Unlocking the Power of Laughter: The Case for Workplace Humour

Part 1 of this evidence-based series, explains how humour at work is positively linked to well-being and mental health and outlines seven positive benefits of humour at work.

With so little to laugh about in the news and redundancies and reorgs stealthily sweeping through the corporate world again, it might be assumed that humour at work is in short supply.

While I know many leaders and workplace cultures embrace the sunshine of laughter and humour, I hear of others where laughter and humour fade under the ‘serious shadow’ cast by profit-seeking, demanding shareholders and making strategy happen.

One leader that I coach has humour as a core strength. He makes the business case for the natural use of humour as part of the workday. Natural because it isn’t forced or indiscriminate. He uses humour to help his team and the workplace feel relaxed, engaging in light-hearted banter to ease tension (e.g. before a performance review) and because it is fun to have a laugh. As he says, “who wants to come to work and be serious all day?”

Indeed! In fact, as Ed Catmull, the former President of Pixar states

“a sense of humour is what makes us human. It’s a deeply connecting and empowering thing.”

I’m not talking about random joke-telling humour, just humour that emerges easily in the moment. Humour that supports a sense of meaning, that doesn’t undercut the serious nature of work and life.

Research suggests that humour has significant beneficial effects on human wellbeing.

So why should you make sure humour is embraced at work?

Humour is one of the most powerful forces an organisation has for building genuine connection, well-being, and intellectual safety among colleagues and teams.

Lecturers and authors, Naomi Bagdonas and Connor Diemand-Yauman

📌SEVEN POSITIVE BENEFITS OF HUMOUR AT WORK

 ➡️ Humour changes our brain

💡Neuroscience tells us that laughter releases hormones in our brains that help us feel happier (dopamine), more trusting (oxytocin), less stressed (lower cortisol) and even slightly euphoric (endorphins).”

➡️ Humour makes us feel better

💡 Studies show that humour can enhance positive mood, boost positive and reduce negative emotion and is positively associated with well-being and #mentalhealth. Laughter also has physiological benefits such as increasing blood flow and relaxing our muscles.

➡️ Humour helps us hold things lightly

💡Used carefully, humour may help lighten difficult situations, act a buffer for workplace stress and anxiety, and boost our emotional resilience, including coping with acute distress.

➡️ Humour unites us

💡There is evidence that humour encourages positive social communication, fosters meaningful connections, decreases social anxiety and creates chances for social connection with others.

➡️ Humour restores us

💡Humour and laughter help restore energy we lose as we self-manage in the workplace, for instance, in interpersonal situations, as we sensitively navigate ‘touchy’ issues. Much like overusing our muscles, this potentially impacts our performance. The positive emotions and mood that humour generate seem to counteract this effect and help us persist with tough or tedious tasks.

➡️ Humour fuels innovation

💡Research suggests that humour triggers creativity and mental agility, unlocking lateral thinking, and freeing us up to develop new ideas and ways to think and do.

And – not least - given the current emphasis on #psychologicalsafety in the workplace:

➡️ Humour helps us feel safe

💡Professor and researcher Amy Edmondson and colleagues have shown a strong relationship between safety and work performance. Where we feel part of a team and we “feel confident that no one on the team will embarrass or punish anyone else for admitting a mistake, asking a question, or offering a new idea”, humour can help us move forward.

Laughter, in particular, can decrease both our stress hormone (cortisol) and the fight or flight hormone (epinephrine).

And when our stress levels are low, we perform better, do better work and are more likely to engage with new challenges or risks. 

AND WHAT ELSE?

➡️ Humour helps us survive

When I was in a team, in a toxic culture and environment, we were lucky enough to have a colleague with humour as a core strength. Were it not for the light relief he provided, the laugh-out-loud anecdotes and commentary, I doubt we’d have been able to find enough joy, self-belief and meaning at work to keep going. Humour buffered us from stress and helped us find positives in a desert of joy.

Which of these reasons to use humour at work resonates for you?

If you liked this article, read Part 2 of the series here