INTHEBLACK May 2022 - Magazine - Page 46
F E AT U R E
// H U M O U R AT W O R K
“People associate you with
having a good time, and
they’re happy to see you
again. People will do more
things for you if you build that
rapport. It’s those soft skills
that accountants need now.”
WHAT’S YOUR
HUMOUR STYLE?
Everyone has their own
style of humour. Knowing
yours can help you use it
more adeptly and
authentically, as well as
build empathy for those
whose humour style is
different from yours.
Stand-up – Natural
entertainers who aren’t
afraid to ruffle a few
feathers to get a laugh.
Sniper – Edgy, sarcastic,
nuanced and unafraid to
cross lines in pursuit of a
laugh.
Sweetheart – Earnest and
honest, avoiding humour
that might risk hurting
feelings.
Magnet – Keeps things
positive, warm and
uplifting, avoiding
controversial or upsetting
humour while radiating
charisma.
Source: Humour, Seriously
46 ITB May 2022
ALAN CAMERON-SWEENEY,
SPEAKER AND EDUCATOR
barriers. “As soon as you meet up, there’s always
a comment about something to have a laugh,” he
says. “If nobody does it, you don’t build that social
bond with the team.”
This strategy is backed by research. A James
Cook University study has found banter helps
men better support each other and achieve their
goals, while research from Australian National
University shows that humour can reduce the
impact of workplace aggression and increases
productivity.
“Leaders with a good sense of humour are seen
as 27 per cent more motivating,” Bagdonas adds.
“Their teams are more bonded and creative”, while
customers are willing to pay up to 20 per cent
more when a salesperson ends their pitch on a
light-hearted or funny note.
HOW TO USE HUMOUR IN THE WORKPLACE
One need not be particularly witty to reap the
positive effects of humour in the workplace, and
anyone can learn the basics.
“Humour is a teachable skill,” says Bagdonas,
and she should know – together with Aaker, she
presents a class on how leaders can use humour in
business at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.
Humour is frequently misunderstood,
tricky to define and slightly mysterious. For
example, amusement doesn’t always generate
laughter, while not all laughter indicates hilarity.
Importantly in the business context, what is
considered funny can vary from person to person
and culture to culture.
A key insight of Bagdonas’s and Aaker’s
work is that using humour well is as simple as
changing some of our engrained behaviours.
The competitive nature of business, and our
busyness, tends to make a lot of our behaviour
transactional. Small shifts in our behaviour can
bring out our humanity – and thereby humour –
into the job.
One small but effective example is tweaking
how we sign off our emails. Instead of “Best
wishes” or “Kind regards” they suggest “Yours,
heavily caffeinated” when you’ve been up all
night working on a presentation, or “Let’s never
speak of this again” when completing a long or
challenging project.
“Don’t look for what’s funny – just notice
what’s true,” Bagdonas suggests. “This is about
more than telling jokes. It’s about looking at the
world in a different way.