The benefits of workplace humour (and how to toe the line)

Comedy in the workplace is a double-edged sword. Getting it right can mean the difference between cringe-worthy and praiseworthy.

It was 2014, and the then US secretary of state, John Kerry, was soon to touch down in Sydney.

The media plan had been put together by a fresh-faced Aussie diplomat, David Crisante. When a misplaced camera could obstruct the view from a sniper’s nest, no detail is too small.

A larger than usual team of US diplomats took their coffee with a view of Capital Hill, as Mr Crisante prepared for every eventuality.

But the US’ approach caught the young diplomat off guard.

“They were making jokes about the speed of our bag checks,” said Mr Crisante. It only occurred to him later that when you fly in on Air Force Two, your bags tend to skip security.

Still bright with laughter, the US team casually, but firmly, suggested scrapping the entire media plan.

“The request was made in such a warm and friendly way; it almost didn’t hurt I was throwing away weeks of work,” said Mr Crisante.

This was a turning point for Mr Crisante: “It was the first time I saw [comedy] being used as a tool to obtain an organisational objective.”

Nearly a decade later, Mr Crisante now runs Sydney Comedy School, where he offers comedy workshops to help businesses realise the benefits of humour.

The importance of being humorous

Workplace humour is a double-edged sword. Research cited in the Harvard Business Review shows that while employees admire leaders who use humour effectively, “they have less respect for those who try to be funny and fail”.

Getting this right is all about respecting the difference between telling jokes and being humorous. The first is often cringe-worthy; the second, at its best, is praiseworthy.

“A joke is quite structured. There’s a science behind it, where you’ve got a premise, a set-up, and a punchline”, Mr Crisante said. “Often, a joke is really about you and how funny you are.”

“Humour is the concept of breaking tension. It’s a bit of playfulness, some levity and a degree of storytelling. If you’re [being humorous], you’re indicating to your staff that you value them.”

Building a culture

As a business leader, it can be more important to encourage others to be funny and less about trying to showcase your own prowess.

The Sydney Comedy School’s workshops turn more on the ability of participants to listen and to build off the contributions of others. Building a culture is not easy, and sudden shifts in tone can be jarring.

“Creating a space where everybody can feel comfortable enough to be funny is much more impactful than the leader feeling like they need to be funny and everybody else needs to laugh,” said Mr Crisante.

“It’s almost the other way, that everybody else is being funny and the leader is laughing.”

Cultivating a more humour-friendly workplace is about more than zingers. In an environment where workers feel more comfortable, they are better able to collaborate and more willing to come forward with mistakes.

“It is important to have a team culture that embraces errors and deals with failure without fear of punishment. Humour as well as other interpersonal skills can determine its success,” said Teresa Almeida, research officer in behavioural science at the Inclusion Initiative.

Crossing the line

“Humour is a fantastic tool when you use it appropriately. When you don’t, it can have serious consequences,” said Andrew Tarvin in an article for Fast Company.

In 2021, a survey of 166 giant, large, and medium-sized companies found that they spent an average of $6 million on employee wellness programs.

Almost every day, articles and new research are published on the importance of workplace culture in employee mental health. In this context, taking the kinds of risks that comedy may entail is a difficult pitch.

Mr Tarvin said comedy in the workplace, when misused, can “distract, divide, and disparage” certain employees.

While going too far is a real risk, Mr Crisante is of the opinion that, most of the time, we know where the line is.

“From the age of five, we’re practising self-censoring,” Mr Crisante said. “By the time we’re in the workforce, we’re very, very effective at self-censoring.”

According to Mr Crisante, being funny requires freeing ourselves up to improvise. This involves switching to auto-pilot, where we can leave the censoring to instincts.

“We should learn to trust ourselves. Even when people are speaking ad-lib, they’re using that [self-censoring] skill because they’re so deeply experienced in it,” he said.

Know your audience

Effective use of humour requires a keen understanding of relationship dynamics among employees.

According to Ms Almeida, “if there is a positive relationship, humour, regardless of type, enhances job satisfaction. However, if the relationship is negative, humour won’t fix it.”

Indeed, sarcasm, when used indelicately, can “lead to higher perceived conflict,” while self-deprecation can either strengthen relationships or “diminish the credibility of the joker”.

Making the effort

Most encouraging of all, in promoting workplace humour, you don’t even need to be funny.

“Humour does not have to be particularly good to trigger positive emotions and cooperation,” said Ms Almeida.

This idea is echoed in the workshops run by the Sydney Comedy School.

“We don’t care about people being funnier,” said Mr Crisante. “I mean, great if they are, but what we’re really trying to do is link them with soft skills that will make them a better version of themselves.”

Delegating the funny

For business leaders, Mr Crisante emphasised that they do not need to have the solution.

“They simply need to focus on listening and making it about their team. As the team does better, the team leader is naturally going to look better,” he said.

Comedy in the workplace isn’t about having the best “tight-five”. It’s about demonstrating your willingness to make the effort.

“It’s impossible to [be humorous] without demonstrating who you are, how you think, what’s your perspective on things,” said Mr Crisante.

“By doing that as a leader, you’re giving away information about yourself and demonstrating that you respect your staff enough to show them who you are, and therefore you’ll learn a bit about them.”

For more on Mr Crisante’s work, click here.

Nick Wilson

Nick Wilson is a journalist with HR Leader. With a background in environmental law and communications consultancy, Nick has a passion for language and fact-driven storytelling.