Tag: humor

There’s always one office joker, isn’t there? The person who can reliably stump up a pun like “I got a career through learning lock picking. It’s opened up so many doors…” when you need a pick-me-up on a humdrum work day. But according to a new report from marketing and management academics — experts who study humor in the workplace — you need to be careful if you’re in the habit of being funny at the office. Because it might backfire, and much of the time the effort isn’t worth the payoff.

The researchers, from the Universities of Colorado, Arizona, and Melbourne, Australia, write in Phys.org advising that their research, as well as a “growing body of work by other scholars,” shows that it’s actually much harder to be genuinely funny than people think. And in a workplace setting, the downside of a joke landing badly may be larger than the upside you’d get from telling a real corker. 

One big issue, the researchers point out, is that for a joke to be funny, it has to break certain social rules while simultaneously seeming harmless: jokes that are too lame “get yawns,” but jokes that violate too many rules may end up “triggering outrage.” Landing a joke is hard enough in a comedy club, they note, but in an office environment, the “razor-thin line” between hilarity and upset “becomes even harder to walk,” and what makes one colleague laugh may cross a line for someone else.

All of this makes great common sense, of course. We all know that shifting social norms mean that some jokes thought funny and clean enough for the TV shows of yesteryear can make us cringe today. Meanwhile, the currents of today’s social norms are blowing in some challenging directions at the moment, meaning edgy jokes may be even more out of place. And while dirty jokes can work well among friends in a bar at night, they really don’t belong in the office because they dance right on that “razor-thin line” of distastefulness. 

So what’s the problem with telling jokes at work? 

The report highlights one issue, for example: the difference between women telling jokes and men — simply because women face “harsher backlash than men for behavior seen as offensive or norm-violating,” meaning the impact of trying but failing to be funny may be bigger for women. 

And while some evidence shows funny managers were seen as having more confidence and being more competent, if their jokes flop, then their their status and credibility can take a hit. Worse, bad jokes can make staff lose trust and respect for a manager, harming their ability to give out advice. This may have bigger business impacts than you realize, as a recent report showing how much staff rely on middle-level managers proves. Plus bosses who are known to be jokers can risk pushing their staff into a position where they feel they have to act amused, even if the jokes are reliably bad. This can sap workers’ energy, sour the working atmosphere and even increase burnout.

If this sounds like so much gone-off wine (sour grapes….get it?!) to you, and you feel humor really does have a place in your office, then read on. 

The unfunny team does think humor has an important role to play in business. But it’s more of a backstage part, versus cracking “knock knock” jokes in the spotlight. Comedians often flip the script, the report says, with the audience thinking a shaggy dog story is going to have a certain ending, but then the punchline is a dramatic and funny pivot. Thus while telling jokes may not be worth it in the office, thinking like a comedian may be a valid business habit, the report suggests, because you may end up “reversing assumptions, cooperating to innovate, and creating chasms” which may lead to fresh perspectives, or innovative solutions.

Of course, like many efforts to change company culture, that’s easier said than done. (And what’s easier done than said? Nothing!)