As a professional speaker who likes to make people laugh while they are learning something valuable, I am on occassion mistaken as someone who delivers keynote presentations on humour in the workplace. I don't. In fact, I don't see the value of sitting around and trying to be funny for the sake of trying to improve morale. Sorry, I just don't get it. I think laughter needs to be heartfelt - not put on. (Think about how uncomfortable it is to be around someone trying too hard to be funny.) Some people are funny and some are not. It's almost painful to watch someone with no sense of humour trying to be funny. Hey, I don't try to be tall.
So this week I stumbled onto the results of the T-Mobile Workplace Motivation Report. Fifteen percent of those surveyed actually believe that joke-cracking has a demotivating influence. Workers don't feel motivated by colleagues who spend their time joking around and making flippant comments meant to be funny.
The research showed that workers prefer to be surrounded by upbeat people with a "can-do" attitude. Also a calming influence are people who can remain calm in the face of adversity - those who are unflappable and have a "Trust The Process" attitude.
I know a few speakers who conduct "humour in the workplace" sessions. I've never really understood how humour helps improve engagement, leadership or service. It's the same, to me, as wasting a lot of money on personality profiling - are you an introvert, extrovert or even what "color" you're supposed to be. How does that help you get more done, serve customers better or improve your performance results?
When times of economic uncertainty hit us, I want to be hanging out with the calm and "everything-is-going-to-be-alright" attitude guy. I don't want to have to turn to the jokester whose own humour during crisis times turns to blank-stared, crazy-nervous laughter.
Attitude Adjustment: I still think it's a good idea to have a sense of humour in the workplace - just don't annoy your co-workers with your giggles. As a boss, think about how you could better spend your training budgets by helping to actually improve your employees which will improve the workplace. Clown noses at work are just dumb. How is that going to improve the attitudes and performance of your people during times of economic downturns? Help make more of your people unflappable instead of funny. Bring a sense of calm to your workplace first and your people will have more fun as a result.
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4 comments:
I find it annoying sometimes when you cannot get a straight answer from someone or ask a simple question without having to endure a few minutes of "humorous" bantering. You know they are going to do it for you or get you what you want but they first have to say something like "No. I can't. Just kidding!" or "What's in it for me?". With some people it is ok once in a while, but every time? It gets old very fast. When you are in a bit of a hurry a simple yes or no is fine without the so-called humor.
Very well said from a guy who uses humor to get his point across. I read a tip somewhere regarding corporate training....use humor and then jam your message in while their minds are open.
It certainly seems to work for you! I was looking for a hard and fast list of 10 things that I could take back to my workplace and shove down our workers throats to improve our safety results when I attended your address at the Shaw Conference Center last week. What I got instead was a whole lot of insight into myself, some motivation and some inspiration. I just hope that I can now pass that on to my team until such a time as I can get you in to do an attitude adjustment. Thanks a bunch and I'll be using this blog as part of my 3%!!
Nice post Kevin. Thank you.
Being funny vs. being calm
The people who are naturally funny and have a high sense of humor really help reduce/release the tension and stress in the workplace.
But at the time of adversity, we all need people who are calm and capable.
Regards,
Tohami, author of "The Pharaohs' Code"
http://www.Tohami.com
"Helping employed professionals find joy in their lives before it's too late"
As someone who conducts "humour in the workplace" talks around the globe, has practiced it has a senior manager, and researched it for over 15 years, I totally agree Kevin that it's easy to fall into the trap of misusing humour and treating it only as window dressing. The focus needs to be on creating healthy, positive, successful, no-B.S. kind of workplaces where the end result is that people feel good about the work they are doing and are able to bring a sense of humour along for the ride.
At the same time though, there are hundreds of examples worldwide of businesses that effectively use humour to improve customer service, strengthen employee relationships, build stronger teams, improve communication, improve morale, lower stress levels and spark creative thinking. There are also countless studies from Harvard Business, The International Group for Humor Studies, and surveys from organizations such as the Hay Group or Hodge Cronin and Associates, that suggest that there are enormous potential links between humour and workplace success. There are studies showing links to improved productivity and to improved employee retention. And there are truckloads of studies showing the links between humour and creativity.
In fact, as I get crankier in my old age, my attitude has drifted towards thinking that if a senior leader doesn't "get" the importance of this topic, they quite frankly don't "get" what it means to lead a group of people and manage a successful business.
For more information, I'd recommend people cruise on over to www.humouratwork.com for more articles and resources on the topic!
In good humour,
Michael Kerr
http://www.mikekerr.com
Author of Inspiring Workplaces, Putting Humor to Work and 340 Ways to Put Humor to Work.
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