Why this matters
Humour has immense unifying power. We see a huge correlation between the presence of humour in a team and not only their engagement indicators but more importantly, their resilience.
The mechanisms of pleasure and motivation are a lot more complicated than we should explore here but suffice it to say the dopamine hit we get from something that’s funny is not applicable to our own self only but to the team as well, and enough of it will reduce our stress hormones and increase the serotonin and endorphins (the happy ones).
And better yet, a positive mood has been proven to be contagious. When we share laughter we solidify both the foundation of trust of the team and we strengthen the habit of being courageous as we now have faith it will land well and we don’t impression manage for fear of appearing in a negative light.
How to run it
- 1
Each team member to prepare with a link or image from one of these categories:
- Jokes
- Memes
- Online Videos
- Titles of Comedy Shows
- 2
The facilitator to prepare a virtual board where everyone can post their image or link and take turns explaining;
- 3
Make sure you create the space to let each other react (min 5 seconds after punchline) - research “comedic timing” for more tips;
- 4
Agree on a theme for another Humour Workshop - i.e. “Most politically incorrect/dark humour ones!” or “Jokes about corporations”, “Quaranmemes” etc. Make sure you give people enough time to brainstorm before offering any suggestions.
What next
Make it a point to do the next Themed Humour Hackathon
Related resources
- How we laughed (article)
- How to organise a humour workshop (video)