When was the last time you were in stitches at the workplace over a polite witticism, cute joke or well-placed piece of irony? If the answer is you can’t remember; it may be you are missing out on some opportunities to really bond with those around you and improve your game and wellness. Laughing in the workplace is serious business, especially when you consider the positive effects a good regular guffaw in good taste has on your health and wellbeing and general productivity. No matter how staid and conservative your corporate environment may be, a well-mannered laugh is bound to endear you to the ladies and gentlemen in starched pinstripes around you and make you feel better about your work and yourself. Here are just a few of the benefits of laughter:-
- Laughter is a good workout. When you laugh you are exercising the lungs, abs, chest, diaphragm, shoulders, neck, face and heart. Dr. William Fry, Stanford University found that laughing heartily for about a minute even if faked can burn as many calories as rowing intensely for 10 minutes, helping to boost energy levels, relax muscles, improve respiration and generally stimulate circulation.
- Laughter fortifies the immune system and improves pain tolerance. While depression and stress can weaken a body’s immune system, laughter helps to raise antibody levels and increase the count and effectiveness of immune cells. It also helps control high blood pressure by inducing a heightened state of relaxation.
- Laughter reduces stress, tension and anxiety. Laughter relaxes muscles, increases production of endorphins and neurotransmitters and reduces production of stress-related hormones cortisol and epinephrine. It is also proven to enable better sleep.
- Laughter improves self esteem and coping ability. By putting things in perspective and providing a physical and emotional release laughter helps calms negative feelings such as fear and anger and provides a better framework to address and cope with a difficult situation.
- Laughter improves mental capacities. Laughter seems to clear the brain and ease the urgency of distractions. Those who laugh regularly are shown to have better memory retention and be more creative with solving problems and more productive in the workplace.
- Laughter breaks social barriers. We’ve heard it said often that the best way to break the ice with a stranger is with a good warm laugh. How delightful when you find a commonality in the form of a shared joke to break the barriers between you and a boss, work colleague or new client so you can approach the important tasks ahead of you on a lighter and more friendly note.
- Laughter increases feelings of wellness at work. An overwhelming 64.3% of professionals surveyed on Bayt.com’s poll on Good working Conditions in the Middle East stated that improved working conditions would result in more organizational loyalty, more productivity and more job involvement. A lighthearted workplace full of smiles and laughter certainly is that much more conducive to overall feelings of affinity to the workplace and general wellness.
So what can you do at work to generate those laughs? Remember the idea is to laugh with your workplace peers not at them or at their expense; keep the spirit benign and the humor tasteful and as refined as possible. Here are just a few things you can do to inject humor in the workplace today:-
- Have a Humor Bulletin Board. Take turns to post funny work quotes, jokes, stories, pictures, songs and anecdotes. You may want to do this online via the company intranet or have a physical bulletin board you take turns to pin things to in the company hallways or cafeteria.
- Have a regular fun lighthearted corporate Fiesta. Bayt.com the Middle East’s #1 jobsite rewards its top performers and celebrates personal and professional milestones of its employees at a monthly extravaganza held in each of its offices where each month a different theme is chosen and all can dress, act and live the part whether it is Masquerade, Circus, old Hollywood, new Bollywood etc.
- Play unabashedly loudly a funny horn or musical melody to celebrate important triumphs. At Bayt.com a very large trumpet blasts endlessly in all manner of out-of-tune melodies whenever a certain team meets a certain daily milestone and it brings boundless laughter, smiles and energy to all in the vicinity.
- Have funny competitions. Nothing is more amusing than a funny hat day or a corporate talent competition or a sack race or egg and spoon race from one end of the office to the other. You may even choose to have an occasional treasure hunt where all the clues and images and prizes are highly original and amusing. Charades and pictionary nights are also highly amusing competitive games you can enjoy as a team and they’re even more fun if done on the premises and during office hours for a small respite from the daily grind.
- Enjoy corporate comedy nights. You may find you have a few comedians on the team who will happily put on a show, otherwise make a night out of it and visit the funniest comics in town or play their most hilarious videotaped acts on a large screen in the conference room for a good after-work evening of bonding and laughter.
- Encourage fun and creativity by placing props around the office including boards and colorful pens or chalk, playdo, colored papers, juggling balls, dominos, colorful springs, arts and craft materials, billiards or backgammon tables or even a central table-tennis apparatus or mini-trampoline to let out some heat and induce a few laughs.
- Encourage stressed out employees to see the humor in the workplace and not to take their mistakes too seriously. You will do them a large favor if with a deft touch you can make them laugh at their mistakes, learn a quick thing or two, pick up the pieces and carry on with a smile on their face, a skip in their step and a laugh in their heart.
William James said ‘’We don’t laugh because we’re happy; we’re happy because we laugh.” Make it a point to find art and humor in even the most mundane and demotivating of daily tasks and to bridge the gaps and differences between you and your workmates through a communion of good spirit and laughter. You will be amazed at the healing power of laughter and its capacity to bond people and brighten their mood.
