In modern business, change is constant. To remain successful, organizations must continuously assess their current state, products and services, and market climate and then plan, communicate and implement changes accordingly. Without a strategy in place to support change management, things can quickly spin out of control.

Change can be a stress trigger for executives, leaders, managers and employees alike, but learning and development (L&D) professionals are often in a position to help them adapt. By staying focused on intentional engagement, they can minimize perceived barriers to change, including fear, lack of communication and too much change happening too quickly.

Creating a relaxed space for trainers and leaders to share information about the change is critical if learners are to engage and participate in the process. One way to create such an environment is to use humor.

The Benefits of Humor

Humor has a way of humanizing us. It encourages people to interact and share ideas, and it can even increase productivity. For example, let’s say your organization has formed a new team as part of a big change. To help the team focus on the tasks at hand and promote collaboration, you might use team building activities, such as a treasure hunt, an escape room game or a Mad Lib activity. The goal is to engage participants and help them experience an immediate success as a team. It should be fun and help team members learn a little about each other in the process.

Incorporating humor at work yields good results. Consider Ben & Jerry’s, the ice cream company. You may recall their funny flavor names and laugh when you see Chunky Monkey, Pucker Upper and Chubby Hubby at the grocery store. But Ben & Jerry’s uses humor in more than its product names. According to Michael Kerr of Humor at Work, the company has a “humor policy” and a “Joy Gang” aimed at making the workplace more fun. Perhaps as a result, Ben & Jerry’s continues to thrive in its industry, its employees are happy and productive, and “fun is a corporate mantra.”

Including humor in training exercises learners’ brain, enhances creativity, facilitates communication and supports the change process. During change management, it’s important to have a learning space where people feel comfortable communicating and engaging to reach desired outcomes. Humor can create that type of environment.

Implementing Humor in Change Management Training

Here are three ways you can incorporate humor in training to minimize stress and resistance barriers during the change management process:

1. Share humorous content. Choose comic material on the subject of change that you believe will resonate with your audience, such as a cartoon, a riddle or puzzle, an infographic or image, or a joke. (It is important to keep your audience in mind and select content that is appropriate for learners and the situation.)
2. Share a personal story or experience. Can you think back and laugh about lessons you learned during a previous change? Demonstrate the positive impact that resulted from that change.
3. Play a game. Include entertaining exercises that help employees overcome their fear of change.

The way your organization positions change has a big impact on how employees will process it. The more you can do to help make them receptive and supportive of change, the more quickly you can implement strategies for success. Consider adding humor to your learning space to minimize barriers to change. Try different approaches to humor to see what works best for your audience. And, finally … have fun doing it!