“幽默可以促进信任、缓解紧张和塑造团队的凝聚力，” Anthony Pescosolido说道，他是新罕布什尔大学一名管理与组织行为学教授。他在研究中发现，有效的幽默感会提供一种“心理上的安全感”，有助于我们管理自己的情绪，让团队成员更乐于接受挑战性的目标。幽默也可以提高注意力和说服力。对一名管理者而言，幽默可以打破权利结构，并在人与人之间建立联系，实现组织中的人人平等。
当然，所有这些都是幽默的好处。Sultanoff说这是一种“移情幽默”，它的出发点是好的，它源于对一个人或一种情境的恻隐之心，让人感到很舒服。相反，“敌意的幽默”会降低工作效率和幸福感。这种怀有敌意的幽默消极地针对一个人的错误或性格缺陷。有些人可能用它显示自己的优越感，把它作为一种被动的侵略或惩罚。比如，当你在一场会议中迟到时，老板说，“它连自己出生那天都会迟到”，Sultanoff说道。这种幽默会让人退缩，感受到的更多是羞辱而不是激励，其他人也会因此尽量回避你。
此外，Sultanoff说具有潜在冒犯意义的幽默——也许你是种族主义者、性别歧视者、年龄歧视者或触碰到另外一种文化的敏感处——这些都可能会破坏你的名声以及在职场上的人际关系。“甚至即使有些人本身没有被冒犯，但他可能因为你违反了某种规则而感到自己也被冒犯，”他说。
在科迪的公司里，员工们对监督超过界线的幽默反应很快。不久前，一位新来的男性前台在给露天垒球比赛回复邮件时，给全公司人都发了一封。邮件内容是“我期待看美女们穿着淋湿的T恤”。很快地，所有同事无论男女，都告诉他这种话在公司不太适合，也不受欢迎，科迪说道。
但是，即使这么擅长“低风险”幽默的人，也应该小心幽默的杀伤力。“过度依赖幽默容易让人感到这个员工不够‘严肃’，特别是当一个人使用自贬式幽默时，” Pescosolido说。众所周知的“班级小丑”可能被认为会拖整个团队的后腿。
尽管使用幽默可能会导致失败，但有些公司还是赌了一把。“幽默和好玩就写在西南航空、Google和Ben & Jerry’s的企业愿景里，” Sultanoff说道。“你在很多地方可以发现它们的小册子，那上面就写着这些。但是我认为公司还是应该再考虑一下这种做法。”他指出，只有15%的人是因为不能胜任工作被炒掉的——而另外85%的人则是因为无法与同事处好关系被炒的。如果用得好的话，幽默确实可以给你的人际关系带来帮助，减少人员流动，提供工作效率。这不是开玩笑的。
“Humor can serve to facilitate trust, ease tension and establish a sense of group cohesion,” says Anthony Pescosolido, a management and organizational behavior professor at the University of New Hampshire. In his research, he found that effective humor provides a sense of “psychological safety” that helps manage emotions and makes group members more willing to accept challenging goals. Using humor also increases attentiveness and persuasiveness. For a leader, it helps you relate by breaking down power structures and equalizing people in the organization.
Of course, all of this is true for humor that works. Sultanoff says it’s the “empathic humor,” which has a positive intent and arises out of your compassion for a person or situation, that serves people well. Conversely, “hostile humor” undermines productivity and wellbeing. It negatively targets an individual for a misdeed or character flaw. Someone may use it to show their superiority, as a form of passive aggressiveness or as punishment. It’s when you’re late to a meeting, and the boss says, “He’d be late to his own birth,” notes Sultanoff. It causes people to withdraw, feel more irritated and less motivated, and actively avoid others.
Moreover, Sultanoff says potentially offensive humor—anything that may be construed as racist, sexist, ageist or hits upon another cultural sensitivity—could damage your reputation and professional relationships. “Even if someone isn’t offended by it themselves, they might be offended that it’s against the rules,” he says.
At Cody’s Peppercom, employees are quick to police attempts at humor that cross the line. Not long ago, a new male receptionist sent a company-wide email responding to their rained-out softball game. “I was looking forward to seeing the ladies in wet T-shirts,” he wrote. Immediately, both male and female coworkers told him that such comments were inappropriate and unwelcome, says Cody.
But even those skilled at “low-risk” humor should be wary of overkill. “Over-reliance on humor often leads to a sense that this individual is not a ‘serious’ worker, particularly if one tends to use self-deprecating humor,” says Pescosolido. The proverbial “class clown” may be considered a distraction and a barrier to group performance.
Despite the avenues for failure, some companies are betting on humor’s benefits. “Humor and play are in the corporate mission statements of Southwest Airlines, Google and Ben & Jerry’s,” Sultanoff says. “At most places, you won’t read it in the manual, but I think companies should be thinking about it.” He notes that only 15% of people are fired for incompetence—the other 85% are fired for not getting along with others. Used effectively, humor helps people get along, decreases turnover and increases productivity. And that’s no joke.
