Viva Las Vegas! Humor at Work

 Standing in line—I HATE standing in line. Customer service lines, grocery store lines, lines at the Post Office, and my all-time-least favorite—Security Check Point Lines—until today. Viva Las Vegas! 

The Las Vegas Airport has taken a lesson from theme parks such as Disney Land and Six Flags, and now as you shuffle through security to get to your gate, you can be distracted—even entertained—albeit briefly, on monitors strategically placed along your path. 

Imagine (subtle) instructions on how to go through the security check point via The Blue Man Group (with their electric message boards flashing: “You must be a ticketed passenger”), Monty Python (Absolutely no weapons, and that includes swords!), and a cast of characters from various shows on The Strip, all conveying messages on how to get through the security line quickly and efficiently. 

LAS gets it. Whether it sales, customer service, business services, healthcare—humor works! You can inform people, and at the same time decrease their frustration, distract them from the fact that they’re being herded like cattle to the stockyards, relieve some anxiety, and even entertain them! And if this can be accomplished in a security check point line—think what you could accomplish in your line of work. 

Los Angeles, D.C., Chicago—take note! Tally-ho!

He Said What?!?!

What was he thinking?! Obviously, he wasn’t. Thinking, that is. Michael Richards, better known to the world as Kramer, took his funny and light-hearted image he’d established over his successful career with Seinfeld, and flushed it down the tubes. I can just picture him skidding into Jerry’s apartment, shaking like an electrically charged, over-caffeinated baffoon, uttering “Oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh nooooooooooooooooo!”

 

“Oh no” is right. Whether you’re dealing with hecklers, irritable coworkers or cranky customers—insulting them is a bad idea. Comediennes anticipate that these things will happen, and they have comebacks that are so practiced that they can appear to be spontaneous—but few professional comics will leave those situations to chance.

 

There’s something you can learn from Michael Richards’ common sense infarct. We all have times when have to deal with hostility from others. A lot of times, if we’d thought about it, we could have anticipated these episodes.

 

And when those situations do arise, we have choices. In his book, The Light Touch, Malcolm Kushner suggests:

We can respond seriously to the complaint.

We can refuse to respond.

We can pretend to respond (picture the doctor that overwhelms the other person with medicalese or the lawyer that responds with legalese).

We can respond with humor.

 

All of these choices, mind you, are appropriate choices at one time or other. But not every one of them will fit every occasion every time. You have to use good judgment (which apparently some people lack).

 

When responding with humor, the idea is not to derail the other person so you can totally avoid the conflict. You want to unbalance the other person, even momentarily, so that you give yourself a moment to think, regroup, and then respond in the best possible manner to the situation at hand.

 

Take for instance the waiter who has forgotten your request for water. Twice. When you ask him a third time, an appropriate response for the waiter might be, “I’m sorry. My memory is really very good. It’s just very short.” (pause). “I’ll be right back with your drink.”

 

The waiter addressed the concern; used a quick one-liner (doesn’t have to be fall-down-funny) that he has thought about ahead of time, and then responded to the need.

 

In one of my workshops, a manager said that an irritable customer once demanded: “How long have you worked here?”

His humorous response: He looked at his wristwatch, smiling, and asked, “Well, let’s see… What time is it???”

The customer looked surprised and then smiled. From there, they were both able to move forward in a more positive frame of mind.

 

Anticipate and prepare. Comics do it. Politicians do it. And so should you.

 

Here’s your homework assignment:

Make a list of the hostile questions you might deal with at work.

Now come up with a list of humorous responses.

Force yourself to come up with at least 10.

The rationale? Because the first ones you come up with are going to be absolutely hysterical—and they’re probably going to get you in trouble! Flippant is funny—but in this case, you need to stretch further to find something that is funny but not offensive. It takes a little more work, but it’s worth it.

 

Use humor in your workplace proactively and you’re going to find that you have a lot more fun AND a lot more profit!

 

For more reading on this topic, check out the  following links,

 

Handling the hostile: Preparation smartest way to be ready for …
Jackson Clarion Ledger -
Jackson,MS,USA
… 17. “My conjecture is that there was another, totally unrelated issue that was distracting or distressing him,” says Karyn Buxman, who conducts humor and …Bond, environment, timing all make for a sure ‘BET’
Jackson Clarion Ledger - Jackson,MS,USA
… “There’s always someone who can be offended. A lot of times they bring their agendas with them,” says Karyn Buxman, president of HUMORx. …

When Humor is Part of The Corporate Culture

I had the chance to sit around the table with the most fun bunch of people yesterday. They weren’t humorists or comediennes—but they were funny as all get out—kind of like Seinfeld meets healthcare. And they love their work.

 

Moe Green, founder of Classic Care Pharmacy started his business 10 years ago with a handful of people. Today he has over 120 employees and services 125 long term care facilities. The corporate culture is fun, and his staff and his customers are raving fans.

 

While having lunch with two of the team (Judy and Girish) they told me they hate to miss even a day of work. “There’s something going on everyday, and most of the time it’s fun!” they said. Apparently the rest of the staff agrees with them. The camaraderie and team spirit is palpable when you walk in the office.

 

As far as retention goes, people who come on board tend to stay on board. “We don’t brag too loudly to others about how good we have it here,” teased a couple of gals following my after-dinner entertainment. “We don’t want a bunch of other people vying for our jobs!”

 

From chatting with Moe, two keys to Classic Care’s success became obvious. First, he’s a firm believer in empowering his people. “When issues come up, I let them make decisions. There’s rarely an issue that is life or death.” Engaging his employees in company matters helps them to feel ownership. Once a month he holds a “State of The Union” address where he collects all 125 people and gives them updates on what’s going on and gets their feedback. And all of the executive team have an open door policy.

 

Second, fun is part of the corporate culture and it begins with the interview process. Moe is looking to hire for attitude and if the interviewee isn’t comfortable with the joking and teasing that goes on with the interview committee, then it’s made clear that this is part of the culture. If he or she feels uncomfortable, then perhaps they would be better off working elsewhere—the company isn’t going to change its culture just because someone doesn’t want to play along. Throughout the year, employees spend time together at potlucks, bar-b-ques, sports and just hanging out. They are an extended family.

 

The weekly executive meetings usually include gales of laughter. “Sometimes staff will come over and close our door because we’re laughing so loud,” Moe admitted.

 

What’s the result of all this? It comes as no surprise that Classic Care Pharmacy Ottawa was just named one of The Top 10 Employers in the National Capital Region (based on engagement, leadership and over-all employee satisfaction). This award was not just for healthcare but for businesses across the province. And Classic Care continues to grow at an astounding rate: 30% in the last 10 months! 

 

When humor is part of the corporate culture, businesses can enjoy tremendous financial success—but that’s not all. George Burns once said, “Do something you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” It seems that Classic Care employees will never have to “work” again—and with clients as fun as Classic Care, neither will I!

POETS Club

Carolyn is a VP of Quality & Resource Management at corporate headquarters in TN—and she’s brilliant! She recently shared with me one of her tactics to help her staff de-stress. On Fridays, before the end of the workday, the office holds a POETS Club meeting. This has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with poetry. It stands for “Piss On Everything, Tomorrow’s Saturday.” She explained that she didn’t want her staff to take the stress of their work back to their families. She wants them to enjoy their weekends and come back to work refreshed and productive on Monday; so at the meeting the group does whatever they need to do to distress: laugh, cry, complain, vent, let-their-hair-down—whatever it takes. The meeting lasts for about an hour and folks head for home leaving their work stress behind.

This is not to be confused with a Pity Party. If someone announces that they want a Pity Party, it must be held within the next 24 hours. Usually it is in the evening after work and may involce alcohol. The initiator of the Pity Party starts off by sharing his or her pitiful story and gathering as much sympathy as possible. Then, that person must listen while everyone else attending also shares a pitiful story. Carolyn assures me that in this context, it’s almost impossible to feel pitiful for long. Everyone can’t help but laugh at the absurdities and everybody leaves feeling better.

 

It’s great meeting someone who is thinking pro-actively about de-stressing her staff—and  with humor!. I’d love to hear what others are doing that is fun and unique. Anyone out there got anything to share?