Laugh your way to career success

The evidence is mounting that having a good laugh at work makes good business sense.

While some managers equate the sound of laughing employees with goofing off, the opposite appears to be true.

Experts say laughter relieves stress, boosts productivity and promotes effective teamwork and, according to one academic, can serve as a great feedback tool. 

Maren Rawlings has been working on a PhD at Swinburne University of Technology since 2006 specifically examining the impact of humour at work.

She has conducted surveys of workers in Australia and overseas and found humour at work has a positive impact on productivity and job satisfaction levels. 

Her research suggests that workplaces with no humour or negative humour are less productive than those that encourage a good laugh.

Ms Rawlings will present her finding at the Australian Psychological Society’s annual conference in Hobart on 23-27 September. 

She says that with the volume of unpaid working hours mounting up for many employees, encouraging humour at work can help counter resentment.

“We have seen many of the traditional areas where we earned a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work going offshore leaving roles involving a lot of face work and emotional labour like hospitality, sales roles and health services,” Ms Rawlings said.

“One of the things employers can do is use humour to allow for venting. Humour can be a great communications tool to find out how employees really feel,” she said.

“Managers can start things off, which in turn will provide junior people with the permission to join in.”

Ms Rawlings adds that managers should not become defensive if staff use humour to poke fun at stressful situations at work as long as no indvidual is ridiculed.

She suggests managers do something “silly” rather than rely on joke telling. 

Founder of Laughter Strategies Helene Grover agrees that managers have to set the tone with innocent fun but also need to get employees involved and driving activities as soon as possible. 

Ms Grover has been staging workshops for leading Australian employers around the country for more than 15 years and has some great “silly” items in her tool kit.
“It’s great to have a fun item you can pull out and put on your desk and I don’t mean a stress ball. I’m over stress balls - they have had their day,” she says.

“I have a mirror that when you hold it up says: ‘you’re beautiful’ and a compact that wolf whistles when you open it. A silly hat will do it too.”

“My workshops are not just about laughter – that is the end product – they are about helping an organisation develop a sense of humour and a sense of play,” Ms Grover said.

Ms Rawlings and Ms Grover say sharing humour in the office can stimulate creative thinking and promote more effective teamwork.

How to get the giggles going

• Ms Grover urges managers and employees alike to first be open to the idea that humour has a positive impact on work performance.
• Both experts say humour must not target an individual or be used for put downs.
• Ms Rawlings warns managers not to get defensive if employees use humour to send up a stressful situation in the office. It’s valuable feedback.
• Ms Grover suggests setting up a “graffiti” board in a break out room where employees can post cartoons and funny photos. “Sometimes you see a cartoon in the newspaper that exactly captures what is going on at work.”
• Set up a “creative fun” suggestion box or nominate a monthly “Fun Person” whose job it is to come up with activities to provide light relief.
• Ms Grover suggests organisations also introduce one “welly” day a year – the opposite of a sick day. “Staff could just call up and say ‘I’m taking my welly day’ and not feel guilty.”
• A couple of examples from the CareerOne office include a “cutest pet” photo competition and a “Talk like a Pirate Day” to raise money for charity.