Making the most of `humour` in project management

Feature
THE
RISK DOCTOR
Making the
most of
‘humour’
in project
management
David Hillson has spread the ‘risk’ message to
audiences around the world and he knows the power
of humour in helping to get his message across. As
he says, in a multi-cultural world there are risks if you
don’t get it right. At the beginning of next month, on
April 1st, newspapers in the UK will be full of spoof
stories and people will play practical jokes on each
other. An overseas visitor to the UK on that day could
be puzzled at the very least or, at worse, might go home
believing that a new iPad with windscreen wipers, so
you can read in the rain, is, in fact, a real product.
H
umour is a great asset to effective communication, if it is
used well and appropriately. And since everyone agrees that
all project managers need to communicate effectively, we also
need to know how to use humour properly. Unfortunately it is very
easy to misuse humour, with negative results, especially where we are
communicating cross-culturally.
I experienced this first-hand when I spoke some years ago at a
conference in Dublin, Ireland. All cultures make jokes about another
nation or people-group, and, for the English, this role is taken by the
Irish. So, I thought a simple ‘Irish joke’ would be a good way to start
my speech. I chose something that I thought would be inoffensive and
funny to get them on my side: ‘An Irish wolfhound lay in front of the fire
chewing a bone.When he got up, his leg dropped off.’
It was a disaster. There was a stony silence and the rest of my visit
went very badly. I quickly learned not to make fun of your hosts! But
this uncomfortable experience prompted me to find out how to use
humour properly.
Different cultures have very different approaches to humour.
While most humour involves elements of incongruity and surprise,
joke structure can vary. For example American humour is very direct,
building to the punch-line then delivering it with great emphasis, and
reinforcing it to be sure that everyone knows when to laugh. English
humour is more indirect, giving the audience the components of the
joke and leaving them to make the final connection, and then they
laugh if and when they get it. This typical understated English joke
illustrates the point: ‘A man walks into a bar. Ouch!’
So I am always especially careful when working in another country,
or with cross-cultural teams, knowing that what I find funny may not
translate, either in words or in style.
20 MARCH 2011 www.pmtoday.co.uk
It is also not good to use humour that requires specialist domain
knowledge, unless your audience understands the concepts involved.
When I told a group of quantitative risk analysts that ‘People who
understand probability distribution functions aren’t normal’, they all laughed.
And a group of software developers appreciated my opening line in
a risk workshop: ‘There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who
understand binary and those who don’t.’ But these types of joke won’t
work with most people, and we should use them sparingly.
Many people like humour based on wordplay, or puns, such as: ‘I’ve
got a pet newt. I call him Tiny, because he’s my newt.’ But puns don’t
work in multi-cultural situations where people are using their second
or third language.You might think that this would be a good place for
a multi-lingual pun. For example: ‘Why do the French only have one
egg for breakfast? Because for the French, one egg is un oeuf.’ But
this just adds complexity and requires knowledge of both languages,
making it even harder to understand.
It’s also important that humour should be relevant, related to the
topic in hand. There’s nothing worse than starting your project review
meeting with an irrelevant joke to break the ice. ‘A funny thing happened
on the way to the meeting… Now let’s check those earned value indicators…’
It’s much better to use something linked to the subject. For example:
‘How many project managers does it take to change a light-bulb? One – the
project sponsor won’t approve extra resources unless it’s in the WBS. Now let’s
talk about our resource utilisation figures…’
Managing projects can be fun, and we should take every opportunity
to lighten the mood of our project meetings and reports. But we must
use humour carefully and appropriately if we want it to be a help and
not a hindrance. There are many ways to get it wrong, but well-placed
humour can be a great advantage. People work better when they are
smiling!
About the author
Known globally as The Risk Doctor, Dr David Hillson PMP
HonFAPM FIRM is director of Risk Doctor & Partners
(www.risk-doctor.com). David is recognised internationally as a
leading thinker and expert practitioner in risk management at
both strategic and project levels, and he writes and speaks widely
on the topic. He is active in the Project Management Institute
(PMI) and received the PMI Distinguished Contribution Award
for his work in developing risk management over many years.
He is also an Hon. Fellow of the UK Association for Project
Management (APM), and a Fellow of the Institute of Risk
Management (IRM).
[email protected] www.risk-doctor.com
© 2011 Project Manager Today All rights reserved. By downloading this pdf file the recipient agrees to use this information for personal use only and may print one copy.
This pdf may not be copied, altered, or distributed to other parties without the permission of the publishers. First published in this form in Project Manager Today.
By David Hillson, The Risk Doctor