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Journal of Business Communication
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Emotions in Organizations

Joint Laughter in Workplace Meetings

Helena Kangasharju

Helsinki School of Economics, Helena.Kangasharju{at}hse.fi

Tuija Nikko

Helsinki School of Economics

Humor and laughter are emotion-involving activities that can be jointly constructed in interaction. This article analyzes instances of joint laughter in leader-member meetings where laughter may or may not be associated with humor. The method applied is conversation analysis in which the focus lies on laughter's role in the microlevel organization of interaction. The results show that the instances of laughter do not occur in accidental locations but are clearly connected to specific activities. First, humor and laughter can be strategically used by team leaders to create collegiality and a good working atmosphere in their teams. Second, laughing together is connected to closing down a topic or a phase in a meeting in a way that displays mutual understanding. Third, shared laughter initiated by team members appears to be a resource that can be used to reduce tension in challenging situations such as the accomplishment of difficult tasks or the treatment of delicate topics. Finally, laughing together can be used to do remedial work in problematic or conflicting situations. Ultimately, joint laughter appears to be a resource that can be used to improve the task performance and, through this, the achievement of the goals of the organization.

Key Words: organizational communication • meeting interaction • laughter • humor • emotion • conversation analysis

Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 46, No. 1, 100-119 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0021943608325750
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