A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude, and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him over an hour ago, but I don't know where I am." The woman below replied, "You're in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You're between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude." "You must be an engineer," said the balloonist. "I am," replied the woman, "How did you know?" "Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is, technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is, I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip." The woman below responded, "You must be in management." "I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"
"Well," said the woman, "you don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you've no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."
- Adapted from “Workplace Jokes”
As the old saying goes, laughter is the best medicine. Workplaces that encourage laughter have happier, healthier and more productive workers and, as a result, see an increase in profits and results[1]. Humor and laughter can lighten the mood of the workplace and make it a truly fun place to be[2]. Business relationships, staff cooperation and development can all be enhanced by the appropriate use of humor[3]. Humor in the workplace creates a pleasant working environment, motivates employees, decreases anxiety and stress, boosts morale, increases creativity, and enhances problem-solving skills. Workplaces that are too serious can create a stressful environment for employees[4]. In turn, employees may be afraid of making mistakes, dread coming to work, resent the solemn atmosphere, and even become physically ill or depressed, due to pressure of their job[5].
According to the article “The Top 7 Ways to Use Humor in Leadership” by Roz Treiber, research shows that there is a significant relationship between humor and leadership effectiveness. Humor employed by managers and leaders achieve 3 specific ends. It reduces stress in the workplace, it motivates employees, and it helps employees understand management concerns by enhancing communication patterns[6]. A majority of good leaders are shown to have quick wit, see the point of jokes, maintain group moral, have infectious laughs, and tell humorous stories in dialect[7]. Workplaces that are too serious can create a stressful environment for employees[8]. An environment where laughter is valued will help make employees feel less taxed and more enthusiastic about their jobs[9].
Humor in the workplace keeps the mood light and maintains a climate of positive energy[10]. As we all know from our own experience when morale is high, co-workers get along better, which will in turn motivate the employee to show up to the workplace[11] .Another thing humor can, is to make the daily interactions with employers more enjoyable[12]. This is because the humor encourages participation, thus minimizing conflicts, which therefore opens dialogue and sparks creativity. Some examples of this include but are not limited to; telephone calls, phone conferences and employer-employee meetings. Another effect of using humor in the workplace is that it assists open communication between the employer and employee. This is due to the fact that it breaks down the tension between the employer and employee, which thus creates an environment that is conducive to open and honest communication[13].Humor can also build unity in the workplace [14]. Teams that laugh together can work well together[15]. It builds the company’s traditions and a shared sense of history that reminds employees they are playing on the same team[16].
Jenna Gaudreau in her excellent recent Forbes article entitled "Are Funny People More Successful in Business,” says that people who use humor in the office "will be perceived as more enjoyable and better employers”. Anthony Sultanoff, a professor from the University of New Hampshire who studies management and organizational behavior, concludes that “If someone is using humor, they are connecting with people and building relationships, which creates opportunities that other employers may not have.”[17]In McGuffey's Restaurants, a company in business since 1983, the managers are evaluated on how much fun they are to work with. This, according to insiders within the company, accounts for 20% of their raises. Keith Dunn, the president of McGuffey’s Restaurants states that, "We're in a service business with high turnover. It's part of a manager's job to bring fun and humor to the workplace."[18] Furthermore, in recent years, Hewlett-Packard managers have also been evaluated on their ability to create enthusiasm among employees. Building fun and humor into the corporate culture, insures that this enthusiasm exists[19].
We have seen the great benefits of humor, but what humor should we not use? Or better yet, what kinds of humor types are considered by and large inappropriate to use in a workplace setting, and therefore should be verboten? A recent study by Yuanyuan Huo and her colleagues studied the effect of managers using “aggressive humor” on the employee[20]. Aggressive humor is a style of humor that is potentially detrimental to others. This type of humor is characterized by the use of sarcasm, put-downs, teasing, criticism, ridicule, and other types of humor used at the expense of others[21].The results of her studies, indicate that aggressive humor has a negative effect on the employer-employee relationship, due to all the ridicule the employee has to endure. This in turn, causes the employee to feel more stressed out and nervous while doing his daily work, which in turn decreases his productivity. Therefore, Yuanyuan Huo and colleagues concluded that aggressive humor has a potential negative effect and should be avoided at all costs.
The too basic categories that humor falls into are self-enhancing humor and self-defeating humor. Self-enhancing humor is a style of humor related to having a good-natured attitude toward life, having the ability to laugh at one’s self and life’s circumstances in a constructive, non-detrimental funny manner to himself[22]. This type of humor is best understood as a type of coping or emotion-regulating humor in which individuals use humor to look on the bright side of a bad situation, find the silver lining or maintain a positive attitude even in trying times. Self-defeating humor on the other hand, is a style of humor characterized by the use of potentially detrimental and downgrading humor towards one’s self in order to gain approval (a laugh) from others[23]. According to studies, individuals who engage more in the self-enhancing humor style are less likely to exhibit depressive symptoms, compared to a person who uses self-defeating humor.
Furthermore, studies show that self-enhancing humor has been shown to promote creativity and reduce stress in the workplace, from management down to stock boy. While self-defeating humor is often associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety and psychiatric symptoms and is also associated with lower levels of self-esteem, affecting the employee’s psychological well-being. In conclusion, those that engage in self-enhancing humor are better off than those that use self-defeating humor [24].
But why does humor have to come from management? Why can’t it come from the employee? Humor is better when it comes from the manager because as we all know, at the end of the day the management is the one that bears the responsibility for the success of the company.[25] Success in a company is defined by bottom line of the total profits brought in. That being the case, it is squarely in the best interest of the manager that he has a great relationship with his employees, as they are the workers that produce the “bottom line” for the company[26], and the humor used by the manager accomplishes exactly this.
While humor can be a great tool for improving productivity and relationships, inappropriate jokes and comments will do exactly the opposite. Michael Kerr, author of “You Can't Be Serious! Putting Humor to Work”[27], shares his concerns concerning the inappropriate use of humor from management’s perspective. He states that there are a number of drawbacks as to why so many managers worry about exercising their funny bones. Managers wonder whether all this “funny business” can possibility lead to a workplace lawsuit. This can happen while the manager, in an attempt to be humorous says an off color joke (ex: a racial, ethnic or religious joke) that is inappropriate. This can inevitably lead to a lawsuit. However, even if it doesn’t end up in court, it will substantially increase the tension in the office. Therefore, it is imperative for the manager to exercise extreme caution when using humor or saying a joke, so that it is not misinterpreted.
Is there such a thing as too much humor? The short answer to this, is yes[28]. Although humor is an effective tool, if overused, it can cause damage.[29] It may cause damage is because, in attempting to infuse humor in the workplace the manager may go to far (by telling too many jokes), and this can have a number of dire consequences. To begin with, if the employee sees that management treats every situation that arises as a joke, the employee will be affected by this and will not take his work seriously. Furthermore, other outside companies that do business with this company will be less inclined to continue, if it will be seen as a joke (pun intended). Both of these effects will cause the overall productivity and net result of the company, to suffer. While humor is a very useful and helpful tool, overuse and overabundance will inevitably have negative consequences, and thus should be avoided.
Do you have to be funny to use humor, and can it be used in an environment where there is a cross cultured diversified team? Mr. Cris Lewis answers these important questions. Mr. Lewis is the founder and CEO of Lewis PR, a global communications agency with offices in 25 cities around the world. In his exclusive interview with The New York Times[30], Mr. Lewis gives us some insight into using humor if you lack the “funny bone” and using humor in a cross cultured setting. Mr. Lewis states that he “uses humor all the time. I think it’s the duty of leaders to be self-deprecating, and that it’s their duty to ensure the environments they work in, have a strong sense of humor because it releases stress. Humor fills the gaps between the experienced and the youth. You don’t need to be knowledgeable or skilled to have a sense of humor and it’s something that is quite useful when you’re working across cultures, because that’s often the only thing people have in common. Humor does indeed travel quite well, and should be used whenever possible.”
What are some practical suggestions that managers can use to incorporate humor in the workplace? Humor in the workplace can be applied at almost any time, any venue, and almost any situation, and while some think that humor can be regulated to verbal conversation between the employer and employee, this is clearly not the case.
According to Michael Kerr, author of “You Can't Be Serious! Putting Humor to Work[31], “A simple way to add more humor and fun to your customer service, your image, and your workplace in general, is to look for opportunities to add humor to any and all of your workplace signs”. What Mr. Kerr means, is that by hanging up signs with a drop of humor (a one-time investment), this nonverbal conversation will inevitably increase the humor in the workplace.
Another practical suggestion that managers can use to incorporate humor in the workplace is the idea of putting a drop of humor in memos. This can simply be accomplished by adding a funny quote or a joke at the tail end of the memo (placed right after the signature). Aside from increasing the humor with all its benefits therein, studies have suggested that humor at the end of the memo actually helps the employee remember the message in the long term[32]. Some examples of humor used at the end of memos include; “Dear employee: Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplation, and input should be directed elsewhere”[33] or “Dear Office Staff; It is advised that you come to work dressed according to your salary. If we see you wearing Prada sneakers and carrying a Gucci bag we assume that you are doing well financially and therefore you do not need a raise. If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes and therefore you do not need a raise. If you dress in-between the too, you are right where you need to be and you therefore do not need a raise.[34]”
In conclusion humor isn’t a must for success as a manager, but studies suggest humor leads to creativity, better personal interactions and workplaces that are simply more fun.[35]Many great leaders of the previous generation had a terrific sense of humor[36]. These include Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, and Ronald Reagan[37]. Countless scientific studies have shown that good light humor is contagious and can be motivational. Seeing the humor in situations, both good and bad, creates positive feelings towards one another[38]. Let’s face it; funny people are just more fun to be around[39]. Managers of both large and small companies should access this wonderful tool, use it to their advantage, and thus contribute to the success of the company they work for.
[1] www.workplaceissues.com/arhumor.htm [2] www.themojocompany.com/2013/05/11-reasons-workplace-fun-isnt-of-the-devil/ [3] www.humorfusion.com/html/articles/article_5.html [4] www.humannatureatwork.com/Workplace-Stress-1.htm [5] www.workplacefairness.org/news [6] www.hrcouncil.ca/hr-toolkit/workplaces-health-safety.cfm [7] www.humorfusion.com/html/articles/article_3.html [8] www.hostileworkenvironmentguide.com/causesofstressintheworkplace.html [9] www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2011/12/14/top-ten-reasons-why-large-companies-fail- to-keep-their-best-talent/ [10] www.forbes.comhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/05/03/10-reasons-why-humor-is-a-key-to-success-at-work/ [11] www.humanresources.about.com/b/2013/08/07/what-makes-a-manager-a-bad-boss.htm [12] www.employer.jobdig.com/articles/1582/FUN-at-Work-is-Not-an-Oxymoron-.html [13] www.mikekerr.com/humour-resources/free-articles/humour-in-the-workplace-articles/why-humor/ [14] www.smallbusiness.chron.com smallbusiness.chron.com › Managing Employees › Team Building [15] www.laughterremedy.com/articles/team_building.htm [16] www.dianagabriel.com/blog/?tag=competing-commitments [17] www.examiner.com/.../workplace-humor-can-be-your-career-differentiat [18] Your career may be a laugh track away from the fast track - Managing Your Career" column. The Wall Street Journal. March 26, 1996. [19] www.laughterremedy.com/humor.dir/humor_main.html [20] www.ioatwork.com/workplace-humor-keep-it-nice/ [21] www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humor_styles [22] Martin, Rod; Patrica Puhlic-Doris “Individual differences in uses of humor and their relation to psychological well-being. Journal of research in personality(February 2003) [23] Martin, Rod (July 2001). "Humor, laughter, and physical health: Methodological issues and research findings". Psychological Bulletin 127 (4): 504–519. [24] Frewen, Paul, Brinker , Martin(2008): “Humor styles and personality-vulnerability to depression” Humor 2 21 179-195 [25] www.businessinsider.com/managers-need-to-have-a-sense-of-humor-2013-7 [26] www.forbes.com/sites/stevecooper/2012/07/30/make-more-money-by-making-your-employees-happy/ [27] Michael Kerr, 2001 [28] www.stress.about.com/od/workplacestress/a/officehumor.htm [29] www.usgamer.net/.../dice-battlefield-bad-companys-humor-was-too-nich [30] www.nytimes.com/2013/05/20/business/global/leading-with-the-help-of-humor.html [31] Michael Kerr, 2001 [32] www.jokersrevenge.com/Memos.htm [33] www.citehr.com/359027-funny-office-memo-all-employees.html [34] funny2.com/employeehandbook.htm [35] www.bbc.com/capital/story/20130729-funny-business-at-the-office [36] www.leadershipmasterymap.com/display-a-sense-of-humor.htm [37] www.cbsnews.com/news/ronald-reagan-master-storyteller/ [38] www.helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm [39] www.succeedsocially.com/funny
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