Weekly newspaper journalists took part in a ‘laughter workshop’ aimed at increasing workplace wellbeing for a business feature in the paper.
Staff at the Maidenhead Advertiser were given a taster of one of the workshops, which are being run by Maidenhead-based entrepreneur Tabitha Beaven.
Tabitha, pictured above left, set up her company Light Mind last year to offer ‘carefree singing’ and laughter sessions to companies of all sizes.
As well as the laughing and singing wellbeing sessions, Light Mind runs team-building workshops for businesses.
Tabitha told Advertiser staff that laughing and smiling releases the chemical serotonin, which can improve your mood.
Luke Matthews, news editor for the Advertiser’s sister papers the Slough and Windsor Express, was among those who took part.
He said: “We shook hands and laughed in each other’s faces, pushed laughter lawnmowers around the newsroom and drank from laughter cocktails.
“Doing anything like that at work is always going to feel awkward, but that awkwardness over the stupidity of the situation can turn the laughter from forced to real.”
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At a time when the industry’s in crisis, sales are at rock bottom and ad revenues arent coveting costs this company has to rely on ‘laughter lawnmowers’ and ‘ laughter cocktails’ to create a sense of temporary well being, beggars belief
David Brent workplace training anyone?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mXytRC0k-K8
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Has the industry, or this particular part of it, really dropped this far?
Where someone has to come in and reel off this type of cod motivational nonsense in an attempt to bring a faux feel good factor to the department?
If the feel good factor is missing from the workplace it’s a sure sign of bigger issues in the day to day operation., issues which will take more than laugher lawnmowers to put right.
Laughing in each other’s faces? I can see why
I despair sometimes, I really do
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I’ll bet those poor souls forced to suffer this misguided ‘motivational ‘ session all feel much better and fully invigorated to face the daily challenges of filling templated boxes, collating reader snaps and producing their paper having drunk a few laughter cocktails and after pushing the laughter mower around the department.
Yes David Brent immediately sprung to mind
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Newsrooms always used to be places of hard work, tension and GREAT FUN AND LAUGHTER! The fun really has gone out of the industry with far far far too much emphasis now on creating click-bait. Although some of the click-bait stories could be classed as “fun” – they aren’t actually fun to do because there is so much pressure on getting clicks on websites. Fun and laughter used to happen in newsrooms naturally – newsrooms never had to bring someone in to try and produce laughter!!!!
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A colleague has just pointed this piece out to me which I had to read twice to make sure I wasn’t being subjected to some kind of late April fools piece, “carefree singing” sessions and “ laughter lawnmowers” being pushed around to make the staff feel good?
I can’t think of too many businesses ( any) who’d have enough spare funds to be able to bring in someone to create a temporary ‘fun’ environment knowing when they’ve gone it’s back to normal and a continuation of the usual factors which presumably have drained all the fun from the workplace in the first place.
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Games like this were regular occurrences in our ad dept, but they would have been anathema to us in editorial – we were too busy enjoying our jobs. It is interesting to note that the oldest & most productive ad reps didn’t join in, but carried on actually selling ads, and that ad sales were entirely unaffected by all the (very noisy) hoo-ha. Still, what’s left of editorial today probably needs the light relief. How sad..
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I get a laugh at least once a month, every time I open my wage slip. Naturally, the laughter quickly descends into tears and unbridled misery.
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I agree with Steve S, in my time we didn’t need so called ‘professionals’ to help us crack a laugh or two to help motivate us through a busy working day. Aside from the serious stories coming through there was always something on a daily basis that caused a titter or two. Now it seems the BBC’s output alone (thinking of recent online stories about a ‘lady’ throwing her poo out of her date’s window and a man in custody farting his disapproval at being questioned) is enough to fuel anyone’s laughter. More fool us for paying the license fee!
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The best laughter “medicine” is to be able to get on with the job of producing a paper in a positive but busy newsroom. The fact that management actually thought this “laughter” session would boost moral – and circulation – beggars belief. Do they really think the general staff will fall on their knees in adoration? For a short time I was a PR with a national organisation and had to undergo this kind of “therapy” 25 years ago. We just felt complete and utter fools.
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It might be helpful if people commenting on here occasionally read the stories they are commenting on. As is made clear in this story, the staff who took part in the session did so in order to write a feature for the paper, not because management thought it would boost “moral” (sic) or circulation.
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