Smiling during projects and classes?

This week I’ve had 2 opportunities about « fun in the workplace »:

• « The project manager who smiled » by Peter Taylor.
• « Faut-il faire rire ses élèves ? (Should you make your students laugh?) » from the Sciences Humaines magazine

« The project manager who smiled » is a book written by Peter Taylor, a project management and PMO implementation professional, and book author. « The lazy project manager » is both the title of one of his books and the name of his company and website: thelazyprojectmanager.com.
He sought to contribute to the well-being of project managers during lockdown by sharing for free the ebook version of his book « The project manager who smiled », which you can download here: https://projectmanagernews.com/news/the-project-manager-who-smiled/ or here https://www.girlsguidetopm.com/the-project-manager-who-smiled-free-ebook/.
He also led the project to create in 21 days a collaborative book, « The projectless manager« , available here: https://www.amazon.fr/Projectless-Manager-Inspirational-Thoughts-Managers/dp/B088JQ36L7/, the proceeds of which will go to the NHS for the fight against COVID-19. 56 people from 21 countries contributed. I ordered it a few days ago.
Peter presents his ideas about project management with « fun » in webinars. I attended the one organized by PMI on May 20th, « The Value of Fun in Projects« , and there I found again the idea that well-being created through soft skills like humour is measurable in terms of increased productivity: less absenteeism, less turnover, more engagement. Laughing together helps to create bonds, reduce tension, boost morale and be more creative. Not to mention leadership…

In addition, the latest issue of Sciences Humaines (June 2020) includes a short article « Faut-il faire rire ses élèves ? » referring to a study (meta-analysis) published in February 2020 in the Educational Psychology journal. What I personally get from it: one should ensure that the humorous elements are clearly distinguishable from the « serious » content of the course so as not to harm learning. Apart from that, I think it’s all a question of dosage, way of using it and adaptation to the audience… But I would find it sad to completely do without it! The benefits identified in project management should also be applicable to courses: building relations (between learners, between learners and trainer), reducing tensions, being more creative…

Then… smile!