What are the central arguments of this article - PowerPoint Presentation Example

Central Arguments in “Humor and Group Effectiveness” Romero and Pescosolido (2008, p.396) proposed that successful organization humor has favorable influence on the different group processes and outcomes. Organizational humor is defined by Romero and Cruthird (2006 cited in Romero & Pescosolido, 2008, p.397) as amusing communications, which elicit positive cognition and emotions in organization, groups, or individuals. Individuals, who are in the labor force in the current times, highly value a fun workplace.

Most of these individuals are involved in jobs that require creativity and innovative ideas. Available literature indicated that group offered competitive advantage for several companies. It is a source of innovation and knowledge. Thus, the management is driven to find means to keep groups intact. Romero and Pescosolido (2008, p.396) argued that humor addresses group viability and employee retention through establishing a fun workplace that most employees find attractive. Successful use of humor within the group leads to pleasure.

In addition, it reaffirms group identity though establishing “who we are, what we are doing, and how we do things” (Romero and Pescosolido, 2008, p.396). However, researchers warned that some individuals may regard some things as humorous, while others may not. Thus, there is a need to find a balance between acceptable content and novelty in the use of humor. These researchers further added that humor is positively correlated to group effectiveness through numerous variables. The “normative theory of group effectiveness” proposed by Hackman (cited in Romero and Pescosolido, 2008, p.396) supports the premise that group effectiveness is composed of three aspects namely; productivity, individual development, and group viability.

Romero and Pescosolido (2008, p.410) stressed that organizational humor fosters increase quality and quantity of communications within the group, which consequently increases group productivity. Findings of previous researches indicated that poor communication led to low group productivity and interpersonal conflict. In addition, these researchers asserted that group productivity is facilitated by the group leader’s effective use of organizational humor. Group leaders encourage members to highly perform through managing group emotions with humor.

In addition, the effective use of organizational humor establishes a performance oriented group culture. Previous studies suggest that group level collective beliefs and cognition influence group behavior and subsequently group performance. Humor can be utilized to communicate beliefs, expectations, values, and other essential elements of the group’s culture. Lastly, group productivity is fostered when effective use of organizational humor leads to a higher degree of acceptance of group goals and consensus.

Meanwhile, the second aspect of Hackman’s “normative theory of group effectiveness” referred as learning is facilitated when the use of humor generates a perception of safety among group members. Psychological safety pertains to a shared belief that the group is safe for an interpersonal risk-taking (cited in Romero and Pescosolido, 2008, p.410). In addition, the use of humor fosters group viability when it elicits favorable effect in the group. Researches stress that the effective use of humor is manifested when it strengthens group cohesion.

Lastly, group viability is fostered with the reduced rate of employee turnover. All these factors influence group productivity, individual development, and lastly group viability. In turn, these aspects of “normative theory of group effectiveness” affect group effectiveness. Reference Romero, E. & Pescosolido, A., 2008. Humor and group effectiveness. Human Relations, 61 (3): pp.395-418.