Humour is multifunctional, it can be used in organisations to achieve many positive objectives (Cruthirds & Romero 2006). Humour within the workplace can be defined by the groups of people and the behaviours from the company. Humour can impact both horizontal and vertical relationships in an organisation, as well as the interpersonal relationship that is underlying (Cooper 2008). Humour can provide valuable benefits; motivating staff, communicating effectively and monitoring tension (Cruthirds & Romero 2006). However, humour is dynamic, and can be used inappropriately that can offend and hurt people 's feelings (Deneen, Mak, & Liu, 2012). There are different forms of humour which will be addressed as well as the outcomes associated with humour, including the positive and negative implications with humour in the workplace, and if it is necessary.
Humour can be defined as any message; …show more content…
As many people take humour differently, it can be a destructive ally in the workplace. Article by Härtel, Kirk-Brown, Samaratunge, & Wijerwardena (2016) their research indicates that gender differences exist for both the use of humour and the appreciation of humour. The study shows that men use and appreciate both non-offensive and offensive types of jokes more than women (Härtel et al 2016). This difference can impact on the workplace culture as women may not feel welcomed into this humour and distance themselves from the workplace. Similarly, ethnicity can play a role in unwanted humour as if people are amused or offended by the humour (Härtel et al 2016). Aggressive humour can play a key role in alienating people in organisations (Cruthirds & Romero 2006). This can affect a workplace and disrupt the culture (Cooper 2008). Therefore gender and ethnicity humour can cause problems in the workplace if not use