The Most Essential Management Tool: A Sense of Humor

Effective management is more than learning how to evaluate an employee, motivate a team, or manage a project to deliver an excellent outcome.  Effective management is maintaining a sense of humor in the face of stress, challenge, and overwork.  It’s about leading by example and showing your team how to stay positive in the face of crisis and burnout.  A sense of humor is the essential management tool in today’s business climate.

How can you develop and maintain a sense of humor?  Start with a smile.  Just putting a smile on your face actually creates feelings of happiness.   Once you are smiling, laughter comes more easily and along with it positive and productive feelings and emotions.

When you’re in the middle of a difficult situation, maintain your sense of humor by taking a step back.  Look at the situation as if you were an outside observer rather than someone directly involved.  See if this change in perspective can highlight some humor.  Finding humor in a stressful situation is crucial to maintaining a positive perspective for your team.

When you maintain a positive outlook and are able to laugh in the midst of difficult situations, your team will often follow your lead.  They will look to you to determine the serious nature of the issue and respond accordingly.  You can actually lessen the impact and encourage positive action and collaboration through your response.

If your team is facing a difficult situation or challenge, consider an outing to one of our public trivia events.  This social time will allow everyone to blow off steam and relax.  TrivWorks specializes in creating positive experiences to encourage collaboration and strong working relationships.  Contact us today and learn how we can elevate everyone’s mood.