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The Importance of Laughter in the Workplace
The Importance of Laughter in the Workplace
Work should always be taken seriously, but there is nothing wrong with having a laugh with your colleagues every now and then. It has actually been proven to improves motivation and productivity in the workplace.
Office environments can sometimes be rather stressful, so having a bit a laugh is a great way to lighten the mood. As claimed by Charlie Chaplin ‘a day without laughter is a day wasted’, take this attitude with you everywhere, especially to the office.
Don’t be too serious
Most employees look for someone with a good sense of humour as people who laugh at work generally have a great work ethic and motivation for the job at hand.
Being able to laugh at yourself and any mistakes you makes is important and shows you don’t take yourself or life too seriously. This will make you appear more approachable and friendly.
Even on the most stressful days managing to laugh and smile will alleviate some stress, heighten energy levels and lighten your mood. Humour is an amazing way to de-stress, as ‘laughter is the best medicine’.
Some people tend to shy away from humour in the office due to fears of looking unprofessional, or accidently offending someone. If done in the right way and at the right time, jokes and sarcasm can actually show your intelligence and perceptive nature.
Laugh with your co-workers
Having a lively and fun office environment is important. It’s a great way to create a bond and trust between the people in the office. Having jokes and humour within the office builds strong working relationships and allows you to get to know each other on a more personal and individual level. It creates unity within the team. A team who can laugh together are a team who work well together.
For new recruits humour and jokes are a great icebreaker, and help them feel more welcome and comfortable in the new environment. It also helps forge new friendship at work. However, make sure any jokes are appropriate and don’t make the person feel left out or as though they are being made fun of.
Laughter and your health
Did you know that laughing can actually?
- Burn calories.
- Gets your heart pumping.
- Decrease stress.
- Diminish pain.
- Increase positivity.
- Boost your immune system.
- Improve your mental health.
Laughing allows your whole body to relax and makes you happier. Mentalhealth.org states that 1 in 7 people experience mental health issues due to work related stresses. Therefore, laughing is very important and can help people more than you know. Therefore, employers should aim to maintain a good office environment, where people look forward to coming to work each day.
Keep it appropriate
Jokes and sarcasm are all well and good until they are at someone’s expense or offends someone. Now, we aren't saying don’t joke, but before you do think about what you are about to say and how it will be received. Try and stay away from negative jokes, instead make them funny and uplifting so everyone can join in. No joke should be about someone’s race, gender, sexuality, disability, age or religion.
Avoid sending joke emails, messages, images or videos, as it's not in person you don’t know how the receiver will interpret what you send and could misunderstand the joke altogether.
Fun ways to get people laughing in the office:
You can use humour to get fit, motivation, team building, training, networking, meetings etc…
- Stick some favourite tunes on.
- Initiate an office competition which involves everyone.
- Go out for drinks or a meal.
- Have an office happy hour (and no I don’t mean drinks). Choose one hour a day where no one is allowed to moan or complain.
Stay Safe,
Team Affecto.