Articles of Interest

Humor in the Workplace:  Laughter is Serious Business!

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I don’t know about you, but I have yet to find anyone who doesn’t like to laugh.
Why?  Well here are just a few reasons I came up with:

•  Laughter makes us feel good (I challenge you to try to be angry, anxious or sad when you are laughing)
•  Laughter makes us feel lighter and more relaxed
•  Laughter lowers our blood pressure
•  Laughter releases the body’s natural pain killer – endorphins
•  Laughter boosts our immune system

So, how can humor help your business or the organization that you work for?

•  Humor facilitates communication and builds relationships
•  Humor reduces stress
•  Humor provides us perspective
•  Humor energizes, increases creativity and productivity
•  Humor is shown to increase employee retention

OK then, what are some ways to bring humor and laughter into the workplace?

•  Reserve a portion of staff meetings for humor – say the first 3 minutes or so.  Assign a different person to “head up” this important agenda item each meeting.
•  Hire a comedian to come in for company, division or department functions.
•  Post a “Joke of the Day” on bulletin boards – electronic and physical
•  Include humor in presentations such as cartoons, a video clip, pictures, etc…
•  Any other ways that you can think of?

Before you get started, below are some Do’s and Don’ts to keep in mind (fairly obvious ones)

•  Don’t make jokes about people’s appearance
•  Avoid vulgar or offensive language
•  Avoid humor that pokes fun at people’s religious beliefs, ethnic background, nationality, age or sexual preference
•  Steer clear of humor that has sexual overtones or innuendos
•  Be very careful of making others the “butt” of your jokes
•  Go ahead and poke fun at yourself, your flaws, bad habits, etc…
•  Find humor in common situations that are facing you and your co-workers
•  Jokes centered around family life, raising kids, certain professions, common daily activities we all do like driving, sports, movies, TV shows, funny animal pictures, etc. seem to be OK.
•  In general, if you abide by the “Don’ts” you should be fine.  Just use common sense.

In closing, there is a wealth of humorous material on the internet.  I Googled “Humor in the Workplace” and found a ton of stuff…. In fact, let me leave you with some bumper sticker humor……

    Ever stop to think and forget to start again?
    Where there is a will I want to be in it.
    A waist is a terrible thing to mind.
    Everyone is entitled to my opinion.
    Always remember you are unique, just like everybody else.
    Love may be blind but marriage is a real eye opener.

Have fun!!!