Humor Belongs In Project Management

  Teams   PM Network  

Some projects mean long hours. Such was the case on a nearly two-year project I managed for a financial organization in Spain. The project team often felt exhausted as a result of pressure from the customer and restricted resources.

Every Monday morning, several team members and I shared a taxi to the airport. One Monday, our team member Michael was not feeling well. His back hurt, so he was lying across the back seat of the taxi. The driver was horrid, constantly accelerating and decelerating, even when no cars were in front of him. To make matters worse, Michael is prone to car sickness.

I said to him, “The driver’s name is Lurch.” Everyone in the taxi howled with laughter, and Michael started to feel better.

Funny Business

How do you react to the situations life presents? What is your tone when speaking with peers, team members or other project stakeholders? I try to find the “funny”—not to be confused with cynical or biting humor—in every project I manage. I strongly believe laughter is the best medicine for stress-provoking project environments.

Humor can change the attitude of individuals and provide a healthy, productive atmosphere. There are situations that clearly do not lend themselves to humor, but most do.

For many of the projects I have managed, I used humor on a daily basis. I promised team …

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