5 ways laughter can improve Finance

It’s time for the end of the year crunch, and that means stress levels in Finance are high. What better time to start cracking some jokes? 

In addition to being good for your health – it stimulates organs, soothes tension and can improve your immune system – laughter can be good for business. It lowers stress and improves your mood, both of which lead to greater productivity.

Like most things, the key to using humor at work is moderation. Too much joking around can obviously be distracting and get employees off task. A payroll department that’s constantly sending joke emails would definitely be a problem. But using humor effectively at work can not only lead to happy finance staffers, it can lead to a more effective department.

‘Tis the season to be joyful

Here are five good reasons to lighten up and laugh at work, according to Inc.com:

1. It gets people energized. You know the scene: Finance has been working long and hard on hammering out the new budget. Your employees are starting to look tired and listless. It may be the perfect time to take a five minute break and watch a safe-for-work funny video on YouTube. It’ll wake up your staffers and put them in a better mood.
2. It provides perspective. Say someone from Accounting messed up. While talking through what happened and how to make sure it doesn’t happen again, feel free to lighten the mood a bit. Make a small joke about a worse-case scenario. Discretion is key here: You don’t want to let the staffer completely off the hook, but you still want to let them know it wasn’t the worst that could happen.
3. It creates lasting memories. Quick: Think of something funny that happened to you as a kid. Chances are, you can remember it like it was yesterday. That’s because laughter triggers endorphins, which help lock in memories. Keep that in mind when going over the updated invoice method with the A/R department. If you can get them to giggle, there’s a better chance they’ll remember the new procedure.
4. It livens things up. No one wants to work for the Grinch. Employees tend to prefer a more upbeat environment. And happy employees mean better engagement and productivity. You don’t have to be a natural-born comedian. Just have a sense of humor.
5. It helps to build a community. Sharing jokes together helps create a feeling of bonding, which can lead to more collaboration and better job satisfaction. Plus, employees that are happy at work are less likely to leave.