Keeping the workplace light and funny has more benefits than we realize. Here’s how.
Actively Encourage Employee Happiness
Employee happiness doesn’t mean everyone’s laughing all the time or there’s a ping pong table in the break room. What’s more important is that your employees feel like they matter and that their work is appreciated. Employees who feel like interchangeable cogs in a corporate machine will lose motivation and productivity no matter how many pizza parties you throw. Focus on praising your team for good work, offering constructive criticism when they struggle, and supporting them when they need help. A good leader isn’t just there to delegate tasks, they’re there to help everyone grow and succeed.
Spread Your Humor
Make it OK for others to laugh at work. By laughing at yourself, you make it OK for everyone in the room to laugh. Don’t try so hard to be professional because are insecure. Being able to laugh at yourself in front of others and making it OK for them to laugh in a work situation eases the tension of the training session and help bring you closer together with your colleagues. During lunch that day you can have even more laughter as everyone begins sharing their most embarrassing work moments.
Turn Stress Into Laughs
Anytime something annoying and frustrating occurs, turn it on its head and find the humor. Sure, you can be angry at getting splashed with mud, stepping in dog poop, or inadvertently throwing a red towel in with the white laundry. In fact, that is probably the most normal response. It doesn’t accomplish anything other than to put you in a sour mood. Better to find a way to laugh at life’s little annoyances. One way to do that: Think about it as if it happened to someone else, someone you like — or maybe someone you don’t. In fact, keep running through the Rolodex in your head until you find the best person you can think of to put in your current predicament.
The Science
Humor has been scientifically shown to increase feelings of safety within a group environment. Humor leads to a cognitive shift, which stems from an emotional shift and the physical response that relaxes people as they laugh.
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