There are hardly any companies across the world that are not affected by major sports events. Be it the Super Bowl in USA or the IPL in India, these events result in sudden "sick" leaves, work from home requests and long canteen breaks (especially if the said canteen happens to have a large screen TV). I remember watching Sachin Tendulkar become the first cricketer ever to score 200 in an ODI match. This was in the canteen of a Capgemini Mumbai office, with a normal seating capacity of a 100 people, but filled at that time with at least 300 cheering (mostly male) cricket fans. This definitely has an impact on efficiency and in some cases may even affect delivery of service.
As far as sports events go, nothing can beat the FIFA World Cup. I daresay even the Olympic Games don't command the same kind of dedicated viewership. This naturally results in a drop in employee efficiency, since many people either skip work or take long breaks to watch WC matches. I remember matching many games of the 2002 World Cup on the upstairs TV at the office of Viewtrust, then known as Clean Communications. For the finals, a group of us bought tickets to watch Germany take on Brazil on the giant screen of a movie theatre in Pune. Even during the 2004 Euro Cup, I joined some other night shift employees in the canteen of another Capgemini Mumbai office.
So, with employee interest in the World Cup being a given, how can companies minimize the impact on efficiency and more importantly, on service delivery? I suggest that managers draw up a set of rules at the beginning of the tournament and communicate them clearly to their team members. The first rule would be that at no cost should service delivery suffer - the Customer always comes first, even before football. No one can go home early or watch a whole match in the canteen when there are customer issues waiting to be resolved. Other rules can be framed around work timings, work from home requests, minimum people at the work area (just in case the big boss pays a surprise visit), etc. Most importantly, the manager should set an example by following all the rules himself.
From a team building point of view, it may be a good idea for your team to watch one match together, ideally on a Sunday or a holiday, the way my colleagues and I did at Pune. This need not be a company-sponsored initiative, although that would be ideal, to show HR's commitment to fun at work. Otherwise, the team members can simply pool in. The important thing is to ensure that everyone (even those who don't particularly like football) are fully on board, ready to enjoy themselves and celebrate together in the true spirit of the beautiful game.
