Driving for Success - How Creating a Corporate Golf League Can Be a Win-win Situation for the Workplace

Most people would agree that success at the workplace is just as much or more about relationships as it is about a person's ability to get the job done. Just as it has been documented that our society is less involved in community based activities, it could be argued that a similar trend has occurred at the workplace. You are as likely to know as much about a fellow cubicle worker as you are about the person that lives in the apartment across the hall or the neighbor down the street. Getting to know your fellow workers can lead to better communication at work which, in turn, results in greater productivity and job satisfaction. You win, your co-workers win and your company wins. It's a win-win-win situation. With this in mind, it makes sense that companies might also be interested in encouraging or even leading the charge when it comes to setting up a corporate golf league.

Why golf? Golf is a unique activity in that it combines so many benefits. In addition to answering why you might consider golf to be a useful corporate tool, let's also look at the Who, Where, What, When and How aspects of golf.

· Who can play golf? In my mind, one of the best things about golf is that it is inclusive in nature. It's for everyone. In the corporate context, that means that corporate golf leagues can easily be made up of males and females, pros and amateurs, and can include workers from every rung of the corporate ladder. Golf lends itself to big groups, as well as small. Furthermore, even if a particular corporate golf league is rather large, you still play and interact with a small group of people as you play your round. A golf league can also be structured so that those pairings change and rotate from round to round which encourages a wider interaction among co-workers. Golf is the great equalizer. Status means little when you tee it up.