One topic that I enjoyed reading about that we did not discuss was humor. I agree wholeheartedly that humor is an important aspect of group communication. Being able to laugh at yourselves or at a joke someone within the group makes helps relieve tension and stress in the group process. It can bring group members together, and create a shared bond over something that the whole group can relate to (laughter, feeling good) even if it is a serious issue the group is dealing with.
All that being said, humor is definitely a fine art. If you've ever been in a group with someone and all they want to do is laugh and joke around, you find that you don't get very much accomplished. In fact, it gets to the point where they're annoying. Instead, humor must be used sparingly, and at the right time - not during serious discussion, or when there is a positive amount of work being accomplished. Instead it is best to break the ice in the beginning, or to break a bit of a dry spell or lull the group may be experiencing.
I know at my work, the best times are when it is very slow or people are stressed and someone cracks a good joke or tells a funny story. However, it's not funny when people are super super busy and trying to do things and running around busily, and someone tries to be funny, it ends up being annoying.
Humor does help relieve tension within a group setting. Sometimes things can get too serious and people began to get stressed out. However is can become very annoying if all someone is doing in the group is making jokes. I remember one time I was in a group with two guys who didn't like each other and one of them kept making jokes and stupid comments about the other member. After a while it began to become very annoying and I had to let him know that basically he was a jerk and needed to just let it go.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post! I agree that humor is very important, especially within groups. I also like how you say that it is something that should be used sparingly. Recently, I have had trouble trying to keep the humor at work to a minimum. I work with a bunch of people that are my age, only about three or four are older. And on the days I work next to a specific co-worker, all we do is crack jokes and are constantly laughing. It's hard not to laugh when we are around each other but sometimes we can't help it! It gets really difficult when we have customers in front of us who can see us laughing (although I don't think customers mind all that much). However, it only takes one angry/stuck up person to complain. Anyway, I agree that it's important to know where and when to use humor as well as the type of humor to use, (nothing too vulgar).
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