March Madness will squeeze work place productivity

The March Madness NCAA college basketball tournament now underway could have a lot of locals playing mental hooky in the work place, a new survey finds.

The survey by Atlantic Associates, a Boston firm that specializes in information-technology staffing, found that 33 percent of 300 local employees contacted for the survey plan to spend some of the boss's time "researching, reading about, watching, or following online" a tournament in which North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (right, number 50) is likely to star.

Atlantic Associates principal and cofounder Jack Harrington advises employers to give their basketball fans some leeway.

While distractions such as March Madness can take away from productivity, bosses who show some latitude are likely to maintain better relationships with their employees, Harrington said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)