I saw an article in the news yesterday that I thought would be great to share with you. Here's the link to the article directly and just in case the link gets removed with time, here's the text reprinted below:
A researcher has discovered that positive humour in the workplace can lead to greater job satisfaction.
Psychologist Maren Rawlings from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne surveyed 300 workers from 20 different countries about their use of humour and how they perceived the humour used by their colleagues.
Ms Rawlings says she found a direct correlation between the climate of good humour in a workplace and employee satisfaction.
"If there is a lot of good humour that is shared and supports others...then people are generally well satisfied with what they are doing," she said.
Ms Rawlings says previous research has linked job satisfaction with productivity and her findings contradict the misconception that people who enjoy themselves in the workplace are not as productive.
She says it is important for employers to recognise the role humour plays in keeping workers satisfied.
"If employers take measures to encourage a positive humour climate in the workplace, they are more likely to retain their staff," she said.
"And with an ageing workforce it is vital for companies to keep good people."
Ms Rawlings will present her findings at the Australian Psychological Society's annual conference in Hobart later this month (September 2008).
Source: ABC News Online - 17 September 2008
Here are some coaching questions for your consideration based on this article:
Coaching Exercises
1. How would you describe and evaluate the environment of humour in your workplace?
2. What works well to promote and encourage humour in your workplace? Look for the strengths, good behaviours, supportive cultural strategies, etc which may exist.
3. What is not working so well and therefore is an opportunity for improvement? Again, look for behaviours, strategies (or lack of strategy), challenges, choices, etc.
4. What could be done to overall improve the environment to promote humour? For this question consider strategies that address the previously identified opportunities and also leverages the existing strengths. What would you new Humour Policy for the workplace be if you could create anything you wanted?
5. As a result of these questions and your considered responses to them, what are you committing to?
As always, if you need any further personal support in response to any of these coaching exercises, please consider using the askacoach.com service.
All the best,
Noel
Noel Posus - Master Coach
www.askacoach.com Join our newsletter by clicking here.
Noel Posus is on the Board of Directors and is the Head of Marketing - Asia Pacific for The-ECI - www.europeancoachinginstitute.org
Check out The Inaugural ECI Australasian Coaching Conference - The Future of Coaching: Embracing the Opportunities of the 2010s at http://www.europeancoachinginstitute.org/conference_2008/
November 20-22, 2008 - Sydney Australia
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