Donna Flagg

April Fool's Day: Humor at Work

It’s often said that laughter is the best medicine. But, not only is humor good for our health, it can also be a valuable workplace tool. Because humor has an uplifting effect on people, organizations can benefit by using it to create a positive and more productive workplace. 

It’s the levity that humor generates which makes it important for work atmospheres because it has the power to make people feel more open. This openness, when used properly, encourages better learning, communication, morale and teamwork.

On the other hand however, something as ostensibly positive as humor can have its pitfalls if companies don’t make a conscious effort to direct it properly. This means ensuring that the organization’s sense of humor fuels an environment that brings out the best in people and produces positive business results.    

Like most things in life there is a flipside, and humor is no exception. Because as much as teams and businesses thrive when employees feel “happy,” the wrong kind of humor can destroy morale and poison the environment, which ultimately and undoubtedly will taint business outcomes. And, since humor is often a matter of subjective interpretation, successful organizations will need to exploit the positive effect that humor has to offer while always keeping a watchful eye on its dark side.

So the question then becomes, “How do we create healthy work environments where humor works for, and not against us?” 

Well, before doing anything else, it’s important to understand the relationship that humor has to an organization’s culture and the subsequent effect it can have on its business performance. Since a company’s culture is its personality, the humor belonging to it should reflect its sensibilities the same way an individual’s sense of humor reflects his/her personality. The idea though is to find a way to use humor that reinforces behaviors and propels positives and not negatives. 

Posted by Donna Flagg on April 1, 2008 | Comments (0)