Stress is a Laughing Matter | Humor im Arbeitsalltag: ein amüsantes Interview mit Paul Osincup

Useful Strategies

Can you tell me different strategies (including their use und effects) that reduce the stress level in the business environment?

Before a brainstorming or innovation session, have the team share “something weird that makes them happy”, an embarrassing moment, or a “guilty pleasure.” Teams who did an activity like this prior to problem-solving outperformed other teams in generating 26% more solutions to complex problems.

Each day for one week, write down three things you found funny or amusing. People who wrote three funny things for just one week increased their overall happiness and decreased depressive symptoms for up to six months!

Can you give me some quick wins? Small ideas to weave humor into the office day?

Humor Jar: Keep a jar and slips of paper in a common area at the office like a meeting or break room. When something funny happens, write it down and put it in the jar. Open your jar and relive some of your funniest moments from the month, quarter, or year. This follows positive psychology research that savoring both present and past experiences enhances well-being and helps you notice and look for humor during the day.

Oscars Music Meeting Saver: Have a different person in charge of music each week. During departmental updates, if people go over their alotted time, start playing the music as their cue to wrap up just like during award shows.

Cartoon Caption Contest: Include a blank cartoon at the bottom of the meeting agenda and give a prize for the best caption.

How can humor be learned in a business environment?

Just like  any other work culture initiative, it works best when leadership buys in. Leaders should not simply give their permission for humor, but they should participate in it. Just remember the 4 P’s formula: Permission + Participation = Psychological Psafety. Well, close enough. You get the point.

The more you immerse yourself in humor and practice using it, you train your brain to see it and use it more often, making you hardwired for humor.

Give me an example: you worked with Google, the US Airforce, etc. What are the basic improvements due to your interventions?

A hospital I worked with enhanced their culture from good to great by adding several fun and humor tweaks. They took my concept of Wacky Sock Wednesdays (encouraging people to wear funny socks every Wednesday) and added to it. Each week, all of the wacky sock particpants would start the day with a brief parade around the hospital to music. They also created a recognition program where if an employee was seen going above and beyond with a client, they would receive a new pair of funny socks. This same hospital also added humor to their job descriptions as well as photos and video of their team having fun to their recruiting tables. These were just some of the concepts of humor and fun that helped them hire and retain more staff than they had in the past.