Workplace humour: The tickle that can be offensive to others

It is known that humour and laughter can reduce stress and provide many other benefits. And few areas of life are more stressful than the workplace.

Not surprising office humour can be a good stress-reliever, reducing job stress, boosting morale, bringing people closer, and perhaps even warding off burnout.

Unfortunately, it can also alienate people and create a more hostile work environment, even sparking lawsuits, all of which create more stress in the end.

Popular workplace humour includes jokes based on accents, personal hygiene, work behaviour and personal lifestyle.

Causing alarm

While there isn’t a big difference between what men and women find offensive in office humour, women are more likely to be offended at remarks targeting their physical traits, such as weight, scars or cleavage.

Often, office jokes intended to be humorous aren’t received that way. When workers are offended or threatened by jokes, it’s time for the company to step in and curtail the situation, as it then becomes a liability and a problem for morale and productivity.

So what’s behind this delicate balance of offensive vis a vis funny office humour, and how can workers enjoy the stress-relieving benefits of humour and laughter without the damaging effects of offensive jokes?

It seems that it’s not humour itself that’s the problem, but the use of humour to convey messages that are offensive. Employees need to think of the message and ask themselves what the point or underlying message of the joke is.

Are you as an employee using humour to say something that you wouldn’t say to someone without the joke attached?

An employee also needs to know his audience before cracking a joke.

If you’re teasing someone about a physical feature, a scar, you need to know them well enough to know if they are comfortable enough with that feature, or its mention will be hurtful.

Don’t joke about topics that are controversial or painful to someone else, like death, physical disabilities, and sexual harassment or racial inequalities. Just don’t do it.

We need to be careful of politics. While a surprising number of people make political jokes, it’s very important to know your audience, and avoid making political jokes that would offend someone of a different ideology if they’re part of the group.

Finally, if you’re not sure how a joke will be received, it’s best not to tell it. Some people say that society is too "politically correct" or that people offended by certain jokes are "too sensitive", but it’s about respecting the people around you. Nobody wants to be made the butt of jokes, and it’s best to joke about neutral topics.

The use of fun and humour in the workplace must be appropriate when and how it is used.

The humour should not be offensive to the ordinary or reasonable person. Humour is meant to encourage people to see the absurdity in our thought processes, perceptions and behaviours.

It is also a useful tool that can be used to help us lighten up and not take things too seriously. It can also effectively reduce the level and intensity of conflict among employees, if properly used.

Fun at work can even lead to alleviation of the inevitable boredom that arises out of dull, routine, and non-challenging tasks.

The desire to feel good, to change a mood, or even to loosen up a bit, is the reason that many people turn to alcohol or even legal or illegal drugs. However, there is no way that any man-made substance can be as powerful as the endorphins that the body produces for free, without any side-effects.