Laughing @ Work

They say life is better with laughter, and so are our workplaces.

Few of us (if any) do such serious work, 100% of the time, and don’t have space for a laugh, or two.

Observing, and celebrating, the joy and humour in our everyday environments is good for our wellbeing, and it helps to build relationships in our teams.

And I’m not talking about being, or laughing with, the team’s jokester, nor advocating for a culture that feels like attending a comedy festival.

Instead it is realising that work - like any activity we do with other humans - is a social experience and our need to be our social selves is natural. There are moments at work which trigger our emotions and activate our desire to laugh.

In workplace cultures that don’t support this, we can feel feel the need to suppress this and it disconnects us from our humanity.

In sharing a laugh or three, we are creating positive experiences and memories that bond us when working through challenges and the ‘serious’ work.

Laughing may well be the serious work we need to do in a human-centred workplace, what do you think?

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