class faculty and students but of our broader impact on the future of business education.”

Rice also ranked at No. 6 for “greatest resources for minority students."

The Princeton Review’s 2025 business school rankings are based on data from surveys of administrators at 244 business schools as well as surveys of 22,800 students enrolled in the schools’ MBA programs during the previous three academic years.

"The schools that made our lists for 2025 share four characteristics that inform our criteria for designating them as 'best': excellent academics, robust experiential learning components, outstanding career services, and positive feedback about them from enrolled students we surveyed," Rob Franek, The Princeton Review's editor-in-chief, said in a press release. "No b-school is best overall or best for all students, but to all students considering earning an MBA, we highly recommend these b-schools and salute them for their impressive programs."

Rice's finance program has ranked in the top 10 for eight consecutive years, and its online MBA has ranked in the top five for four years.

Rice and the University of Houston also claimed top marks on the Princeton Review's entrepreneurship rankings. Rice ranks as No. 1 on the Top 50 Entrepreneurship: Grad list, and the University of Houston ranked No. 1 on Top 50 Entrepreneurship: Ugrad. Read more here.

Houston named ‘star’ metro for artificial intelligence in new report

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A new report declares Houston one of the country’s 28 “star” hubs for artificial intelligence.

The Houston metro area appears at No. 16 in the Brookings Institution’s ranking of metros that are AI “stars.” The metro areas earned star status based on data from three AI buckets: talent, innovation and adoption. Only two places, the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley, made Brookings’ “superstar” list.

According to Brookings, the Houston area had 11,369 job postings in 2024 that sought candidates with AI skills, 210 AI startups (based on Crunchbase data from 2014 to 2024), and 113 venture capital deals for AI startups (based on PitchBook data from 2023 to 2024).

A number of developments are boosting Houston’s AI profile, such as:

Brookings also named Texas’s three other major metros as AI stars:

  • No. 11 Austin
  • No. 13 Dallas-Fort Worth
  • No. 40 San Antonio

Brookings said star metros like Houston “are bridging the gap” between the two superstar regions and the rest of the country. In 2025, the 28 star metros made up 46 percent of the country’s metro-area employment but 54 percent of AI job postings. Across the 28 metros, the number of AI job postings soared 139 percent between 2018 and 2025, according to Brookings.

Around the country, dozens of metros fell into three other categories on Brookings’ AI list: “emerging centers” (14 metros), “focused movers” (29 metros) and “nascent adopters” (79 metros).