I love March. Not only because we Oregonians see a glimpse of hope that we’ll have sunshine after a treacherous winter, but because it’s one of the most exciting times in sports. March Madness is here! For those unfamiliar, it’s the one time of the year where we get to see 64 teams battle it out in single-elimination bracket play. What makes it even more exciting is that you really don’t have to know or follow college basketball to enjoy the tournament. The games are exciting, but what makes them even more so for a newcomer is the chance to fill out a bracket and compete against friends or colleagues.

Brandon Laws’ March Madness Bracket, 2017


Similar to college football bowl pick ‘em competitions (more on that later), various technology/tools have made the barrier to entry for non-fans to compete against friends, colleagues, and strangers across the world nearly non-existent. The access to information about the teams, match-ups, and anything else you can imagine is so abundant that anyone has a chance at picking correctly. And at the end of the day, anything can happen.
As I pointed out, the barrier to entry for people to participate is very low, so a March Madness bracket competition is an easy and fun activity to introduce to your workplace this month. At Xenium, we’re in it and enjoying every second!
Back in December we engaged with Pivot, a Portland-based marketing agency, to run a college football bowl pick ‘em company-wide competition. Pivot developed a platform that makes it easy for employees to sign up, pick their winners, and get alerts or check the leader board as they choose to do so. Tools like Pivot’s make it all incredibly fun, and by having real-time scores available at any given time, it makes it even easier to gloat about being in first place to your colleagues! Needless to say, I believe it gives employees something to talk about—especially those who don’t normally work with each other on a regular basis.
Employers may initially worry that participating in such challenges could be distracting, and I think no one would deny that it could be at times. But I believe the benefits of running these short-term competitions outweigh the downsides. I think employers would observe that employees might be a little happier and connecting at a deeper level outside of work and/or cross-departmentally. Bottom line is that fun, short-term programs like these can boost morale and continue building a culture of collaboration and fun. And, if anything, it breaks up the day a bit.
I asked several employees across different departments at Xenium what they felt about the programs and here’s what some of them said:

  • I thought the challenges were positive because it is so up to chance. Even people who aren’t into sports can participate. You don’t need to know anything about football or basketball. It is an inclusive, fun thing to chat about around the office. I loved the easy sign-up and being able to follow results and rankings online.
  • If it’s totally voluntary, I think it’s all really positive. It is a fun competition for people who share similar interests, and it allows people outside of their immediate department to get to know each other better.
  • Friendly competitions like these add a little fun and excitement to the workplace dynamic. For me, it also helps build on the camaraderie between colleagues and the inclusiveness of the company culture. You may not get to know an individual in a different department through the daily workings of your position, but through games likes these you are able to have a shared mutual experience and develop friendships with those who you may not work with on a regular basis.
  • I do it for the love of sports, but also it’s a way to connect with those outside of my department, and have some common ground with a little friendly competition
  • I wouldn’t consider myself a competitive person and don’t have a strong interest in college basketball either, but picking a bracket and playing with people I know personally is fun and engaging. I like watching the competition unfold and anyone can win!

I think you see the common theme in these responses. Employees like connecting with each other, the inclusivity, and how easy it is to participate.

Learn more about Pivot’s Pick-It Challenges