The best thing in life has to be laughter and happiness, it costs nothing to be pleasant to people and it is very much appreciated.
I remember travelling to Edinburgh from Newcastle last year on the train to see the Rolling Stones at Murrayfield. The carriages were rammed, and the helpful conductor said ‘so sorry for the squash, we seem to have Ed Sheeran in Newcastle, the Rolling Stones in Edinburgh and Beyoncé in Glasgow. If they had let us know they were coming, we could have put more trains on!’. I am sure they did know but this spot of humour in a particular situation diffused the atmosphere, and you had to laugh!
Laughter is an excellent tonic for us all (forget all those other taxable support mechanisms) and just might be the most contagious of all emotional experiences.
Again, on a tram to Murrayfield for a Six Nations match you could not breathe it was so squashed, and someone got on waving his ticket saying, ‘Ahem seat L32 seems to be mine!’ We all told him to get lost, and once again everyone laughed.
I hope that our Rugby Union visitors to Newcastle and St James’s Park had an equally good time when they invested their whole weekend and travel and accommodation costs to ‘come and see us’ and enjoy the Heineken European Champions and Challenge Cup games. I know the play on the field will have been hugely entertaining and hope the weekend experience offered by our local businesses and hostelries left a positive impact with visitors wanting to come back again rather than saying ‘no you must be having a laugh.’ Once again big congratulations to the teams that worked together to bring this prestigious event to our city.
It’s fun to share a good laugh, it’s like a strong medicine and draws people instantly together. All the benefits of laughter also benefit business and the freedom to laughter seems not just right, but necessary at work.
So, I’ve experienced first-hand that tasteful humour can help companies stand out from the pack and if used correctly it can be an effective way to expand their customer experience. It’s a humancentred value, and it’s one every company should pay attention to as it really is vital to a healthy culture. It’s a value that if used wisely people, both employees and customers, can actually feel the tangible difference and it contributes to our overall health and wellbeing.
If you’re a champion of harnessing the power of people within your organisation, we can definitely recommend the People Power Event happening on 12 June at Northumbria University.
It is a unique event which will be jam-packed full of thought-provoking keynote sessions, seminars, practical workshops, live demonstrations, 1-2- 1 advice and coaching sessions. As its name suggests, it is focussed totally on a range of crucial employer issues such as health & wellbeing, internal communications, use of technology, staff recruitment and retention, absenteeism, training and skills development, apprenticeships, work/life balance, effective management, resilience and agile working.
As Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “A sense of humour is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.” Humour also fuels innovation and ideas too as ha + ha will often lead to aha! So, why not come and share some laughter and learning with us on the 12 June?