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GO AHEAD, LAUGH. IT WORKS AT WORK:
By Jobert E. Abueva
New York Times, February 14, 2001, Workplace Section.
At her 7 a.m. staff meeting one Thursday last month, Bobbe White passed out an agenda that contained a cryptic item called "stress reduction technique" right after her marketing update. Her 45 bleary-eyed co-workers thought nothing of it until Ms. White, a business development officer at State street Bank and Trust Company, in Quincy, IL, showed a two-minute ABC news feature on laughter clubs in India.
They knew something was up but they were not prepared for what happened next. First, Mrs. White removed her blazer to show off a Laughter Tour T-shirt and announced, "Lucky You, I am a certified laughter leader." Then she asked the employees to stand with her in a circle and let them in a warm-up to laughter exercises. In between each laughter style, the group grinned and guffawed through a rhythmic mantra, "ho-ho-ha-ha-ha."
To conclude the session, White led three cheers, as the staff was instructed to answer "YES!" as they pumped their fists in the air to the following: "We are the happiest people in the world! YES! We are the healthiest people in the world! YES!" But when she shouted, "We love our jobs," they broke into uncontrollable howls.
"At first, I thought, 'Here is another of Bobbe's wacky team-builders,'" said Jim McDowell, a customer service representative. "But by the time we were through laughing, I felt so invigorated, I was ready to face the rest of my workday."
State Street Bank is a recent convert to one of the latest worker-motivation
fads: laughter therapy. Laughter has always had the power to relive stress,
reduce anxiety and increase mental energy, of course, but smart managers
have long used humor to soften up customers or placate restive
employees.
The Laughter movement, or Laughter Clubs as coined by the Laughter Clubs International and the World Laughter Tour, originated in 1995 in Bombay, India by Dr. Madan Kataria. Kataria a physician and long time student of humor. His research substantiated that his patients recovered faster and had fewer health problems when thy laughed regularly. "Our mission is simple: think globally, laugh locally. Some employees continue to laugh in a brief session before work. White, observed, "Even the folks who aren't participating get the benefits when they laugh at us laughing!
The article can be
read in its entirety by visiting the New York Times (Workplace Section
with Classified Ads, February 14, 2001) @ www.newyorktimes.com.
The article also appeared February 18, 2001 in the St. Petersburg, (FL) Times (www.sptimes.com) and the Austin (TX) American Statesman (www.statesman.com).
For more information about Laughter Clubs, visit www.worldlaughtertour.com.
