Alex Trebek, the long time host of the TV show Jeopardy, passed away this morning. This post is dedicated to him. He is one of my heroes who showed great sense of humor in his work. I have titled this post like a Jeopardy answer which is in the form of a question. This article is going to be biased toward professional sense of humor (so that it can published on LinkedIn), but of course it is applicable elsewhere too. In an earlier article I discussed humor scene in the workplace but this article is different. As a starting point let us set the stage by first defining sense of humor and then connect it to the workplace.
The Oxford Languages’ definition of “sense of humor” is the ability to perceive humor or appreciate a joke. So it does differentiate sense of humor from being funny, comical or humorous. But they go together and it is hard to have one without the other. Imagine a situation where you are saying jokes and no one would be laughing, or there are no jokes to display a sense of humor. I have a personal anecdote regarding that. A couple of decades ago when I taught my first course in the US, none of the students laughed for things I said. The main reason was the style of humor was different across the cultures. After working a little bit, now students at least pretend to laugh. But, a couple of years ago when I went to India and gave a seminar, nobody laughed at my jokes there!
When it comes to the workplace, a culture that welcomes and supports sense of humor is wonderful. In fact, sense of humor is the antithesis of stress. There have been numerous studies that have shown that good mood results in high productivity. Any workplace would like high productivity, and humor can put people in a good mood. It is also well established that people are more creative and motivated to be at work in a happy place. But in my opinion very little has been done to cultivate humor in the workplace. Actually it is not just my opinion, but Andrew Tarvin talks about it in multiple TED talks (check this out). He shows that everyone can use humor. Do view his other talks as well, it is likely that YouTube will suggest anyway.
There is another aspect of sense of humor — it is not just about getting the jokes and laughing. It is about not taking yourself so seriously. The ability to see the lighter side of things is also considered as having a sense of humor. In particular, if we are able to laugh at situations, rather then get all worked up, it would be considered having a sense of humor. A workplace that has humor is surely a collegial one. I have personally had the fortune of working in offices where everyone jokes around. But it is mostly within a group where we know each other, or more often we are all part of a team. However, I observed very little humor culture building from leadership higher up in the organization. Nonetheless, it may be good enough to have teams that embrace humor.
Here are some ways to develop a culture of humor in your workplace:
Seize opportunities to bond over humor
The easiest way to incorporate sense of humor is to joke with each other when something else is going on. For example, when someone is speaking and you are listening to them as a group, have a safe space such as a WhatsApp group to find things to laugh about. In particular, in Zoom-like meetings the chat room feature is an excellent way to bring topic-relevant levity, of course, if done tastefully. With working remotely this has truly emerged but it is much harder in face-to-face events such as when a seminar speaker is talking.
Be intentional about incorporating humor in meetings
While meeting as a group, we can try and add some humor to make the meetings more fun. In the beginning one person would take responsibility, usually the one already in a good mood. Later once it becomes part of the culture, you do not have to even think about it. It would also help to remind to bring sense of humor to the meeting by stating in the reminder email and also on the agenda at the beginning. Oftentimes, when the first person says something funny, another person chimes in later, and it continues.
Establish humor as a criteria in evaluations
Maybe there are organizations that have this already but I do not think it is widespread enough. It would be good to gage the sense of humor in the organization through surveys. But even better would be to ask it explicitly in annual evaluations. Measuring the sense of humor in the workplace can indicate job satisfaction and productivity. I understand if some of you are thinking that measuring this new sense would be quite a nuisance!