Humor For Empathy: Why Keeping Things Light Is As Important As Keeping Them Focused

Leaders add flavor to the workplace with their attitudes. And undoubtedly, humor tastes the sweetest. Even statistically, humor has been proven to be a great tonic in organizations. According to a Robert Half survey, 91% of executives say having a sense of humor helps them advance professionally, while 84% say people with a good sense of humor do better at work.

The combination of humor and work hardly seems groundbreaking.?Especially in a world where employees are stressed out, unsatisfied with their jobs, and are constantly stressed, humor is a powerful tool for boosting morale, increasing engagement, and making work a lot more fun. In fact, the best anecdotes are often found by using humor in the midst of the issues and shortcomings that plague too many workplaces.

What Does Humor Mean at Work?

Leaders may mistake humor for comedy. However, it goes beyond comedy. Typically, humor is defined as anything funny, absurd, or incongruous that causes amusement.

To use humor in the workplace, it's best to make it positive and inclusive. Even though satire and sarcasm are often hilarious, they rarely lead to positive change. If you want to use humor correctly, look at it as a fun and practical way of getting things done.

Think about how you would feel if whatever you said appeared on the front page of a newspaper. That's the easiest way to check whether or not your humor is appropriate for the workplace. Would you want your co-workers, teams, juniors, or seniors to read about it at work? If yes, you may do so. Otherwise, you might want to avoid it.

So, how can humor be added to the work culture?

Ways to Add Humor at Work

You don't need to be a comedy guru to bring humor into the workplace. How can a leader use his or her humor skills to their advantage?

Discover your team in a fun way

Getting to know your employees as individuals and not just the resources you assign work to is vital for leaders. To do this, it's essential to talk more with them. A good example might be having a chit-chat in an elevator or starting each meeting with an open-ended question. Further, small talk plays a significant role in building relationships at work. Rather than asking a general question like, “how was your weekend?” try adding a small twist: “what did you enjoy the most about your weekend?”. This will improve the conversation and allow you to build stronger relationships with your team.

Bring your employees together with games

Regardless of your leadership level, you still have to carry out some tasks. Whether you're sending out emails, delivering a presentation, or following up with people. By turning your task list into a game you can make it more fun. Incorporate things like points, rewards, and competition into games between you and your team to add humor.

Communicate humorously

A positive attitude can turn failure into an asset. For example, if your sales team missed its quota this quarter, start with something like, "Our sales were below the target. Next time, if we fall further short, I will not be able to get into my car.” This way, you didn't ignore the problem, but rather shifted the focus to moving forward.

Employees will remember a leader who makes them laugh. When you inject humor into your leadership style, this is how your employees perceive you:

High emotional intelligence is reflected in humor

Humorous leaders leave an impression of confidence and emotional intelligence on their teams. They demonstrate their ability to manage and keep their teams happy. With humor as part of their leading skills, leaders assure their teams that they are confident, in control, and have the power to handle stressful situations at the work in a relaxed manner.

One who understands the values of a group

Humor helps leaders cultivate an understanding of group norms and values. People's sense of what is funny changes over time, depending on their environment and friends. With humor, you can perceive a group's norms, values, freedom of expression, and what people find to be acceptable today. This way, your team will see you as someone who strives to form a strong relationship with their employees.

Leaders set the tone of the workplace. It is likely that some of your team members will hold back for fear of offending you. So, making sure others don't forget to have fun is an important part of your role. A sense of humor and a healthy approach to fun can exist between leaders and employees. And like most initiatives in the workplace, this too starts from the top.?