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Office workers, as a rule, are serious – out of a desire to look significant in front of a client or out of fear of lowering themselves in the eyes of their boss. But a sense of humor can be helpful! We found five reasons to laugh at work.
Once at a European airport, I went through passport control. The border guard officer studied my document for a long time, occasionally glancing at me. Something is wrong with the visa, I was already worried. Finally, she stamped it, handed me my passport and smiled: “But you still feel better with a haircut.” I laughed, and, as they say, this unexpected joke “made my day.”
The stereotype of business relations that has become entrenched in modern culture implies a serious, and even commanding tone. “In the collective unconscious, the figure of a commander inspires much more respect than the figure of a jester with bells,” says psychologist Patrick Amar. Not surprisingly, at work, many of us prefer silence to a witty remark.
But if we suppress this healthy emotion in ourselves all the time, then we will soon turn into bores or, what is good, neurasthenics. Laughter is the most powerful discharge of the most critical tension. People were and are afraid of catastrophes, death, bosses, “world evil”, historical cataclysms. And that’s not counting individual phobias!
Yes, there are dangers and losses in our lives. But laughter relieves fear, makes you more confident. At the same time, laughing does not mean being frivolous or a loafer.
As the philosopher and researcher of laughter culture Mikhail Bakhtin stated, “one cannot be idle – but laughter is not at all an idle occupation.” Bakhtin contrasted the right to laugh and parody any reality not to labor and heroism, but to “hypocrites, enemies of “joyful free truth.”
So if the boss doesn’t understand jokes at all, and you can’t take it without irony, don’t deny yourself laughter, but practice it only in the company of your closest colleagues and without harming their pride. And if the boss has a sense of humor, why not support this wave! Unless, of course, we are not talking about ridiculing colleagues and others in general.
Irony is good if it is the fruit of self-irony, then it “melts the ice” without threatening anyone.
1. Create a friendly atmosphere
Laughter should be evidence of openness. We work and learn better when we are not stressed. To do this, it is important to understand the boundaries of irony and jokes.
Foreign language teacher at the Higher School of Economics and school teacher Maria Filippenko is convinced that jokes are allowed only within the educational process. No jokes about politics, religion, sexual orientation, nationalities. After all, in a group of people with a variety of views.
“When students start joking back, this is an indicator of the right contact and, in a good sense, relaxation in the group,” Maria says. – To learn a language, it is important to eliminate stress, create a friendly atmosphere. Not everyone may find it funny what the teacher conceived as funny. So, perhaps, the ability to joke spontaneously and respond to “short circuits” with a smile is important here. Laughter is a great way to prevent or resolve conflict. This is the best reaction to a mistake – both a student’s and one’s own.
2. Don’t “burn out” at work
“I would include a sense of humor as a must in the “professionalism” section,” continues Maria Filippenko, “along with the ability to find contact, to feel the atmosphere in the audience.”
She is sure that teachers’ quick “burnout” is due to the fact that they have to make decisions instantly during the lesson: how to answer, how to evaluate, whether or not to notice someone’s mistake. All this is stress. “And if we choose the latter from a serious or ironic attitude to the problem, then this, of course, keeps us “as a fighting unit.”
3. Get your point across
Humor can transform a career. The director of one of the divisions of L’Oréal, Didier Bouch, owes much of his success to him.
“I couldn’t rely on outward pretentiousness to impress,” says this boss, whose height is less than 160 centimeters, “so I learned to use humor to be more intelligible …”
When arguments are accompanied by a joke, they become irrefutable. But humor is not synonymous with gentleness: it allows you to “talk more freely and learn how to say no if necessary.” It is necessary,” adds Didier Bouch.
4. Fight isolation
Kristina Bystrykh, Executive Director of the Sberbank Investor Relations Center, fell in love with her job all over again thanks to laughter.
“Our team was engaged in a very serious international project. We successfully introduced him to England, but management was not enthusiastic and instead appointed a new boss.
We all slumped, became withdrawn, I generally decided to change my profession. But the new boss turned out to be a man with a sense of humor, which allowed him to look at everything from the outside, assess our strengths and weaknesses, and at the same time not only not offend anyone, but give confidence to everyone.
I remember we waited with trepidation for a decision regarding the reorganization of the team. The boss should have discussed this with management. Here he comes back from the meeting. “Well, what did the chief say?” we asked. “He said that I was too well-fed, it’s time for me to go on a diet,” the chef replied. We laughed, and then, as if by magic, everything began to improve – we rallied, new ideas appeared, contradictions were resolved.
5. Resist Force Majeure
Fresh ideas come not during stress, but when you can relax. Inna Davydova, director of the Latvian music agency Herman Braun Foundation, understood this long ago.
The agency has a small close-knit team, so laughter is always shared. It’s hard to have fun alone. Laughter is either divided or not heard at all. General laughter for Inna is a sign that everyone has the emotional reserve that is necessary in work.
In addition, humor is a kind of code. Using it, you can accurately determine in what tone to speak with partners, clients – complex, creative, sometimes spoiled people. “The ability to laugh keeps us in balance with different overlays, inconsistencies, force majeure. For example, a famous musician mixed up the flight – and if you have no sense of humor, you can fill up a concert for which tickets have already been sold. And if you remember a good anecdote on this topic, there will be a solution.”
Joking, but not devaluing
Maria Makarushkina, a psychologist, consultant, and coach, reflects on the place of laughter in the workspace.
“Modern world trends in the organization of labor are associated with the so-called agile (agile, English – “live”, “mobile”). This style implies flexibility, adaptability, self-regulation. The goal is the informal abolition of any hierarchy: all teams in the company are equal, all members within the team are even more so.
Laughter facilitates the transition of employees into partnerships from service, built on dependence. The structure is leveled, turning from vertical to horizontal. Both the ironic leader and the witty performer fit perfectly into it. But there is also corporate ethics. In creative companies, the proportion of laughter, as a rule, is greater. A tense production rather tends to ignore humor.
But the ability to joke is an individual feature, its level depends on the level of personal culture. You can talk as much as you like about how useful a sense of humor is when working with clients, but if, as a client, I sit in front of a provider, a doctor, a salesman who sprinkles flat jokes, it will cause nothing but rejection. On the contrary, an educated or simply educated person, resorting to an appropriate joke, will arouse undoubted affection and trust.