Footy Tipping in the Workplace

It’s the one great leveller, that one part of business where the CEO and the new employee are on equal footing.  Every person with their own destiny in their hands, well their head and their heart (see below), vying for the right to call themselves the best and walk around the workplace with a strut (well for a little while).

According to the survey (which wasn’t nominated on the website that I found it on) of over 480 full-time workers, 75 percent believe office tipping improves workplace morale, while 69 percent think office tipping is a good way to meet people and forge bonds, especially when starting a new job.

So, here are a couple of things to consider for the new footy tipping season.
 

Picking with the Head or Heart.
An age old quandary.  There is one game left in the round, it’s your team against the top of the table and you need the tip to get you back onto the winner’s podium.  Do you pick with your heart or your head?  It all depends on who you speak with, some say integrity and faith in the team is the ‘be all and end all’, but others will throw their team under the bus at the first opportunity.  I, normally am of the former mentality, team loyalty wins, however, my suggestion, if it really will make the difference in the prize stakes, then try and do it on the sly, pick with your head, keep your mouth shut and hope no-one notices.

How much ‘chatter’ is too much?
A little bit of banter is beneficial, but too much may make people turn on you.  The walls in these sort of competitions are meant for playful banter that lightly mocks a persons recent tips or their long supported team.  A few rules for the message board.

  • Never get personal- There’s a line you shouldn’t cross, just remember that.  Let’s keep it on topic, focus on the footy and don’t deviate.
  • Don’t target just one- You can’t just focus on one person, it may constitute bullying and people may form an opinion of you that you are a broken record and a bully.
  • Don’t spam the board- This just annoys EVERYONE, no-one wants to see the same alias coming up over and over again.  However, if no-one else is contributing, it may be the only way to get people talking.

The Scatter Gun Approach
Works a lot better with the NRL than the AFL (the most recent week excluded).  The scatter gun approach is the official term for the method adopted by those who don’t want to invest too much time reading reports and team lists and just want to tip, they do so randomly and without much regard to form or reputation.  This is why in the NRL it’s a great strategy, the evenness of this competition means that any one team can beat any other team in any given game.   Reason goes out the window and luck comes into play.

In 2014, Concept is running a footy tipping competition in each of these codes, click on the pages to have a look at the leaderboards and weekend wraps.

Good luck in 2014