Humor at work (or, “So you think you’re funny?”)

Let me start by saying that if I were moonlighting at a job, being a stand-up comic is right up there, along with a sommelier, a food critic, a professional painter, and a travel vlogger.

I love making people laugh! And it’s not just the sharing of a joke, it’s also the production and performance for my court of attentive listeners. I am blessed with the ability to find the same joke funny over and over again, and with my low threshold for laughter, it really does not take much for me to find humor just about anywhere. And anyone who knows me knows I always have a joke (and something to eat) on the ready.

I am undoubtedly the class-clown within my circle of friends, but that is definitely not my personality at work. So when I came across this article about the value — and — dangers of being funny at work, it really caught my eye because I can truly relate. I do joke and laugh at work, but I keep it a bit muted. I have come to understand that humor at work can get serious, even risky.

I have been fortunate to work with companies and teams that embraced humor. Kenexa, in particular, did an exceptional job of making it part of their values and employer brand. “You are allowed to laugh your way through a problem,” was #5 of 10exa (10 values at work). But if your work environment doesn’t explicitly value humor, this article has some great tips on how to do humor safely and even includes a quiz to help you determine your natural humor style.

So, naturally (ha!), I took the quiz.

Not surprisingly, I am most aligned to the stand-up comic. How about you? Have you thought about how you use humor at work? Would love to hear your thoughts.