The Mayo Clinic (www.mayoclinic.org) reports that “laughter can stimulate many organs, enhance your intake of oxygen-rich air, and increase endorphins released by your brain.”
This is exactly why laughter belongs in the workplace. No matter where you work, can you honestly say that you wouldn’t benefit from more feel-good chemicals, deeper breathing, and the added benefit of organ support too! During Laugh at Work Week (This week!), we’re reminded that humor isn’t unprofessional, it’s powerful. It’s time to not only keep working hard but to laugh hard too!
The Mayo Clinic also notes that laughter activates and relieves stress responses, soothes tension, improves the mood, and enhances resilience. What laughter at work doesn’t do: stop work, productivity or take away from employees’ ability to focus or cause In fact, it often means the opposite. A workplace that laughs together is also able to decompress quickly, stay energized and engaged, they don’t internalize stress, guilt or shame and they build stronger teams and more meaningful connections. All of these are valuable inside and outside of the workplace.
You may be wondering how you get the giggles going at work? Listen more! Every workplace has a “class clown,” or “office comedian,” you just need to listen. These are the people who brighten and lighten up the room at just the right moments. Our ears will often hear what they are looking for. If you are listening for negativity, you’ll find it. If you’re listening for laughter, you’ll find it too! In a 2020 article publishes by American Academy of Family Physicians, (www.aafp.org) they talk about the four different types of humor, but most importantly the two types that are best utilized in the workplace: affiliate humor and self-inflating humor.
Affiliate humor is the kind that builds connection rather than tearing others down. This person uses humor that everyone can relate to like you see in sitcoms like Seinfeld or Friends. Self-enhancing humor, which is also office friendly, is self-reflective and focuses on finding amusement in one’s personal situation and the ebbs and flows of life. This is the ability to laugh at your own mistakes, the ability to easily shake off an error and try again and always seen as someone with a positive perspective. These people are the ones who help reduce tension, reset the team, make the workplace feel humane, set clear boundaries with kindness, value high morale, and encourage inclusiveness in the workplace.
If this appeals to you, you don’t need to show up tomorrow with a red nose and water squirting flower on your lapel. You can help bring more laughter by sharing an appropriate, light, and funny or ironic story at work. You can celebrate all the wins around you, big and small. You can start a meeting or conversation with a positive moment. Just keep your humor inclusive, never target anyone or anything, even if they aren’t in the room. Always be light enough to laugh at yourself, it builds confidence in your workplace relationships when people see you brush off the small stuff, pick up, and try again.
Workplace laughter matters, more now than ever. In some workplaces you can feel and see the tension and stress in the room. Practicing the ability to bring a gentle lightness into the workforce creates a healthier tide for a flow in communication and productivity. Laughter also allows for a simple and quick reset. It doesn’t take away from real concerns, or a need for accountability, but it may make the obstacles at hand feel more manageable.
You don’t need to show up at work tomorrow with a full joke book to read to your coworkers, but if you want more laughter, be the one ready to share a laugh. Be a light and soft presence that is listening for areas to share a small laugh or gentle joke that is group centered or focuses on you. When laughter is safe, non-offensive and inclusive of the greater group, it is also contagious. If you hear laughter, join in! The positivity can radiate throughout the workplace, making laughter contagious. When in doubt, just smile more! Smile whenever you see a coworker or patron. Smile when you are talking on the phone. Smile when you are doing small tasks. It takes practice, but smiling is also contagious. If you can make smiling become an epidemic at work, next comes the laughter. We mentioned that laughter is medicine. Sometimes we don’t know how bad we are feeling until we treat our ailments. Your workplace may be similar in that you don’t know just how fun, freeing, and empowering it can feel until you welcome laughter and joy in the workplace.
We challenge you this week to think about laughter at work week like your next big assignment. Start with smiling, add listening for opportunities of laughter and positivity and then, let the laughter flow! Notice who your “class clown,” or “office comedian,” is and let them entertain you! Do all the things that help boost your mood and the moods of those around you. Especially for this week, let’s work hard, laugh harder.