Laughter, productivity, better work environment

Why laughing more at work is good for you

In some workplace, sharing jokes and laughter is as elusive as the age-old tale of Big Foot, but it’s a well-proven key to unlocking workplace satisfaction and productivity.

There are several reasons why you might be holding yourself back from injecting humor into your workplace. As an employee, you might be afraid of overstepping boundaries, or of not being taken seriously. As a leader, you might worry about not being funny enough, or offending. Whatever the reason, a monotonous and dull working environment sparks nothing but a team of people who are uninspired and bored.

One international survey found that 91% of executives believe a sense of humor is important for career advancement and 84% think people with a good sense of humor do a better job. Another study found that a good sense of humor was one of only two desirable traits in leaders (the other was work ethic).

But even if you’re not in the top job, there are plenty of reasons why laughter could make you more successful at work.

Laughing helps to decrease stress hormones

Laughing has been proven time and time again to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. It helps decrease stress hormones in the body like cortisol and adrenaline. Laughing also makes you inhale large amounts of air, which is great for oxygenating your blood. So, when you LOL (literally!), your body physically and emotionally responds, which helps you to look at your stress from a different perspective. Laughing has been shown to improve depression and fatigue in long-term sufferers, as well as reducing anxiety, and raising optimism and self-esteem.

It could reduce your blood pressure

One of the major side effects of stress is hypertension (high blood pressure) – not good if you want to stay away from heart disease or a stroke. Laughter may just be the best medicine, with studies showing a reduction in blood pressure over a period time from regular belly-clenching laughter.

It’s great for bringing teams together

If you’ve just started a new job or formed a new team, laughter can be a great way to bring everyone together. Humour is a global language – most people find it easier to approach a person who loves a good laugh. People want to work with someone who is positive to be around. Having a sense of humor is a great way to give off those vibes and show you’re approachable.

It fosters a positive working environment

Let’s be honest, if you’re working in a negative environment, you’re going to find it hard to do well at your job. Teams that laugh together at work are proven to have a higher morale and retention rate because employees look forward to coming to work. If you manage a team and can create a culture that welcomes laughter, this will have a direct impact on the team’s output. A team that feels comfortable enough to laugh around each other is much more likely to grow into a successful, high-performing unit.

Laughter boosts creativity

Your body’s natural reaction to laughter is to relax, and when you’re relaxed, it’s much easier to look at a situation from a different, more positive perspective. Because of this, humor is closely linked to creativity and innovation. If your team’s struggling to solve a problem, a funny YouTube video of cats dancing might be just what they need.

11 ways to laugh more

Smile lots: if you’re prone to a tense resting face, set an intention to smile more. Even fake smiling can trick your body into feeling more positive. Try smiling at everyone you walk past. Or you could change your desktop wallpaper to an image that makes you smile every time you look at it.
Organize fun events: work events can be a slippery slope, but there are ways to organize them for maximum laughter. Book in regular events your team can look forward to – but don’t make them mandatory. Scheduled fun is often anything but.
Watercooler chat: if you’re spending too much time at your desk, get up and join your friends for lunch or to grab a coffee in the morning. It’s a great way to add laughter to your day.
Add humor to presentations: due to give a presentation on a dry topic? See if you can add a little humor to your presentation – think funny images or silly spot prizes.
Learn to laugh at yourself: being able to poke fun at yourself occasionally, or when you make a mistake, shows a confidence people find relatable and approachable.
Cat videos: who doesn’t love to laugh at a good cat video?! Get your team to sign out at the end of the day by sending them a funny video.
Quote wall: quote walls are great for injecting random doses of laughter. Assign the job of posting a funny quote to a new team member each week. Put the wall somewhere everyone can see, like in front of the printer or in the cafeteria.
Share what makes you laugh: chances are what you find funny, someone else will too. Share with others something funny you’ve found, respond to a message with a Giphy or leave a funny joke on a colleague’s desk.
Do more of what makes you laugh: have you ever tried not to laugh when someone else is laughing? It’s hard. There’s something infectious about a laugh that immediately makes other people happy. Do more of what makes you laugh and others will follow.
Start a joke jar: regular team meetings can sometimes seem like a drag, so spice them up by implementing something like a joke jar. The sillier the joke, the better. People will laugh at how ridiculous it is.
Laughter yoga: yes, it’s a thing. With the success of laughter study results, laughter yoga has been used as an intervention for all sorts of health issues, from high blood pressure to stress and dementia.

Get your laugh on

In general, the world would be a much better place if we laughed more – tear-inducing, gut-clenching, mouth-wide-open laughing. But depending on your workplace, laughing more might be easier said than done. Do more of what makes you laugh, and find out what makes your colleagues tick. Then find easy and natural ways to inject more laughter into the daily grind. The benefits will not only be good for you and your health but for the health and productivity of your team too.