Laughter at work is underrated
One of the things I have missed the most when working remotely during the covid-pandemic has been laughter at work. Sure, you’ll find reasons to laugh in Zoom-meetings as well, but the spontaneous moments of laughter between colleagues at work are fewer and farther between.
Laughter is important.
Laughter builds trust and strengthens bonds between individuals. It helps in stressful situations and increases creativity. People solve problems better after laughing. Essentially, laughter signals us that we are in a secure place and it brings the team together.
When people feel very anxious, they stop laughing. If there is no laughter at the workplace, something may be wrong: maybe people don’t trust each other and are not willing to let their guard down.
Obviously, as a leader, you cannot force a team to laugh if it doesn’t want to. But you can do a few things to encourage laughter:
Lower your own guards and be your authentic self. When you are ready to laugh and be vulnerable, it’s easier for others as well.
Bring people to informal gatherings. When people get to know each other, their sense of belonging gets stronger and the amount of laughter increases.
Be open and willing to laugh. Lower the threshold of laughing out loud when you see or hear something amusing
