How laughter can boost employee productivity and engagement

Who doesn’t like to laugh?

And, if that laughter is shared among colleagues, it can help boost productivity and engagement, according to Adam Christing, speaker and author of The Laughter Factor: The 5 Humor Tactics to Link, Lift, and Lead.

Christing shared with HR Brew how people pros can encourage more laughter in the workplace.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What will HR pros learn from your book?

Management and leadership is all about trust and connection, and that positive humor is a shortcut to trust. We feel closer working with people where we’re enjoying each other, and laughter is like a bridge that really connects hearts. Times are so challenging, and chaotic, and unpredictable, if we can laugh together, we can get through anything.

Did the book change from when you started writing it to when it was published?

I started off focused more on things that science keeps showing us. That laughter literally physically reduces stress, releases endorphins…But what struck me as I did deeper research was how studies are also showing that it creates cohesion.

One of my five humor tactics is called “in-jokes”...when we create this shared humor about our group and about our people. What surprised me in my research is the link between playfulness and productivity. We feel less judged. We feel more free to fail when we can laugh at ourselves and laugh with our colleagues.

What are your other four humor tactics?

First one is surprise, and I call it “SAD.” You actually want your people to be sad, and by that I mean you want to “surprise and delight” them. Another one is called poke. This is the trickiest of [them]—I also call these the five laugh languages—You want your humor to be sharp enough to pop a balloon, but never to break a heart. And, so the key on poke is really learning if managers and HR leaders can learn the power of self-effacing humor where you really make fun of yourself.

Word play, and that’s for the lovers of dad jokes, and puns, and clever quips, and when you find someone on your team who’s really into that, you can have so much fun…The last one is called amplify, and this is the power of exaggerating stories and situations. A professional comedian might call this ranting…It just becomes dramatic and funny, and so this one applies most to people who are good at telling stories.

How can HR leaders find humor if it doesn’t come naturally to them?

It’s a real misnomer when people say, “I don’t have a sense of humor.” Every human being has a sense of humor. In fact, I put it this way, I say, not only do you have a sense of humor, but a sense of humor has you. The challenge is, when we think of laughter, we think of like the comedian on the Netflix special or the comedy club, and you don’t have to be a professional comedian to tap into your laugh language.

The first thing is to find your funny. Usually, what makes you laugh is a good indication of your own sense of humor. So, if you’re really into dad jokes, it might be that you love word play. If you’re really into receiving a surprise, like if somebody throws you a surprise party or brings you an unexpected gift, chances are that’s also your go-to way of being funny is surprise.

For HR leaders, it’s also key to listen your way into laughter instead of trying to talk your way in. And, by that, I mean notice in meetings, notice in email exchanges, what other people are saying or doing that creates fun and enjoy that. Like, you don’t have to be up there like the life of the party, but if you draw out their humor and their fun side, you’re really more, asa leader, an orchestrator than an entertainer.