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Can’t buy me laughter – Humour in organisational change

Lachen lässt sich nicht kaufen – Humor in Change Prozessen

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Abstract

This article reflects upon the potential role of humour during an organisational change process. We focus on three facets that are of special importance during change: coping with the change, resisting the change, and leading the change. For each facet, we present relevant quantitative and qualitative studies; and in a final section, we derive implications for employees, leaders, and organisations.

In regards to coping with change, we focus on the stress-buffering effects of humour. High-humour individuals maintain higher levels of positive affect in stressful situations and appraise a potentially stressful event as a positive challenge rather than a threat. In regards to resisting change, we show that aggressive humour can be an indicator of serious distress and a means to express resistance towards authority or aspects of the change process. In regards to leading change, we point out how effective leaders may utilise humour to manage followers’ emotions in order to increase positive affect and to reduce perceived threat associated with change.

We conclude by suggesting how humour can be used as a diagnostic tool, to foster a humour-supportive climate, to improve communication strategies, and to support an error management culture.

Zusammenfassung

Dieser Artikel beleuchtet die Rolle von Humor in organisationalen Change Prozessen. Wir konzentrieren uns auf drei Aspekte, die während eines Change Prozesses von besonderer Bedeutung sind: Coping mit Change, Widerstand gegen Change und Führung im Change Prozess. In diesem Zusammenhang präsentieren wir jeweils relevante qualitative und quantitative Studien und erörtern abschließend praktische Implikationen für Mitarbeiter, Führungskräfte und Organisationen.

Beim Aspekt Coping betrachten wir die stresspuffernden Effekte von Humor. Individuen mit einer starken Ausprägung von Humor empfinden auch in stressigen Situationen mehr positiven Affekt und bewerten ein potenziell stressendes Ereignis eher als positive Herausforderung statt als Bedrohung. Bezogen auf Widerstand gegen Change kann aggressiver Humor auf schwerwiegenden Stress hinweisen und dazu dienen, Widerstand gegen Autoritäten und Bestandteile des Change Prozesses auszudrücken. Beim Aspekt Führung im Change Prozess zeigen wir auf, wie effektive Führungskräfte Humor nutzen können, um die Emotionen ihrer Mitarbeiter zu beeinflussen. Der Einsatz von Humor kann hierbei zu einer Steigerung des positiven Affekts und zu einer Verringerung der wahrgenommenen Bedrohung führen. Abschließend erläutern wir die Bedeutung von Humor in der Organisationsdiagnose sowie bei der Förderung eines humorvollen Klimas und wie Humor die Kommunikation verbessern und eine Fehlerkultur fördern kann.

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Notes

  1. We are very well aware of the fact that not many comments remain funny once their funniness is explained in detail.

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Correspondence to Christine Gockel.

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Vetter, L., Gockel, C. Can’t buy me laughter – Humour in organisational change. Gr Interakt Org 47, 313–320 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11612-016-0341-7

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