Worker teams that experienced humorous interactions, such as a joke followed by laughter followed by another joke, during meetings tended to be rated by supervisors as better at hitting their targets, according to a study of 54 teams in two German industrial organizations by Nale Lehmann-Willenbrock of VU University Amsterdam and Joseph A. Allen of the University of Nebraska. The apparent reason is that these humorous interactions triggered important problem-solving behaviors, such as team members’ raising questions and talking about new ideas. The interactive nature of the humor is important; there was zero effect on teams’ performance from incidences of isolated humorous statements that weren’t followed by group laughter or subsequent jokes, the researchers say.Read more in HBR.
Monday, January 19, 2015
HBR Daily Stat // Why a Few Laughs at Meetings Can Improve Team Performance
The stat:
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