August 1997 // Volume 35 // Number 4 // Ideas at Work // 4IAW3
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Jest for the Health of It . . . Laughaerobics
Abstract
There's a growing body of scientific evidence showing that humor and laughter benefit health in measurable ways. Studies indicate that preschool children in the United States laugh over 400 times a day while the average American adult laughs only 15 times a day. "Jest for the Health of It . . . Laughaerobics" teaches seminar participants techniques to lighten-up and laugh-a-lot. It's time to rid yourself of that odd disease, Terminal Professionalism, the prevalent idea that silliness precludes seriousness or that humor is unprofessional. Learn to live longer through laughter. . .Jest for the Health of It!
Humor has been defined as that which amuses us, makes us laugh and smile. Humor gives us the ability to see the absurdity in our greatest fears. Studies indicate that preschool children in the United States laugh over 400 times a day while the average American adult laughs only 15 times a day.
Humor in the workplace? You don't have to be a comedian to use humor in the workplace. Nor do you have to wear a clown suit and throw pies to attract attention. Yet you may be surprised to know that it's really quite easy to affect your organizational culture through humor. Many researchers view humor in the workplace both as a way to lighten up and more importantly, a way to find solutions to complex problems. Humor can represent the ideal tool to humanize the workplace, or in other words, "to humorize is to humanize".
We're not talking about hiring a troupe of strolling comedians for your next annual conference, peppering your next annual report with one-liners, or exchanging jokes with other employees around the coffee pot. The goal isn't to be hilarious, but to communicate that your organization possess a sense of humor.
A recent study conducted by Robert Half International surveyed vice presidents and personnel directors at 100 of America's largest corporations. The results revealed that 84% thought employees with a sense of humor do a better job than people with little or no sense of humor.
According to the pioneering research of Abramis (1992), he studied 923 working adults in a wide variety of occupations and organizations. An extensive questionnaire was given to 678 of these people, and 347 were interviewed at length regarding humor in work. People who expressed more positive humor at work had higher mental health, job satisfaction, and job involvement. Similar research results found in his article "Fun at Work: Beyond Job Satisfaction," revealed that people who laugh more at work are less anxious, less depressed, and more satisfied with their jobs and with their lives in general.
Abramis identified six reasons that fun can improve work quality and mental health. They are: (a) Fun breaks up boredom and fatigue; (b) Fun fulfills human social needs; (c) Fun increases creativity and willingness to help; (d) Fun fulfills needs for mastery and control; (e) Fun improves communication; and (f) Fun breaks up conflict and tension.
"Jest for The Health of It...Laughaerobics" is a program designed to help participants learn to enhance their humor skills while increasing, both creativity and productivity. The program develops the ability to see the absurdity in many difficult situations and the ability to take oneself lightly while taking our work seriously. The program expands skills to strengthen personal and professional development by learning to lighten up and laugh a lot.
When experiencing the Laughaerobics program, participants develop the ability to take themselves lightly while taking their work seriously through a Laughaerobics First Aid Kit. By tailoring the contents of the kit to target audiences, participants are challenged to discover and apply "funraisers" in both the workplace and at home. The program has reached over 500 people which have included extension and business professionals, homemakers, administrative support staff, educators, civic groups and older 4-H youth.
Over thirty items are included in the kit. A sampling of the items are:
Here are a few "funraiser" ideas for enhancing humor in the Extension workplace: create humorous office memos; use post-its with humorous sayings; set up an office bulletin board where employees contribute work-related cartoons, funny signs, anecdotes, and sayings; create your own humor file of suitable material for speeches, presentations, newsletters, etc.; create a section in your newsletter devoted to laughter; use creative and/or humorous quotes to lighten up your e-mail, voice mail, or fax messages; keep humor books, games and toys on your desk when you need a mental health break; and start a humor journal reflecting thoughts such as, "You Know You Are In Extension When ...".
Using humor is not without its' pitfalls. There are risks involved. Humor is hard work. There are two requirements: use good judgement and a sense of decency. Each individual must know where to draw the line between positive and negative humor and realize it may not be appropriate for all situations.
Laughter is and can be an effective and fun way to "reach out and touch someone," to boost morale at work, and to communicate serious messages with a light touch. It's time to rid yourself of that odd disease, Terminal Professionalism, the prevalent idea that silliness precludes seriousness, or that humor is unprofessional. Learn to live longer through laughter... Jest for the Health of It!
References
Abramis, D. (1992). Fun at work: Beyond job