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Our Blog-FriendsAnyone that has watched the TV show The Office can understand how awkward forced office humor can be, but there has been research done showing laughter in the office is a surefire way to keep employees on track. An article on Fast Company’s website states:
Sterile all-work-and-no-play corporate environments simply drive people to other diversions — be it daydreaming, surfing the Web, or playing Solitaire — to help pass the time. By bringing laughter into the office, a business owner can at least have some control over when and how the entertainment happens. “People are going to seek out ways to make their workday seem shorter anyway,” says Heffron, who also starred in the VH1 sitcom “Smash.” “You might as well keep it in house.
A quote that I find to be very true was said by Ron Culberson, an author and speaker who promotes organizational humor in health care industries through his company FUNsulting, etc. “Not only can humor reduce stress and help produce happier, healthier employees, but it can also enhance people’s ability to retain and recall information and connect and cooperate with one another.”
I have worked in a few offices that were painfully non-humorous, and that environment only fostered employees bitterness and resentment towards their jobs. My personality is one of a very sarcastic tone. I am always making jokes and trying to lighten the mood. I enjoy laughing at my job and poking fun of my nerdiness by printing out cartography jokes (really, there are jokes about maps?!) and locating office humor videos online. Laughing on the job makes the day go by faster, the job more enjoyable and the employees more productive.
What’s your opinion? Have you ever worked at any horribly non-humorous companies?
8 Responses to “Office Humor Stimulates Creative Thinking.”
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One of the precious things about humor is, to be funny, one must rise above the present situation, see it honestly for what it is, and see how the moment relates to a bigger picture.
How many offices have anyone with those abilities - the perspective, the emotional honesty, and the selfless ego required for genuine humor? Plus they’d have to think fast and be spontaneous. We’re really weeding through any prospective funny people with these criteria, aren’t we? Smart, selfless, swift. Anyone? Anyone?
One of the saddest things in the world is forced laughter, as when the big boss says something and his minions chortle or practically say the words “Ha. Ha. Ha.†So sad.
For examples of lame attempts (and general staleness), go to:
http://www.overheardintheoffice.com/
Funny ‘cause it’s true.
Perfect use of an RSS feed.
bigbonton - You’re right, forced laughter IS one of the saddest things in the world! It’s so incredibly awkward. I feel like the sense of humor changes depending on which industry you’re working in as well. All my past mapping coworkers had the nerdy map/pop culture sense of humor (up to date), engineers (from my old CAD electrical mapping days) - not as much. I also have noticed different regional sense of humors, since I have moved around so much.
I feel like I’m able to keep up with spontaneous retorts in my own sarcastic tone. I also feel as if a lot of people don’t appreciate sarcasm here! :)
That’s a great link, thanks!
Ohhh… I love sarcasm and so does Angel - maybe even too much. I think we need to have another night out.
On the topic of the post, though - I would say that in the hospitality industry (where I worked for oh-so-long) humor was the key to survival. Whether making fun of your customers, your co-workers or yourself - it was a necessity that shortened the shift and made it all better.
i AM a lover of good sarcasm, though ashamed of it at times. people tend to read it as “bitterness.” like brandi said, sense of humor is very regional. i have thus incorporated a bit of southern courtesy in my repertoire.
The best humor is dangerous. It risks making the speaker look bad or insulting the audience & / or the subject of the joke.
But that’s a risk we’ll have to take, the pay off is worth it – but hey, not always! Be careful out there . . . an honest spotlight is not always welcome. Remember: tact (just because you can doesn’t mean you should).
Sarcasm is dangerous, like thin ice. I agree, the risk with sarcasm is sounding bitter. Sarcasm can become a bad habit, too. Got teenagers?
Irony may be the highest level of humor. Highest as in the most complex, not the highest as in the greatest goal to strive for. Irony incorporates some sarcasm but requires both a knowledge of the subject (target) and a separation from the subject. Irony does not translate or travel well.
Lower levels of humor, like slapstick? Sure. Not many females like The Three Stooges. Possibly guys relate to their frustrations, their challenge by and of dignity and their hopelessness.
(why I oughtta . . . ).
I have no use for scatological material; it’s just too easy of a target. South Park cartoons can use humor to tell truths, but I reject most of their shock material.
I (sniffs piously) grew out of it (ha-rumph).
Worldwide, studies have conclusively shown the most effective prop for humor is the duck. Quack. (Grinning, just a little, on the inside?) Quack. (You are grinning, you are so grinning about that duck). They waddle on those webbed feet, their bill, (quack), ducks are the most universally funny prop.
Samples of other factors in humor:
Rule of threes – the gold standard of the set-up and the payoff.
Exaggeration.
Reversal of expectations.
There are four macro styles of jokes; which one(s) a person uses tells a lot about them. I’ll fill you in as needed.
Quack.
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