Working with Flow and Laughter

If I enter a workplace and hear no easy conversation or laughter, I become concerned about the organisational culture. Although we may need quiet to concentrate, chit-chat, banter, and the occasional giggle indicate a psychologically safe environment. I wholeheartedly agree with US consultant Ken Blanchard's assessment that a ‘lack of humour in the workplace is no laughing matter’.

Even when they are online, our interactions at work with coworkers, managers, contractors, suppliers, visitors, customers, delivery people, and neighbors provide a rich mosaic of social encounters. These might be the only people we see in a day, so making these interactions as pleasant as possible is a shared obligation. As human animals, we automatically evaluate each encounter in nanoseconds for its value to us emotionally, socially, or practically, so the smallest expression, gesture, or comment can carry a hefty positive or negative charge.

Ripples of energy

Because we sometimes mirror one another’s moods, attitudes, and energy levels, we need to be mindful of both our verbal and non-verbal messaging. A grumpy manager can disrupt the workplace like a sudden storm, sending unpleasant shock waves across the site and provoking a whole range of negative emotions. Conversely, a sunny, upbeat person who emits calm positivity will elicit feelings of trust and goodwill. Only where positive energy is palpable will we hear laughter.

We understand how social and occupational hierarchies shape the psychological climate. A formal hierarchy fosters tension that undermines psychological safety and stifles camaraderie. Flattening the hierarchy and reducing formality can help to promote trust and strengthen relationships. You cannot create a workplace infused with humour, but you can cultivate a climate where it will flourish.

Engaged Leadership

Leaders who spend time experiencing the workplace can better understand and influence it. I was struck by a recent article about the CEO of Edinburgh Trams, who was seen selling tickets to fans travelling to a rugby game. This, it seems, is considered such an unusual thing for a CEO to do that it appeared in the press. Admittedly, it was good PR and demonstrated engaged leadership, but why should it be unusual behaviour?

Creating a good working environment must surely be one of the easier-to-achieve business objectives. Staff and line managers drive most workplace wellbeing initiatives, utilizing a pool of creative energy, insight, and goodwill, until they encounter a barrier of fear, ignorance, or indifference that prevents their proper implementation. Senior leadership's weakness stifles a positive and proactive workforce, resulting in a shameful lost opportunity. Senior management must implement the policies, training, and conditions that underpin workplace wellbeing before employees can truly establish an organisational culture.

Productive Flow

The ancients recognised the value of laughter, singing, and humour at work. They instinctively understood that a leader’s role is to guide, protect, and inspire workers to achieve ‘flow – that pleasurable, absorbing level of productivity.

People in a happily productive workforce care about and look after one another’s wellbeing. They return home after a hard day’s work, tired but content, bringing their moods and feelings home, which in turn profoundly affect those around them. As the UK is pretty low on the World Happiness Index and Scotland has one of the lowest life-expectancies in Western Europe, employers have a role to play in helping us all to improving this.

So, let’s lighten up and get serious about creating safe workplaces where we can be our authentic selves, laugh at our shared humanity, and celebrate our quirky ways of dealing with pressure, understanding that we bring our emotional selves to work, regardless of how poorly or severely our suit is cut.

Key personnel with strong social and emotional intelligence will know how to keep the tone appropriate and healthy, but although good vibes are transmitted by people, job design, workloads and working conditions all play a crucial part.

Prescription free medicine 

Wheeler (2023) asserts that ‘Laughter has been scientifically proven to boost our wellbeing’. It promotes bonding and teamwork, relieves tensions and serves as a pressure outlet. Laughter reduces stress and promotes problem-solving. It fosters empathy and boosts confidence and creativity. Sharing a laugh encourages humility and equality and is a valuable gift for both the giver and the receiver.

Why not invite your team to partake in laughter yoga, a combination of movement and breathing exercises engineered specifically to generate deliberate laughter? It provides an array of rewards, such as mood elevation, stress diminution, enhanced immune response, and increased vigor, making it the perfect tonic for team morale.

This year's International Week of Happiness at Work will take place from September 23 to 27. It serves as a reminder and opportunity to review the factors that contribute to a happy workplace, such as: recognition, trust, autonomy, purpose, connection, flexibility, appreciation, perks, growth opportunities, inclusivity, emotional safety, reward, transparency, being heard and having fun.

So, when you enter your workspace tomorrow, pay attention to the mood. If there is no easy flow of conversation or sound of laughter, you might want to figure out what’s inhibiting it, because, as the international Happiness at Work Manifesto points out, ‘Happiness at work should be the norm, not the exception’.

Written by MHScot Team Member, Sonia Last