This book discusses boundaries for organizational humour as well as the jokers and jesters that enliven modern workplaces. It has long been accepted that humour and tragedy can occupy the same space and that is eloquently demonstrated in this book. Using ethnographic research techniques, a selection of stories, ruminations, cartoons, and narratives of events is combined with theoretical conceptions of humour and fun to create a comprehensive analysis of the good, the bad, and the downright ugly in organizational humour.

This book is the first-ever authoritative work on the use and management of humor in the workplace. It is a practical guide for everyone involved: the humorists (‘jokers’), the targets (sometimes ‘victims’), the observers (‘audience’) and most of all the managers who have to ‘set the tone’ and encourage, control and manage humor. Humor is part and parcel of every workplace. However, while it usually demonstrates and fosters a united, happy workforce, it can at times be deeply damaging and divisive. The authors – academics with vast organizational experience and a research-based understanding of humor at work – bring together state-of-the art knowledge of the topic, making it fun, accessible and readable for all humor participants. The topics include how humor works, humor cultures in organizations, the many forms of workplace humor and their pros and cons, humor rituals at work, digital humor, workplace jokers, the 21st century issue of ‘political correctness’, and both the ‘bright side’ of humor (assisting positive cultures, making work ‘fun’), and its ‘dark side’ (where humor offends and humiliates). With over 60 ‘real life’ illustrative stories of workplace humor, a self-completion questionnaire to measure the Humor Climate in your organization, end-of-chapter ‘takeaways’ and an end-of-book summary advocating ‘best practice’, the book is a ‘fun’, how-to-do-it guide that will both inform and entertain.

Accessible and amusing in style, Humour, Work and Organization explores the critical, subversive and ambivalent character of humour, work and comedy as it relates to organizations and organized work. It examines the various individual, organizational, social and cultural means through which humour is represented, deployed, developed, used and understood. Considering the relationship between humour and organization in a nuanced and radical way and this book takes the view that humour and comedy are pervasive and highly meaningful aspects of human experience. The richness and complexity of this relationship is examined across three related domains. They are: how humour is constructed, enacted and responded to in organizational settings how organizations and work are represented comedically in various types of popular culture media how humour is used in organizations where there is a more explicit relationship between the comedic and work. An exciting and controversial text, Humour, Work and Organization will appeal to students of all levels as well as anyone interested the full complexities of human interactions in the workplace.

This is the first book to look at the psychological processes that enable humor to affect people and teams in the workplace. It recognizes that humor plays many roles beyond making people feel happier and more productive, and acknowledges humor’s potential darker side as well. Bringing together a small but growing field of study, the book features chapters around core psychological topics such perception, creativity and stress, while also addressing organizational issues such as leadership, teamwork, and social networks. The collection concludes with chapters on the role of humor in recruitment processes, as well as how humor consultants work with organizations. Each chapter in The Psychology of Humor at Work not only provides a comprehensive review of what is known in that area, but also considers future directions for research and practice. It will prove fascinating reading for students, practitioners and researchers in organizational psychology, HRM, and business and management.

This important new book provides a comprehensive analysis of humor from a social-psychological perspective, addressing questions about the use of humor and its effects in daily life. It examines the social psychology of humor on micro-level phenomena, such as attitudes, persuasion, and social perception, as well as exploring its use and effect on macro-level phenomena such as conformity, group processes, cohesion, and intergroup relations. Humor is inherently a social experience, shared among people, essential to nearly every type of interpersonal relationship. In this accessible volume, Strick and Ford review current research and new theoretical advancements to identify pressing open questions and propose new directions for future research in the social psychology of humor. The book explores fascinating topics such as humor in advertising, political satire, and the importance of a sense of humor in maintaining romantic relationships. It also examines how racist or sexist humor can affect personal and intergroup relations, and discusses how to confront inappropriate jokes. Offering new, precise, and operational conceptions of humor in social processes, this book will be essential reading for students and academics in social psychology, media, and communication studies.

Humor can be a powerful management tool. Used properly, it can be extremely effective in gaining attention, creating rapport and facilitating communication. The Power of Humor at the Workplace highlights the benefits of humor in a variety of situations.In today's challenging and changing business environment, humor can provide the winning edge to people at all levels in an organization. Humor--Relieve stress--Promote creativity and out-of-the-box thinking--Enhance relations--Motivate people--Resolve issues--Improve communication--Promote fun at work--Promote teamworkThe author has used jokes and anecdotes to highlight effectively the use and effects of humor at the workplace. The book has step-by-step guidelines on how to make the most of this easy-to-acquire skill in managing both people and relationship.

Using Humor to Maximize Living affirms, sustains, and encourages people in the practice of humor, not only as a personal tool to optimize a healthy life style, but also to maximize the benefits of humor in everyday life. Check out the research that includes a review on the use...

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2,0, University of Trier (Anglistik), course: The Pragmatics of Business Communication, language: English, abstract: This term paper will talk about the different characters or functions of humour with special consideration of workplace situations. This will be including the use of humour to create solidarity contrary to rivalrous humour and repressive vs subversive humour. It will become clear that humour is multifunctional and can work on different levels, which makes defining it difficult. Furthermore it tries to enlighten the linguistic strategies involved. Here the role of power will be looked at. The work shows what humour reveals about power relationships and its use either to enforce or to lessen status differences. The connection between the individual and a group can be defined through humour. How solidarity is achieved will be investigated. Afterwards, it is about the relation between humour and gender being followed by the strategy to create workplace harmony. The issue of how humour contributes to group life, the way it affects social relations will be another point of interest. Last but not least, it tries to show what kind of reactions can be evoked by using humour. It can work as tension releaser, as well as an aggression diffuser. Further possibilities of use are to hedge directives and to hide criticism which can trouble the participants. Especially the trouble of responding correctly to these will be an issue of discussion. The ambivalence of humour can be seen here again, which, once more, makes the problem of defining humour clear.

This book provides a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art on the adaptive and maladaptive functions of humor. Humor is inescapable in our daily interactions - also at the work place. Affiliative, self-enhancing, self-deprecating and aggressive humor can all occur at work and have unique and sometimes ambiguous effects. The volume presents humor research on five important workplace topics: teams, leadership, negotiation, learning, and health. It combines and integrates research from a range of fields, including work and organizational psychology, social psychology, communication, linguistics and sociology. In highlighting research gaps and stating future research questions, the book provides a sufficient starting point for further research on humor in relation to the aforementioned topics. For practitioners, recommendations are provided specific to each area.

It has been calculated that, on average, we spend 115 days of our life laughing. Work is another important component of our lives. On average, Indians sleep for 528 minutes per night and work for 486 minutes per day. That means that we spend 53 per cent of our waking time working.This book takes American President Dwight D. Eisenhower's comment-'a sense of humour is part of the art of leadership'-very seriously-but, of course, with a light touch, scintillating humour and some solid research In offices preoccupied with deadlines and targets, this book considers how workplace humour can accelerate efficiency and productivity-be it by managing stress, solving management problems, negotiating conflicts, or motivating staff. Chock-full with case studies, it proves that humour is one of the foundation stones of effective leadership.