The other day I had the opportunity to hear Gavin Jerome, the Morale Mechanic speak. The invitation stated Gavin’s mission is “to change the workplace one laugh at a time, not just by getting laughs, but by teaching people how to create and share humor with others.” I like a good joke so I thought I would attend. His presentation was humorous, but also enlightening. He championed taking the difficult, stressful situations which you have to deal with and finding some humor in it. Gavin gave nine thoughts which won’t eliminate the stress in our lives or jobs, but may make it more bearable:
1. You always have a choice: you can be positive or negative.
2. Find humor in places people miss it
3. Go with the flow
4. Look for the laughs in your life
5. Laugh at yourself
6. Humor helps manage conflict
7. Humor helps manage change
8. Customer service isn’t magic
9. People like doing business with people who like doing business
Today’s environment–work obligations, family obligations, financial obligations–creates stress which causes disruptions in the work place, including strained co-worker relationships and customer relationships. Since stress cannot be eliminated from our lives, laughter may be the best medicine.
Photo on flickr by Darren Hester