Steve Cody, the co-founder of Peppercom, a public relations firm in New York, began doing stand up comedy five years ago after hearing about it at a business dinner.
After noticing how his newfound hobby improved his communication skills and his relationships with his colleagues, Cody decided to bring a little humor to his company’s training programs.
In an interview with Workforce magazine, Cody said the Comedy Experience Program is “a workshop intended to be a management training and development program and a cultural change agent.”
The initiative can help organizations dealing with employee morale issues or inter-departmental collaboration problems and those attempting to reconcile two company cultures after a merger or acquisition, he said.
The workshops are either half-day or full-day and occur two or three times a month. Each session is split into three parts. During the first, employees learn about the value of humor in the workplace. The second consists of participants performing a short stand up routines that is taped and the third is a one-on-one performance review with each attendee.
Cody says the sessions make people better story tellers and improves their presentation skills.
One psychologist told Forbes people who are funny are more likely to be well perceived by others, which can make them good leaders.
