NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Home / Brand Insight
Brand Insight
Executive and Professional Development

How humour beats stress

26 Nov, 2018 11:00 AM4 minutes to read
Picture / Supplied

Picture / Supplied

Sponsored by Executive and Professional Development

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

New book looks at humour in the workplace - and how things can go badly wrong.

The office worker thought his workplace was "dull and dry", so he hid in a wheelie bin.
When someone passed close by, Pete (not his real name) sprang up, shouting and gesticulating to scare them.

Sounds like a bit of fun. The "victims" turned out to be his boss and the visitor he was showing round the company. They weren't laughing. Pete found himself called in to the HR department to receive a dressing down and counselling about inappropriate behaviour.

That is one of many instances featured by Dr Barbara Plester, senior lecturer at the University of Auckland Business School and well-known author and emeritus professor Kerr Inkson in a new book called Laugh Out Loud.

It covers the full range of the use of humour and how to manage it in the workplace: "It's written to help people," says Plester. "We wanted to help people who don't know what to do when humour – which can be both bright and dark in the workplace – rears its head.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It's written to help them deal with the fallout when things go wrong and also how to use it – because it is such a wonderful tool, applied correctly, to release and relieve tension."

Like in another office, with tired and bored staff after a gruelling day. An angry staff member rushes in, upset, and shouts a lengthy broadside at her colleagues; she feels they are performing poorly. Still angry, she rushes out again, unable even to finish her tirade.

In the shocked silence that follows, Sofia (also not her real name) says: "This place is a zoo!" There is another pause then Gerhard, the group joker, gets up from his desk and says: "Yup! A zoo!"

He leans forward, stretches his arms in front and walks around the room, grunting like an ape. Mike makes a chattering noise, like a chimpanzee, and pretends to eat a banana.

Sofia becomes an elephant, stretching her arms forward together like a trunk and trumpeting at the top of her voice.

The situation was absurd by any normal standard of office behaviour but, as Plester says, humour did a great job of relieving the stress.

Barbara Plester. Picture / Supplied
Barbara Plester. Picture / Supplied

Plester gathered information for the book by, among other things, 12 years of study, undertaking fly-on-the-wall stints in a series of organisations, including law firms, engineering, financial and IT companies. For all intents and purposes, she became a member of staff in those firms, researching the use (and misuse) of humour in the workplace for her PhD – and publishing The Complexity of Workplace Humour: Laughter, Jokers and the Dark Side of Humour in 2016.

Laugh Out Loud, however, is a practical guide for everyone involved: the humourists, the targets, the observers and most of all the managers who have to 'set the tone' and encourage, control and manage humour.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"You find humour in every workplace," she says. "It is often a really important part of a happy and united organisation – but it can be damaging and divisive too; it definitely has a dark side."

That can emerge when people use humour to make a point or even as a form of bullying: "In Kiwi workplaces, it's known as 'taking the piss'. Sometimes people do it deliberately, it takes the form of jocular abuse. It's very hard to kick against that because, if you do, you are told, 'I'm just taking the piss, don't get upset'.

"Sometimes it starts as a joke but gets personal – it moves into criticising a personal characteristic like body shape, race, ethnic origins, sexual things and the like. It's complex because the person on the end of it is also glad they are in the 'in' group, by being included in the banter."

Laugh Out Loud's focus on managers is also important as Plester says they have a much tougher job when dealing with humour.

"Humour and positions of power don't always go together," she says, instancing the case of former Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority boss Roger Sutton, who resigned after a complaint following his joke to staff about holding "visible G-string Fridays".

Sutton was a capable and personable man – and not all who heard his joke were offended by it – but his resignation showed how power and humour could be poor partners.

"There are plenty of occasions where bosses can make jokes and they think their staff are laughing with them. Unfortunately, human nature being what it is, some of the staff are laughing simply because he's the boss. For managers and others in senior positions, there are many no-go areas."

Save

    Share this article

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Discover More

The ‘beauty’ of effective leadership
Sponsored Stories

The ‘beauty’ of effective leadership

10 Mar 01:29 AM
How humour beats stress
Brand Insight

How humour beats stress

26 Nov 11:00 AM
How humour beats stress
Sponsored Stories

How humour beats stress

25 Nov 11:00 AM
NZ to help clean up space junk
Brand Insight

NZ to help clean up space junk

21 Nov 11:00 AM
Spark of hope for electricity prices
Brand Insight

Spark of hope for electricity prices

23 Oct 11:00 AM
Spark of hope for electricity prices
Sponsored Stories

Spark of hope for electricity prices

22 Oct 11:00 AM
Executive and Professional Development

Read more from Executive and Professional Development here
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP