There are business benefits to laughter in the showroom. According to Alison Beard’s Harvard Business Review article, Leading With Humor, laughter in the workplace reduces stress and boredom, increases engagement and well-being and spurs not only creativity and collaboration, but also analytical precision and productivity.
A little self-deprecation goes a long way. When you laugh as the receiving end of a joke, your mental load is lightened. According to the Mayo Clinic, when you laugh at yourself it causes your brain to release endorphins and can also stimulate circulation and increase muscle relaxation, both of which help reduce the adverse effects of stress. When you reduce stress in the workplace, you increase productivity and lower absenteeism. Remember though that not all humor is productive. Off-color jokes can be a turn off and a potential liability for the company. Good clean jokes that don’t demean anyone are good for business. Harvard Medical School professor Carl Marci claims, “Laugher is a social signal among humans. It’s like a punctuation mark.”
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