The Hump Day Humor at Work E-zine
Humor at Work: Happy Customers and Spending Customers!
A recent Consumer Reports survey suggests 64% of Americans have
walked out of a store because of poor service. A study in the
Journal of Service Research found that incivility by customer
service employees is on the rise, and that this is costing
companies dearly. Conversely, a study reported in the Journal
of Marketing Research found that people who feel relaxed spend
far more freely than stressed people. Customers who feel
relaxed tend to focus on the pleasures and benefits of a
purchase rather than stress about the price. So, what is
your organization doing to make sure your customer service
people are making a fabulous first impression? What are you
doing to surprise and reward your customers? What are you
doing to reduce your customers’ stress and make it a fun
experience to do business with you?
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
The energy company Nexen broke a Guinness World’s Record
last week for the “Largest Gathering of People Dressed as
Superman.” 437 Nexen superheroes surpassed the previous
record of 288 supermen held by an Irish athletic club. The
event was not just for fun and games – it was part of Nexen’s
“Be a Superhero” campaign to raise money for the United Way.
But what a great way to kill three birds with one wacky
event: boost morale & raise team spirit; raise money for
a good cause; break a world’s record! So get creative and look
for opportunities to support a charity AND get some great free
publicity by breaking a world’s record!
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Quote of the Week
“Initiative, creativity and passion are gifts. They cannot be
commanded.” Gary Hamel, The Future of Management
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It’s a Wacky World
A survey of HR managers conducted by CareerBuilder.com asked
for memorable gaffes that instantly disqualified candidates:
- One candidate listed her dog as a reference
- One candidates listed “moonwalking” as a “special skill”
- One candidate listed “versatile toes” as a job skill
- Once candidate wrote on his application: “I would be a good
ass for the company.”
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Humor at Work: Fighting a Fear of Creativity and New Ideas
Fear can be a huge stumbling block when it comes to embracing
change or being creative at work. But it can help to identify
what exactly it is you are scared of. There are three common
types of fears associated with trying a new idea:
- Fear of the unknown
- Fear of failure
- Fear of looking stupid
If you are going to foster a fun, innovative workplace, then
address these fears head on. Talk about them openly. What
information will help you and your team reduce the unknowns?
What if you DO fail? Do you have a backup plan? Or, like the
software company Intuit, a system that actually rewards smart
failures to encourage people to try new things? And what can
you do to minimize the fear of anyone feeling stupid? Are
you creating the kind of culture that supports each other’s
ideas, that embraces a sense of self-effacing humor, and that
laughs in the face of new challenges?
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
During breakfast at a conference I spoke at a while back, I
noticed that in addition to the usual serving staff, there
were people in red vests serving coffee to everyone. Turns out
the red-vested folks were new employees and members of the
association taking part in their tradition that got all new
people involved and meeting everyone in a fun, relaxed way. So
create a ritual in your workplace that gets your new employees
engaged with everyone, or consider having the newbies wear
something unique for the first month (perhaps a funny badge)
so everyone knows to make an extra effort to make them feel
welcome.
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Deep Thought of the Week
“A person who smiles in the face of adversity already has a
scapegoat picked out.” Anonymous
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It’s a Wacky World
Today is “Ask a Stupid Question” day. So here are a few more
questions I was asked back in my park ranger days:
- Does your beautiful Canadian flag come in other colors?
- What’s the distance of the three mile hike?
- How long does the three-hour hike take to do?
- How many undiscovered lakes do you have around here?
- How do the elk know to cross at the elk crossing sign?
- How did I get here?
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Humor at Work: You’re HILARIOUS Boss!
“Beware of underlings who laugh at your jokes,” warned four
Star General Schwarzkopf, who went on to note that he became
much funnier with each promotion through the ranks. Sounds like
a Dilbert cartoon. But it raises an interesting thought. We know
that we laugh for many different reasons that go beyond finding
something funny. We laugh in awkward situations to diffuse
tension, we laugh to be included in a group, and we laugh when
we want to suck up to four star generals. So when employees
laugh at inappropriate humor in the workplace, it may not always
be because they found it funny, but because they feel they had
no choice but to laugh. We need to be aware of reading not only
the hidden messages delivered in some punch lines, but also be
sensitive to the sometimes hidden reasons that people laugh.
(There’s also “pity laughter” which is something I occasionally
receive in my presentations. I’m not proud. I’ll take it.)
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
The Saskatchewan Roughriders football team have some of the
most loyal fans you’ll find anywhere in the sports world, so
it’s fitting that they would have some fun with a “Take the
Riders Oath” campaign, where fans can recite, with hand over
heart, an oath to be a loyal fan and to demonstrate rider-fan
appropriate behavior. So try your own take on this. Create a
fun pledge or oath that your fanatical customers can sign
on to. Or create one for your new employees or new team
members to help remind them of your core values in a fun way.
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Quote of the Week
“A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting
along with people, of getting things done.” Dwight D. Eisenhower
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It’s a Wacky World
The winner of the “most creative dish” at the State Fair of Texas
was awarded to a dish featuring fried bubblegum – a marshmallow
dipped in pink batter, fried and topped with blue icing and
Chiclets. (I think a prize should have been awarded to the first
person to eat this dish…)
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Humor at Work: Assess Your Workplace Culture with Unusual Questions
I’m a big fan of asking unusual questions because unusual
questions spark curiosity, promote lateral thinking, generate
interesting conversations, lively debates and, most importantly,
often lead to creative ideas and perspectives.
Here are a few of my favorite questions that I think teams
should take time to discuss about their workplace:
- If your workplace was a reality TV show, what would it be
called and why?
- If you were the “Big Kahuna” for a day, what one rule or policy
would you change, add or delete?
- If your workplace culture could be summed up on a t-shirt
slogan, what would that slogan be?
- How does your workplace compare to the workplace being
described in your help wanted ads?
- What question do we need to ask everyone that we’re not asking?
- What legacy do we, as a team, want to leave behind?
- Are we having fun yet? (You knew I had to toss that one in)
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
Companies such as Google and 3M are famous for allocating a
certain amount of their employees’ time to allow them to
innovate, experiment or learn a new skill that they are
passionate about. In the case of Google, some employees get up
to 20% of their time to pursue a pet project of their own
choosing. If you can’t set aside that much time, try what
the Columbia Credit Union in Vancouver, Washington does, and at
least set aside one scheduled hour per week for employees to
learn a new skill of interest to them.
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Quote of the Week
“I learned early on you could influence people with a smile and enthusiasm.” Ray Croc, founder of Macdonald’s
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It’s a Wacky World
Arr mateys, next Monday, September 19th is the day I know you’ve
been waiting for all year: International Talk Like a Pirate Day!
Remember: to err is human, but to arr is pirate!
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Humor at Work: Add Some Irish Charm to Your Customer Service
Humor at Work, September 7, 2011 Issue 403
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I’m just back from Ireland, where I have to say, my wife and I
enjoyed the most phenomenal hospitality we’ve ever experienced
anywhere in our travels. Of course the Irish are renowned for
their sense of humor, which was plain to see everywhere we
traveled, from the humorous business signs (such as the one on a
women’s dress shop, “Sorry Men, We’re Open!”)to the jovial
bartenders and guides who kept us laughing. But beyond that, I
was reminded time and time again in Ireland of the importance of
charm in business. The inns, restaurants and shops that most
impressed us did so by charming the socks of us. So much so,
that it occurred to me that the elusive quality known as charm
could and should be seen as a huge competitive advantage,
especially for smaller businesses and operators. Charm, we soon
discovered, often helped us overlook the odd service lapse or
other minor faults that a customer might not put up with in a
larger, soulless business. We all know individuals in our lives
who amass goodwill capital simply because they’re so darned
charming. The same principle applies to business. So look for
opportunities to charm the socks off of your customers.
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
Yes, I kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland, a time-honored
tradition wherein kissing the stone atop the Blarney Castle
supposedly infuses the kisser with the power of eloquence.
So as a speaker, I of course not only kissed the Blarney
Stone, I, well, to be honest, made out with it. (It was
a little embarrassing, but I got lost in the moment.)
Any time I see the power of traditions such as this in action,
I am reminded of the power of rituals and traditions to attract
and engage people. So look for opportunities to create some fun
rituals and traditions in your workplace. (If you cruise on
over to the article section at Humor at Work you’ll find a
list of potential workplace opportunities for creating a
new tradition.)
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Quote of the Week
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken!” Oscar Wilde
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It’s a Wacky World
This Friday is “Wonderful Weirdos Day,” so in honor of all
you wonderful, wacky, weirdos out there, have a fun and weird
Friday.
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Humor at Work: Laughing at Yourself Makes for Serious Science
Humor researchers from the University of California did a study
recently to try and gauge how well people laugh at themselves.
Being able to laugh at yourself, after all, is thought to be
one of the core components of having a great sense of humor,
and a huge survival skill for anyone who works as a politician,
or say, a school teacher. And, I might add, a must for anyone
in a leadership position.
The study, which partially relied on participants reactions
to funny, distorted photos of themselves, simply showed that
people’s self assessment, as well as their friend’s assessment
of their ability to laugh at themselves proved to be fairly
accurate. In other words, if you think you have a good ability
to laugh at yourself, then you probably do. So, a few simple
questions for you to ponder: Do you think you have a good ability
to laugh at yourself? What would help you laugh at yourself more
and not take yourself overly seriously? What would the benefits
be of being able to laugh at yourself? Remember, if you laugh at yourself,
you take away anyone’s ability to laugh at you (except
for maybe your spouse or kids, where all bets are off!)
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
Perfect for summer: Hold a “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” contest.
(First things first, if you haven’t watched Ferris Bueller’s Day
Off, watch it! Or watch it again! Or turn it into a teambuilding
event and watch it as a team.) Then hold a contest with your
team for people to submit their ideal “Ferris Bueller’s Day
Off” – in other words, what would they do with a totally free
day of hooky in the summer? Share the responses so people
get to know each other in a fun way, then put everyone’s entry
into a draw to win a day off from work. You can even turn it
into a summer tradition each year.
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Quote of the Week
“When there are two alternatives, always pick the third.” Anon.
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It’s a Wacky World
The Washington Post held its annual “Style Invitational.” One
of their challenges is for people to come up with alternative
definitions of common terms. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Balderdash: a rapidly receding hairline
- Abdicate: to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach
- Negligent: absent-mindedly answering the door when wearing
only a nightgown
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Humor at Work: Great Cultures Require Less Rules
When Policy Fails, Try Thinking. (Or Build a Great Culture)
I recently attended the Zappos Insights program in Las Vegas –
a full day immersion into the fabulously wonderful, zappalicous
Zappos culture. The lessons learned about how to build a creative,
service-focused, people-centric, fun workplace are numerous
enough to fill an entire book, so let me just start with one
takeaway.
When you build a great culture, you need less rules. Less policy.
Less bureaucracy. Here’s a simple example. Zappos has no dress
code (other than, you know, you should probably be dressed).
Their philosophy is simply this: if and when an issue arises
around someone’s appearance, rather than penalizing everyone
and treating everyone like children with some ham-fisted policy,
they would simply have a conversation with the individual involved.
One of their many Zappisms: ”We prefer to have conversations,
rather than rules.”
(For more insights from Zappos, cruise on over to the old Humor
at Work website for an article called Zapped by Zappos: Lessons
on How to Build a Workplace Culture that WOWS!)
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
If you want to generate more creativity and stay future-focused
with an eye on continually improving your workplace, then asking
“What if…?” on a regular basis is a great conversation starter
and idea-generating question. So create a “What if…” board in
your workplace where everyone can write down their “what if”
thoughts, and add a “What if…” section to your meetings.
I don’t know what will come of it, but what if you just tried
it out?
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Quote of the Week
“Marketing is the tax you pay for being unremarkable.”
Robert Stephens
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It’s a Wacky World
Today could get very weird. It’s official “Take Your House
Plants for a Walk” Day and “Walk on Stilts” Day.
Oh, and this Friday is “Talk in an Elevator Day!”
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
You are What You Read at Work?
Zappos.com has a very active library full of fabulous books that employees are encouraged to sign out. Beryl Call Center has a book club where employees are, each month, encouraged to all read the same business book, answer a few questions about the book, and then meet to exchange insights. In fact, I’ve noticed that there are very few successful, inspiring workplaces that DON’T have a library or book club of some sort. Hmmmmmm.
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
Come up with a few “blooper recovery lines” to have in your back pocket to help you rise above potentially embarrassing situations at work with a bit of humor and grace. If you work in a customer service frontline situation, you might even consider brainstorming a few lines as a team for situations you encounter on a regular basis, much the way a speaker prepares recovery lines for when things go wrong during a talk (not that that ever happens). One of my favorites that a subscriber passed along: “I’m just testing you to see how you deal with awkward moments.”
If you have a favorite blooper recovery line, please pass it along and I’ll share it with the gang.
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Quote of the Week
“Laughter is the jam on the toast of life. It adds flavor, keeps it from being too dry, and makes it easier to swallow.” Diane Johnson
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It’s a Wacky World
How NOT to land that dream job! Here are some wacky interview stories courtesy of surveys by Robert Half International:
- One candidate sent his sister in place because he thought she’d answer the questions better
- One candidate handcuffed himself to the desk to show how committed he was (I’m guessing he was committed)
- One candidate sang all her answers (And no, it wasn’t an audition for American Idol)
- When asked if he had any questions of the interviewers, one person proceeded to tell a knock knock joke.
- One candidate showed up dressed in a cat suit, another in their pajamas
- One candidate for a customer service job warned his potential employer that the one thing he might not enjoy about the job was “dealing with people!”
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Do your work in a cool workplace?
Do You Work in a Cool Workplace?
CXtex, a New York-based technology company, is a self-describe
“cool place.” With their “work is fun” philosophy, peer
recognition programs, snack stations, relaxation area, start-of
-the-week cheer, in-house rock band and “Junkasaurus Park” (an
area dedicated to their company mascot),it’s no wonder they’ve
frequently made the cut as one of the top-50 places to work in
the United States.
Working in a “cool place” likely means different things to
different people, but I suspect it’s one of many offbeat
metrics you could use to take the pulse of your workplace
culture. Regardless of how serious, intense or “professional”
you think your business is, wouldn’t it be great to say you
worked in a “cool workplace”?
So take a moment and ask yourself, and then the rest of your
team, on a scale of 1-10, how cool is your workplace? Ten
being it’s SO cool the Fonz could work here. So cool it ought
to be illegal. So cool, it’s like penguins sipping frozen
daiquiris while wearing Louis Vuitton Evasion sunglasses cool.
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
Perfect for the summer season: have a “pass the camera” contest.
Each employee on your team or in your entire workplace is
challenged to take one photo that best captures the spirit of
your workplace culture. It’s a chance for folks to flex their
creative muscles and for everyone to learn what people really
feel about their workplace. Present the final images at a
luncheon presentation, create a photo board of all the images,
and award a prize for the most creative or funniest photo.
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Quote of the Week
“You can’t think about the future without having a playful
mind.” Andrew Zolli
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It’s a Wacky World
July 13 is more than simply “Embrace Your Geekness Day” (which
would be awesome enough on its own). It’s also “Gruntled
Workers Day”, a day to celebrate happy, contented employees
that aren’t, well, disgruntled! So if you are a happy, good-
humored, gruntled geek, today is YOUR day!
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
How Humor Helps with Critical Thinking
Why Humor is Critical
Does tapping into your sense of humor help you develop your
critical thinking skills? I think it likely does. Consider
what comedians do – they question authority, challenge
assumptions and typically play the role of an outside observer
looking in. Any workplace that values innovation and creativity,
that strives for continuous improvement, and that lays
claim to being a “learning organization” needs to nurture
these same traits in all its employees. Innovation, continuous improvement
and real learning require the need to challenge assumptions, question
authority and take a dispassionate step back to examine the big picture.
Taking on the outsider role as comedians do, can help you see your own
workplace, products, services and challenges through the eyes of a new employee,
customer or competitor.
So short of offering up standup comedy classes (don’t laugh,
some creative organizations have done just that), what can you
do? Some companies have brought in comedians or improv troops
to poke fun at their own practices as a way of being critically challenged,
so that’s an option. More than anything though, it’s a matter of encouraging
a more lighthearted approach at work. It’s about not getting in the way of
humor, even humor that might be a tad sarcastic at times. It’s about developing
your own inner comedic mindset about workplace issues.
And it’s making sure, if you’re a leader, that you’re not creating an
oppressive environment that discourages not only humor, but the many
positive by-products humor leads to.
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
Summer is a great time to think of creative ways to put your
children to work in fun ways. No, I’m not advocating breaking
any child labor laws, but here is one fun thing you can do:
to celebrate a colleague or key client’s birthday, leave a
voice mail happy birthday song greeting from your 6 year-old
daughter, 4 year-old nephew or, if you’re desperate for cute
talent, try your neighbor’s parrot Bob.
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Deep Thought of the Week
“Wisdom is divided into two parts: a) having a great deal to
say, and b) not saying it.” Anonymous
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It’s a Wacky World
Today is official “Take Your Webmaster to Lunch Day”, a day that
I believe was invented by your webmaster. You should also know
that Thursday, July 7, is official Chocolate Day and Strawberry
Sundae Day. And Friday, July 8th, is SCUD Day – “Savor the Comic,
Unplug the Drama” -a day to encourage people with too much drama
in their lives to take a deep breath, relax, and look at the
funnier side of life.
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com