Podcast

The podcast discusses a study on humor in the workplace and its positive effects on productivity and group cohesiveness. Examples are given on how humor can make work more enjoyable. The importance of incorporating humor in jobs is highlighted, and suggestions are made for employers to screen for humor compatibility and encourage its use at work. The guest speaker also shares her experiences with humor in different jobs and how it can be beneficial. Hi everyone, I'm Ella. And I'm Trent. And in this podcast, we are going to discuss an ongoing study about humor in the workplace. This study can be found in the Journal of Management and is titled, Humor and Work Applications of Joking Behavior to Management, written by W. Jack Duncan, Larry R. Smeltzer, and Terry L. Leap. So to begin, let's talk about the history of humor at work. People have been studying humor for about 2,000 years, including many well-known philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, and Hobbes. Another big name to recognize humor was Shakespeare, through the form of court jesters and buffoons. Even one of America's presidents, President Ford, incorporated humor into his work by hiring a humor consultant. Humor has always been seen as an important part of most people's lives. As a result of two studies, 8% and 1.4% of the subjects rated themselves as having a below-average sense of humor. It's crazy the things people confess before owning up to a lack of humor. Now, I think it's time we give them an actual example of how humor can make work more enjoyable. When I worked at a golf course as a groundskeeper, we were able to make the most out of an unfortunate situation. There were three guys and I, and we were sent out in the middle of a rainstorm to figure out a way to drain the water from a flooded car path. There were woods right next to the car path, so we decided to dig a trench into the woods. That didn't work as well as we thought, so we ended up digging a 4x5 foot hole. We only had two shovels, so we would go as hard as we could for a minute or two, then give it to the other two. It was kind of like a game. But the best and most memorable part of the day was when one guy fell in the hole and became covered in mud. We were laughing for what felt like hours. In the end, even though it was a tough job, we made it fun and got in a lot of good laughs. That's awesome. You were able to use humor in a way that made your work more productive and, I can imagine, more enjoyable. There's actually evidence to prove that humor improves group cohesiveness and it can create a sense of belonging to the group, which in turn leads to positive productivity. The same study also shows that work and play are complementary activities when previously they were seen as distractions that led to less productivity. Many companies actually already do things to promote this in their work environment through things like company parties, retirement dinners, and other get-together events. As this evidence shows, humor can have many positive effects on work. It can reduce boredom, can diffuse and reduce organizational conflict, and makes work enjoyable. According to Jim Harter from Gallup, one reason virtual meetings are less effective than in-person is because being face-to-face speeds up ability to convey empathy, trust, and humor. Now, I would like to introduce our guest. This is Sydney. How are you today? Hi, I'm good. How are you, Ella? I'm great. So now, Sydney, give me some background on yourself and your work experience. I've had four different jobs. I was a bus girl. I scooped ice cream. I worked at a hair salon, and I was a lifeguard. Okay, so how has humor been made apparent in these places you've worked? They were all, in every place, very apparent because all my co-workers I became very close to, and on our breaks and in the back, we would all laugh and have conversations, and it was a lot of fun. Great. So, Sydney, you're here studying management, correct? Yes. Alright, so how do you think you'll use humor in your future career? Well, I think it'll happen very often because with my field of work, I'll be talking to many people. A lot of the time, I won't be working just by myself. I'll be in groups with different people, and I'll be talking to different people, so I think that showing a sense of humor will help me bring light to a situation and also show that I can be comfortable around others. Awesome. Thank you for sharing. After doing some research, relating this to my own experience and hearing an outside perspective, humor should be incorporated in more jobs. To do this, we believe that jobs should do humor screenings to test the compatibility of employees' senses of humor. This way, employers hire and create work groups that align with their humor. We also believe more employers should encourage their employees to use humor at work by both encouraging and testing humor compatibility. Together, we can create more efficient and enjoyable working environments.