Adding humor can increase creativity and productivity
Two experts in laughter and research offer pointers
To maintain a healthy workplace environment, the old adage about "an apple a day" might well be changed to "a laugh a day." At least that’s what two experts on workplace humor say.
"I went to work in 1966 in an organization where humor had a constant presence," says Merritt Helfferich, senior consultant with Innovation Consulting Inc. of Fairbanks, AK.
When Helfferich worked at the University of Alaska’s Geophysical Institute in Fairbanks, he witnessed the way humor motivated employees and contributed to improvements in productivity and retention.
"The level of stress and tension and the ability to cope with challenges was much better in our institution than in other parts of the university," Helfferich says. "It also tended to bond people together so there was a lot of teamwork that helped also in productivity."
Humor is an all-encompassing elixir that also helps employees deal with anger and aggression, which helps to incubate creativity, and empowers people in positions lacking in power, he points out.
"People wanted to be at work at the institute and were there all the time," Helfferich recalls. "You’d go by the building on New Year’s Eve at midnight and see lights on — it was a mutually inspiring environment and a fun place to work."
Humor also is a way for individual employees to cope with serious life crises, says Dorothy Yates, interim assistant vice chancellor for research administration at the University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center.
Yates became a widow at age 19, which was her first lesson in appreciating life on a daily basis and using humor to cope with stress and grief.
"Everything we do in research involves deadlines and is cyclical, and so we let off steam by having fun," she says. "We spend more time with people we work with than we do with our families in many cases, so humor helps with that bonding and brings people together with their common goals.
"A few years ago I had breast cancer, and I found people were bringing me down when I came into work because they were asking, How are you doing today?’" Yates recalls. "This was driving me nuts, so I shaved my head as soon as my hair fell out and put temporary tattoos on my skull, and then I started joking about everything that happened, and once I started joking about it, people started treating me differently — it really helped."
You don’t have to be Jerry Lewis
Working in research with all of its rules, regulations, bureaucracies, etc., offers many opportunities for humor, Yates and Helfferich say. They offer these tips on introducing humor into the clinical trials work setting:
• Use props: Yates makes it acceptable in her office to have fun by bringing in rubber toys every few weeks. She’ll display lizards, snakes, and other silly toys that serve as icebreakers.
"Someone else cut out gold stars recently for whomever makes the smartass remark of the day," Yates says. "But the humor is just between us; it’s different using humor amongst ourselves and not with our customers."
• Write fake memos: "I started sending out memos when I got into administration," says Helfferich.
"I sent out lighthearted memos, dealing with serious subjects, and people appreciated them," he says. "They’d come into my office and say, Hey, that was a good one.’"
For example, when one principal investigator went on sabbatical leave only to return to his workplace each day during the leave, Helfferich sent him a memo that read: "On your return from sabbatical leave, I presume that we will be seeing less of you then when you were gone."
The investigator came into Helfferich’s office after receiving the memo and said, "You’re right," Helfferich recalls.
In another instance, he mocked the pecking order of educational institutions and researchers with a memo. After one long-term faculty member, who was known for bringing in a lot of research money, requested a corner office, Helfferich sent out a memo making light of office requests.
"It was a complex, one-page memo saying that at a certain time we were going to change offices," he recalls. "And everybody would move into the next-highest office depending on the tens of thousands of dollars of salary and so on."
Helfferich sent it to the director, who was skeptical that it would be wise to make light of office requests, but as soon as people saw the memo, arguments over who would get which office disappeared.
"People saw how ludicrous the situation was," he says.
• Share funny anecdotes: "One of the things we say is to take yourself lightly, but your work seriously," Yates says. "We all work really hard, but use humor to blow off steam."
One way to cut through the intensity of deadline work is to share a humorous incident or item with co-workers, she notes.
For instance, Yates was making travel arrangements one day and came across a hotel that listed its bathtub as one of its amenities. "I’d never seen a bathtub listed as an amenity before, and when we see funny things like that we share them with other employees," Yates says.
Be ridiculous and spontaneous
• Hold ridiculous competitions: As a team-building and stress-relieving technique, some institutions will hold competitions that are more humorous than serious, Helfferich says.
At one institution, staff would compete in stair races once a year, Helfferich recalls. "People would race from the second floor to the eighth floor, and we’d time them and provide rewards," he says.
"We’re more on the spontaneous side here," Yates says. "We’ve been known to race remote control cars around the floor on occasion."
• Play practical jokes: Although practical jokes can backfire, when used gently they also can be great stress-relievers, Yates and Helfferich say.
Sometimes, the jokes can be played on one’s self but for other people’s benefit. For instance, an investigator or administrator who holds a number of degrees that are prominently displayed on his or her office’s wall could add a framed muffler warranty to the wall, Yates suggests.
Or when an employee has returned from vacation, he or she could be greeted with a 4-foot high stack of paper in the in box, Yates says.
Other common pranks might include fastening furniture to the ceiling, or simply adjusting all chairs to be several inches shorter than usual, Helfferich notes. One time, Helfferich and colleagues put a chain-link fence around one co-worker’s desk.
• Encourage fun events: Holding occasional parties, luncheons, special events, and even dressing up on Halloween also are ways to bring humor into the workplace, Helfferich and Yates say.
"One year we were on a deadline on Halloween, and we taped all of the forms we use to transmit proposals all over ourselves," Yates says. "When people asked us what we were, we said, We’re busy.’"
Using humor and involving staff in fun activities to promote teamwork will enhance productivity, Helfferich says.
"It helps to have the administration or someone with decision-making power buy into this and decide that the nose-to-the-grindstone mode ends up with people who are not as productive as those who have a lighthearted moment from time to time," he adds.
To maintain a healthy workplace environment, the old adage about an apple a day might well be changed to a laugh a day. At least thats what two experts on workplace humor say.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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