George Gilbert’s Motivational Humor

I recently spoke at the National ADP convention at the Venetian. One of the questions that came up was, “How do I get a co-worker with no sense of humor to laugh?” Someone in the audience suggested it starts with a smile. They are absolutely correct. Victor Borge once said “A smile is the closest distance between two people.” Before you try and make them laugh, see if you can get them to smile. Start by smiling at them. If they smile back you have made the first step. Second, ask them questions that will trigger a positive response. When my grandfather was in a retirement home my mother would go and visit. She would ask many of the residents, “How are you today?” They would reply, “I don’t feel well” or “My arthritis is acting up.” So my mother changed her questions to something positive, “Don’t you look beautiful today.” They would then smile and respond in a positive way, “Thank you, I just had my hair done.”

So start asking questions that will get a positive response and put that person in a good mood. Once they are answering questions positively it will be easier to inject humor into the conversation. It is also important to remember that everyone has their own sense of humor and what might make you laugh will not seem funny to someone else. Try to find out what the other person’s interests are and then it will be easier to find out what they find funny. When we say someone doesn’t have a sense of humor it usually means they don’t laugh at our jokes or find funny what we find funny, but there are also those who don’t want to laugh. The most important thing to remember is to keep your sense of humor. Don’t let those around you get you down. Just because they don’t want to enjoy life doesn’t mean you don’t have to.

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What makes a company a great company to work for? Is it great health benefits? Is it a good 401k plan? Is it the salary? You can have all of this for your employees and they still may not be happy working for you if you don’t treat them right. If you have the attitude of, “Well you ingrates I pay you enough so do your job and don’t expect to be thanked”, chances are you are going to have disgruntled employees. Fortune Magazine recently came out with their top 100 companies to work for and J.M. Smucker’s was rated number one. The Co-CEO’s Tim and Richard Smuckers live by the code that their father Paul Smucker set for the company, “Listen with your full attention, look for the good in others, have a sense of humor, and say thank you for a job well done.” I think that would make a great mission statement for any company to follow. It’s so simple and yet so effective. Listen to your customers and employees and they will listen to you. Find the positive in others and they will respond. Find the humor in the situations around you. Don’t take yourself so seriously and be sure to show others you appreciate them. Maybe that’s why they say, “With a name like Smuckers, it has to be good.”

“If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play.” -  John Cleese

Creating a fun working environment can lead to more creativity and productivity. When employees enjoy their job and aren’t all stressed out they are more apt to get things done.According to Dr. David Abramis at Cal State Long Beach “people who have fun at work are more creative, more productive, get along better with co-workers and are better decision makers. They also call in sick less often.”

When I worked for a company that didn’t encourage fun, there was more stress in the office, employees didn’t work as a team and I found myself less motivated to get things done. Others called in sick frequently. Getting out of bed in the morning was much more difficult because there was no incentive other than money to go to the office.  

Creating a fun work environment isn’t difficult. It starts with respect. Do you treat your employees with respect? Are you approachable? Do you create an environment where they can approach you with a problem without fear of negative consequences? When employees don’t feel they are respected the motivation to be productive plummets.

Humor and fun on the job don’t have to interfere with productivity. As long as the humor and fun are part of the subject at hand it helps motivate employees. A laugh now and then can help reduce the stress of a major project that gets bogged down, and change perspective. When the team is trying too hard and the mood is tense try lightening it up. Do a David Letterman’s “top ten” list on the project to break up the tension. Encourage the list to be outrageous. Not only will this reduce the stress, but when you look at the list there may be something on there that might inspire a solution to what was creating the tension in the first place.