of humor. Make time for pleasure. Schedule fun dates and activities in advance. Give yourself permission to goof off and relax. Find humor in everyday life. You have to learn to laugh at your own mistakes and find humor in the midst of stress (Weinstein, 2000, p. 5).Weinstein goes on to add that "to successfully incorporate humor into the workplace, managers must give employees permission to have fun" (2000, p. 5). He says that managers have to let them know that laughter in the workplace can be extremely beneficial in boosting morale and productivity for everyone in the organization (2000, p. 5). As a matter of fact, the companies that have the best customer service and often win awards are just those companies that have shown their employees it is ok to let loose (Armstrong & Kotler, 2000, p 401). One such company is Southwest Airlines. This is a company with a happy-go-lucky CEO that has placed the company in the media on more than one occasion for his shannanigans. This is the compnay that just "refuses to take itself seriously"(Armstrong, 2000, p. 401). Southwest has repeatedly won numerous awards such as the Triple Crown Award for best on-time service, best baggage handling and best customer service. It boasts a number one rating amoung the nations nine major airlines. Customers have returned all of the love by making this low-cost airline the most profitable in the business. All this is from an airline that is only a quarter of the size of the industry leader, American Airlines (Armstrong, 2000, p. 401).Another study claims that the number one cause of stress at the workplace is a bad boss. The article also offers a number of ways in which a boss can help alleviate their employees' stress. The main one is to be reasonable in your expections. This means to watch the number of extra duties you give your employees to carry. Loading them up with too much beyond their given assignments will take quality away from all o...
