We saw multiple scare stories in the press of late about the prospect of networks crashing under the pressure of staff streaming live games, so you'd be forgiven for thinking that we really should be using this World Cup to sell customers more bandwidth - it could be an easy sell.

But this is not a technology issue. This is one for HR.

Yes, the need for bandwidth is increasing as businesses use more applications such as VoIP and video conferencing alongside email and traditional internet access. And over time all businesses should be looking at their requirement but what they should not be legislating for is a very seasonable, albeit considerable peak in traffic over their network that could result from dozens, or even hundreds of staff streaming live football matches in the afternoon.

There is a chance that this could compete with the legitimate needs of their business but it should not be IT's role to find a way around an issue that is all about personnel. However, that's not to say we'd advocate blanket bans on watching matches, handed out in an HR diktat. This simply creates more problems than it solves.

Instead, businesses need to think more creatively and think about the cost and morale implications of getting this wrong. Staff around the UK have had a tough couple of years. Bosses around the country have already found practical ways around this World Cup issue without risking the effectiveness and productivity of their business, giving staff a few very cost-effective perks.

So, even though the England team has now departed here are our tips for the remainder of the tournament:

- Get a television set up somewhere staff can openly watch and enjoy the games that kick off at 3pm. It's not "giving in", or "showing weakness", it's simply a way of showing staff that you respect and trust them enough to manage their workload around important games. Or if you are a company that does a lot of presenting, ask whether this makes the case for investing in that projector or large screen TV you've been meaning to get. If staff think it's so they can enjoy the World Cup in big screen splendour, so much the better.  

- Use the World Cup as a project to test emerging communications tools. Run a caption competition on a free blogging service, such as blogger.com. Encourage staff to personalise an iGoogle homepage or tweak your intranet with World Cup related RSS feeds. It may seem frivolous but a popular subject is a good excuse to encourage better understanding of tools we should all be using already for real business benefit.

- Some friendly reinforcement of the idea that the business and their own work cannot suffer should suffice. There may always be some staff who take advantage but what do you think those same staff would do if you didn't concede some middle ground on this issue? They're likely to be the first to phone in sick, or take their laptop off to a meeting room to watch a game. To use a footballing cliche, 'at the end of the day' it shouldn't take a World Cup to find out which staff are team players and which probably need to be put on the transfer list.