Is your team ready for the World Cup?

With the World Cup starting last week, spirits will be high for workers all over the world as they celebrate and commiserate with one another. But what does this mean for productivity in the office? How can you ensure world cup fever doesn’t completely take over and your workers stay happy and focused?

Flexible approach

Acas, the UK help and advice service for employers and employees, recently put together some advice for businesses who may want to let their team take some time off or put some plans in place so they can watch the matches in the office.

In their post, Acas urged businesses to consider adopting flexible working practices during the World Cup to keep productivity high and absenteeism low. The last thing any employer wants is for productivity to take a downturn because their teams can’t stop checking their phone for the latest score, or talking to their mates on WhatsApp about a controversial decision by the ref.

Acas recommended giving employees the option for annual leave or simply allowing employees to take the time to watch the match without having to resort to calling in “sick”. For example, employees could start work an hour earlier, giving them an extra hour at lunch to watch those all important games.

Get everyone on board

Agreeing these arrangements with your team before kick off will help save a lot of disagreements and help keep peace within the office. Get your whole team involved; not everyone may like watching football but it’s a good opportunity to bring the team together and boost morale. If it’s a big match that the majority of your team wants to watch, you could even make an event out of it – putting on some food and drinks and arranging a screen would almost certainly raise spirits (depending on the result)!

2018s Summer of Sports

Not only is the World Cup currently going on but the summer of sports is just beginning. Take a look what else is yet to come, and bear in mind the above advice when considering keeping your team motivated and productive during these events:

World Cup – 14th June – 15th July

Wimbledon – 2nd July – 15th July

Tour de France – 7th July – 29th July

Open Championship Golf – 19th July – 22nd July

Women’s Hockey World Cup – 21st July – 5th August