Office Pool Rankings Flickr image from crispyteriyaki

“Don’t be a fool – join the office pool!”
– Mr T

If you’re like me, then rising up the corporate ladder is just a matter of flashing your million dollar smile, and being sure to flex your butt when bending over to pick up your papers from the copy machine. However, for most of the beauty-challenged population, standing out and earning respect in the office can prove to be an arduous task. In my 2 short years working in my current position I am not ashamed to say that I am one of the more popular people in my office of 70+ employees. How did I do it? What is the initial factor that made me stand out among all the employees, you ask? The answer: My knowledge of sports.

If you’re not sure what an office full of sports fans looks like, here’s a litmus test: Visit the men’s room of your office. If the sports section of your local newspaper is left in one of the stalls, you work in an office full of sports fans. Now there are many ways to use this to your advantage in the office environment, but the easiest first step for anyone is to just join the office pool. Here’s some advice in case you join:

It’s all about luck

Whether your office pool is a football pool, basketball pool, hockey pool - don’t be scared!! Gambling on sports is completely arbitrary and if you know nothing, it means nothing. Example #1 – ESPN’s the Sports Guy (one of the most knowledgeable sports writers and the creator of one of the most popular sportsblogs) has challenged his wife (who knows nothing about the NFL) to pick the winners of football games for the past 3 years. She has beaten him the last two years and this year she’s ahead as well. Example #2 – The winner of our office hockey pool last year is a woman who doesn’t even follow the sport. Example #3 – the same woman knows even less about football and is currently the leader of our football pool as well! *smashes head on keyboard*

1 on 1 time with upper management

Another advantage of joining the office pools is that it gives you a forum to get to know your peers and more importantly, upper management. Think about all the times you cross paths with a manager, a senior manager or an assistant Vice President in the hallways or the elevators at work. Haven’t you found yourself searching for any topic of discussion to end the awkward silence? Well, if you’re part of the same office pool then that’s the perfect way to start small talk. As the organizer of the office football pool at work, I step into my assistant VP’s office twice a week to hand him the results of the previous week and to pick up his football picks for the upcoming week. I basically have a private forum with a member of upper management twice a week which I can use to discuss anything on my mind. How many people in your office would kill for that opportunity?!?!?

Make yourself stand out

Finally, use the pool to show off some of your more positive qualities. The first thing I noticed when I created the football pool is that the managers and senior managers were always the first people to hand in their picks. This showed me that they were organized and well prepared. It then struck me that the way I organize the pool would show them something about me. Lo and behold, after the football season, I was asked to attend meetings and breakfasts with senior management involving issues above my current level of tasks. Since then, the extra (more gratifying) assignments have been pouring in.

Office pools are a lot of fun and at the very worst, you’ll lose a few dollars by joining. However, you can also win 10 times the amount you put in and it’s completely based on luck! If that happens after reading this column, please send 10% of your winnings to Phil@officetricks.com