1. ContentsCONTENTS..........................................................................................................................................................1TABLE OF FIGURES..............................................................................................................................................1LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL....................................................................................................................................3ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.........................................................................................................................................4ABSTRACT...........................................................................................................................................................5INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................................5LITERATURE REVIEW...........................................................................................................................................6HUMOR....................................................................................................................................................................6TRAINING.................................................................................................................................................................9MANAGEMENT......................................................................................................................................................12DILBERT PRINCIPLE:...............................................................................................................................................13METHODOLOGY................................................................................................................................................13RESEARCH QUESTION............................................................................................................................................13DATA COLLECTION.................................................................................................................................................13TRAINING INSTITUTIONS .......................................................................................................................................14TRAINEES...............................................................................................................................................................15RESULTS............................................................................................................................................................15QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE TRAINEES.....................................................................................................................16QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE TRAINERS.....................................................................................................................19MAJOR FINDINGS..............................................................................................................................................24CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................................25RECOMMENDATIONS........................................................................................................................................25.........................................................................................................................................................................26REFERENCES......................................................................................................................................................27INDEX...............................................................................................................................................................29NOTES...............................................................................................................................................................31TABLE OF FIGURESFIGURE 2.............................................................................................................................................................91|PageSADAIN RAFI AHMED

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FIGURE 1.............................................................................................................................................................9FIGURE 3...........................................................................................................................................................16FIGURE 4...........................................................................................................................................................16FIGURE 5...........................................................................................................................................................17FIGURE 6...........................................................................................................................................................17FIGURE 7...........................................................................................................................................................18FIGURE 8...........................................................................................................................................................18FIGURE 9...........................................................................................................................................................19FIGURE 10.........................................................................................................................................................19FIGURE 11.........................................................................................................................................................20FIGURE 12.........................................................................................................................................................20FIGURE 13.........................................................................................................................................................20FIGURE 14.........................................................................................................................................................21FIGURE 15.........................................................................................................................................................21FIGURE 16.........................................................................................................................................................22FIGURE 17.........................................................................................................................................................22FIGURE 18.........................................................................................................................................................22FIGURE 19.........................................................................................................................................................23FIGURE 20.........................................................................................................................................................242|Page SADAIN RAFI AHMED 3. LETTER OF TRANSMITTALDec 14th, 2009Ms. Amber RazaTeacherPAF KIETDear Madam,I am submitting the project report on Impact of humor in training & development. Asper your advice, the report includes all the material related to proposed topic.I am grateful for your guidance and supervision without which this assignment could nothave been completed.Sincerely,Sadain Ahmed3|PageSADAIN RAFI AHMED 4. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTFirst of all I would thanks Almighty ALLAH who has guided me the way for a brightfuture. I would like to acknowledge the help provided by our teacher to make thisproject.My teacher Ms AMBER RAZA who taught me from her vast expertise and guidedme in the final project that helped a lot in data collection and preparation of thereport. She was full of energy and willing to teach students the concepts with herworking and practical experience and examples.At the last I would render great thanks to others who had directly or IndirectlyCooperated with me throughout the period of my research.4|PageSADAIN RAFI AHMED 5. ABSTRACTYet we have seen lot of work on the productivity and Organizational development, howeverthe linkage of humor with the organizational development and productivity is yet anunexplored area in Pakistan. This concept of humor is specifically focuses on the corporatetrainings and how humor can be useful in training and development of the employees.Through humor, it can be effective to train in various fields such as staffing,communication, time management, managerial control, motivation, teamwork, strategicmanagements and many more with the help of syndicated comic strips or creativity.INTRODUCTIONBeing a trainer, the main role is to communicate to individuals or groups, to motivate,therefore, humor can certainly make your sessions more fun. It is a form of expressionintended to arouse amusement. Humor used carefully throughout your training session cankeep your clients interested. To use humor effectively, your materials need to be practiced andperfected. The type of humor you use will depend on your speaking style, personality andsituation. You are looking for humor which you feel comfortable delivering and can be usedeffectively in your training sessions. I believe that every trainer can use humor effectively, oncethey find the type of humor that fits their speaking style. Once you have found a topic thatlooks promising look for ways to make it appear spontaneous. Stay away from subjects relatedto race, religion, sexual topics and as we get older, the elderly. This way you risk not onlyoffending your client but also remain professional.Humor in your personal training sessions is extraordinary when trying to attract new clients. If apotential client sees you laughing and your client having fun, when the potential client has hada stressful, dull, boring day at work, this could easily lead to a new client. Laughter is the bestmedicine. The current study looks at the relationship of humor and training, whether it isindeed as effective as the literature review highlights. For this purpose a questionnaire will be used to collect data and analysis the perceptions oftrainers and trainees regarding the role of humor in training sessions and its overalleffectiveness.5|Page SADAIN RAFI AHMED 6. LITERATURE REVIEWHUMORIs there a difference in humor and telling jokes? Humor is a state or quality. Joke telling isan actiononly one of many actions by which you might express humor. In other words,you can use humor beautifully and expertly without telling a single joke.Joke telling is fine if you like doing it; it is emphatically not necessary for bringing humorinto your learning environment or anywhere else. Never tell a joke in your life, and you willstill be able to use humor effectively, appropriately, and without fear. Humor is openness,optimisma sort of yes-saying to life. Humor is creativity. Humor is, above all, play.In this random experiment called Life, we are frequently required to:1. Make decisions with insufficient data2. Get the job done with inadequate tools3. Accept less than 100 percent successThis means that if youre a person who cant live with imperfection, you are in for a rockyride. You have to be willing to acceptdare I say embrace?a certain amount ofuncertainty. This takes creativity, a.k.a. humor, a.k.a. playfulness.Look at it this way: If all you can think to do with, say, curtains is to hang them on curtainrods, then what will you do when life hands you just the curtains? Or just the rods? In GoneWith the Wind, Scarlett OHara used a pair of curtains to make a sumptuous gown. That wascreative, a new connection; nobody had ever thought of using curtain fabric for clothes. (Atleast not till the sixties. Say what you will, the sixties were a creative decade.)Humor can be used surprisingly well to encourage critical as well as creative thinking;people with well-developed minds tend to have a better-developed sense of humor.Humor literature can be split into two broad categories: the first is concerned with theindividual level-- why individuals use humor--and the second focuses on the societal level--the function humor has within a social setting or society. The majority of humor literaturefalls within the individual category, focusing on individual motivations for the creation andinterpretation of humor. Within the individual category of humor research there are threemajor humor theories: superiority theory, relief theory and incongruity theory (Berger,1993; Berlyne, 1972; Burns & Burns, 1975; Chapman and Foot, 1976; Feinberg, 1978;Meyer, 1998, 2000; Monro, 1951; Morreall, 1983; Raskin, 1985). The second category of6|PageSADAIN RAFI AHMED 7. humor research focuses on humors function or impact in a social setting and casts humoras dualistic in nature. As a result, if humor creates one aspect in society, it is assumed tosimultaneously create its opposite. This dualistic nature of contextual humor is termed theparadox of humor. The sociological study of humor notes two sets of paradoxical humorfunctions, identification and differentiation, as well as control and resistance.Leadership charisma (Avolio, Howell, & Sosik, 1999) and flexibility (Gelkopf & Kreitler,1996) can be enhanced with the cautious use of humor. It makes the job atmospherepleasant and vents stress that may otherwise turn into aggression (Decker,1987). Howeverhumor is also associated with trivial or non-serious banter, it is a significant factor in theconstruction of groups and the organizational culture.A person can be found comical and therefore inferior, if he or she is inadequate accordingto a set of agreed-upon group or societal criteria. Superiority humor is usually associatedwith laughing at others inadequacies, but can also take the form of self-derision. Theaspect of superiority humor is one of the oldest themes in the analysis of humor. Both Platoand Aristotle wrote about humor as a form of mockery or disdain, usually self-directed,which should be kept at a minimum (Janco, 1984).The conception of humor as an expression of superiority is usually traced to the writings ofThomas Hobbes. Hobbes statement on humor published in On Nature has become theprimary touchstone of superiority humor. The passion of laughter is nothing else butsudden glory arising from sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves bycomparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own formerly (As quoted in Berger,1993, p. 2; Feinberg, 1978, p. 6; Gruner, 1978; pp. 29-30; Morreall, 1983, p.5;). Thesuperiority motivation of humor, as Rapp (1951) suggests, may take its origins in thehostile gloating of a vanquished foe, but in its modern form is usually analogous to thegentle criticism of a child as they unsuccessfully attempt an adult activity. Gruner (1978)suggests that superiority humor helps to avoid aggression. Feinberg (1978) suggests that itis aggression, but in a nonviolent and socially acceptable fashion. In principle, humor as anexpression of superiority can be either a mechanism of control and/or a form of resistance.When a joke or laughter is used to reduce tension or stress, humor can be considered toprovide a relief function. A good example can be seen in using humor as a face savingbehavior in negotiation and mediation to reduce tension and increase trust betweenparties (Goffman, 1955; Rogan & Hammer, 1994; Rubin, 1983). Spencer (1860) is creditedwith providing the first reference to relief humor when he suggested that laughter was aresult of the physical energy which is built up to deal with disagreeable feelings. Thisnervous energy overflows into nerves supplying the mouth and respiration system,producing laughter (Haig, 1988). Spencer likened the relief effect to opening a safety valveon a steam pipe (Morreall, 1983; Zijderveld, 1983). Darwin (1965) vindicated Spencerstheory and suggested that laughter was similar to primate facial expressions which areused to ease tension.Spencers work has had considerable influence on the conception of humor as relief oftension, but the primary text in humor relief theory in modern analysis is Freuds7|PageSADAIN RAFI AHMED 8. (1905/1960) Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious. Freud viewed laughter as aresponse to jokes and considered it of secondary importance to the jokes themselves.Freud held that jokes were akin to dreams, because they allowed forbidden ideas from theunconscious to surface. Freud also discussed the effects of laughter in less detail as aresponse to social and comic influences in which he modifies Spencers (1860) notion ofnervous emotional discharge in humor with psychological emotional discharge throughhumor. We should say that laughter arises if a quota of psychical energy which has earlierbeen used for the cathexis of particular psychical paths has become unusable, so it can findfree discharge (Freud, 1905/1960, p.180).According to Freud, relief humor has two properties. First, it has a healing quality, allowingbuilt-up tension and energy to be released: Anyone who has allowed the truth to slip outin an unguarded moment is in fact glad to be free of the pretense (Freud, 1905/1960,p.126). Second, humor is an act of disguised aggression and sanctioned resistance. Thejoke then represents a rebellion against that authority, a liberation from its pressure(p.125).The incongruity conception of humor suggests that humor is a human reaction toambiguity within their environment. Following Bergson, Douglas (1975) suggests that allhumor is a juxtaposition of two unlike things within a situation. However, she expandsupon Bergsons frame to suggest that humor is the way in which we deal with andunderstand our complex environment. This idea that incongruity humor is a way in whichto interpret ambiguity has important implications for understanding the use of humor insocial organizations and as a communication phenomenon.Bergsons (1956) essay Laughter was a landmark for humor theory because it urgedresearchers to study humor not only in the social context, but also to consider theindividuals who created it. Bergson, on a simple level, calls for a comprehensive view whichwould combine the psychological, social, and (to some degree) the communicativeunderstanding of humor to be combined. What can be taken from Bergson is thatincongruity humor is situationally and relationally driven.Plessner (1970) argues that laughing (or crying) is a response to a situation which is soincongruous that we cannot interpret the humor in any other fashion. Plessners notionsbuild on those of Henri Bergson (1956) who suggested that humor is found in situationswhich are not within the realm of usual interpretations: A situation is invariably comicwhen it belongs simultaneously to two altogether independent series of events and iscapable of being interpreted in two entirely different meanings at the same time (p. 123).8|PageSADAIN RAFI AHMED 9. TRAININGTraining cycle based on a human resource development planAs economical competition increases, corporations are seeing the importance and value of trainingemployees. Training and development is a unique aspect of communication studies andcommunication professionals are being specifically educated to conduct productive trainingsessions. Many studies have examined andragogy, the study of adult learning, and discovered thatthere are certain ways in which adults process and theorize information. Corporations areattempting to determine successful ways to increase long-term retention of information gained inFigure 1 2training.Training methods are constantly being analyzed to ensure that trainees are receiving and retainingrequired information. Kaupins (1997) study required professional corporate trainers to evaluate avariety of training methods. Such training methods include self-study programs, internships, role-playing, and advanced technology (Kaupins, 1997). The study concluded that adults tend to preferself-direction, learning from real-life events, and application of learned material, with specificresults showing high regard for live cases and internships. Kaupins (1997) realizes that a largevariety of training methods are used among corporations today. However, the study found lecturesas having low ratings in relation to knowledge retention. In agreement with the conclusions of thisstudy, suggests that participative methods of training are most effective, as acting on information9|Page SADAIN RAFI AHMED 10. allows it to be stored in the long-term memory. Participative training includes asking for audienceexpectations and questions, reciting lessons, and giving feedbackGetting employees to think in new ways takes a lot of time and effortand determination--frommanagement. The single greatest hindrance to the creative process is management itself.Challenging assumptions and looking at information in new ways takes time and patiencenotthings management typically has lots of. And although fostering creativity and teamwork isbasically easy, making it a priority is extremely hard. Without a major commitment by senior-levelmanagement, new ideas are unlikely to surface. Every businesss growth hinges on innovation.Unfortunately, creativity--the activity that leads to innovation--is one of the first things to take aback seat in a downsized environment. People arent inherently less creative when theyre workinghard; they simply have less time to indulge their creative energies. With this in mind, I offer fouringredients for fostering the creative process: Make the time. Creativity cant be a hobby: It requiresserious attention. Managements role must be to force the time to let it happen. Designate one day amonth for the entire company to engage in some sort of creative activity, such as brainstormingsessions. For example, tell your employees to scour the press for creative ideas in other industries.The monthly "creative day" can then be used to identify the principles behind those creativesuccesses and to see how they might be applied to your own business. I have found that the verybest ideas for our industry often come from observing what works in other fields. We need notreinvent the wheel. Pairing things that have seemingly little in common often leads to newrevelations. There are a dozen ways to use the day effectively--the key for managers is to providethe structure to let employees take the time. People are not inherently motivated to structurethemselves in teams--it takes effort, organization and a willingness to be flexible. Make it fun.Creativity cant be simply another office task. Take off the ties, the jackets, the high heels. Developentertaining procedures for engaging people in the process. The entire Times Mirror circulationdepartment recently spent a week thinking of ways to increase profitability by looking beyond thetraditional ways of cutting costs and increasing revenues. To get the creative juices flowing, thedepartment was divided into groups of eight people, and each group was assigned a certain task.One group was sent to the grocery store to buy boxes of cereal that caught their attention, with theidea that the cereal shelf is similar to a newsstand. When the group met and discussed theirdecision-making processes, the results were related to how consumers buy at the newsstand, whichled to several new, very creative thoughts about magazine cover design.Another group was told to purchase the most valuable item they could find (other than a magazinesubscription) for $10. The group discussed what they bought and what they found valuable in theitems they purchased. As a result of this exercise, a number of very creative copy platforms weredeveloped for direct mail. There were several other similar activities that were fun to do; as aresult, people became willingly engaged in the process. Make it everyones job. Some of the verybest ideas can come from the people who sit quietly in their cubicles, typing away all day. You mustfigure out a way to unlock creative thinking at all levels of your company. We have a program called"Plant-a- Seed" that encourages employees to submit written ideas for improving the company.Once a month, a group of managers evaluates the ideas and moves forward on those with potential.Those ideas that are chosen are publicized, and the responsible individual receives a bonus.Another approach is to include employees from all levels of the company in brainstorming sessions,and to mix people from different departments. I find that those who are inexperienced or justbeginning their careers often have more open minds compared to those of us who have alreadydeveloped our perspectives and set our minds on a certain course of action. Naivet can be the bestmedicine for creative thinking. Make it happen. A serious hindrance to the creative process is a10 | P a g e SADAIN RAFI AHMED 11. companys inability to execute good ideas. Lack of follow-through leads to skepticism and inertiaamong employees. Nothing breeds success more than success itself. Set priorities, focus on twoideas, make those happen--and people will begin to believe in the process. Reward peoplefinancially and psychologically in a substantial way for the successful execution of a new idea.Creativity can be learned, but it often requires training. But just as there are tools to train sales andmanagement staffs, there are many practical tools and proven methods for nurturing creativity. Forinstance, several companies specialize in facilitating brainstorming sessions. Almost always, I findthat a third-party perspective fosters our ability to think outside the boundaries of business.Synaptic, Inc., in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one company I have found particularly helpful. Forcomputer fans, there is the software program Idea Fisher. The computer helps you make unobviousconnections as you fill out an on-screen survey form. Times Mirrors marketing communicationsdepartment uses it regularly for creative tasks such as naming products and developing tag lines.The best practical guide to idea-generating techniques that I have come across is Thinker toys: AHandbook of Business Creativity for the 90s, by Michael Michalko, published by Ten Speed Press inBerkeley, California. Its full of very specific, mind stretching exercises and many, manyinspirational examples of companies that have achieved incredible success through seemingly smallobservations. For instance, Lenox China started the concept of bridal registries when the companyrealized few people could afford to buy an entire set of china at once. These are a few of the tools.More important, you must make fostering creativity a top priority for you and your staff. Althoughcreativity requires the same type of training that salespeople receive, in a downsized environment,its 10 times more important because people will not make the time to do it on their own. When wemost need to be on the cutting edge, we can ill afford to have the backbone of our business--newideas-- be an afterthought.Armstrong (1999) created an experiential role-playing exercise aimed at teaching businessmanagers methods of decision making that complement traditional rational decision-makingprocesses. In the exercise, participants were split into groups of 8 to 10 and were given a rawmaterial that could be touched, passed around and molded. The groups were asked to come up withas many possible product or service ideas for the raw material. One product idea was selected fromamong the list in each group, and the group then had to design a product name and slogan, andcreate a video advertisement for the class. Based on participant feedback, the role-playing exercise"appears to be a powerful and useful learning experience."Glenn-Ryan and Guss (1989) conducted a training program aimed at fostering initiative andcreativity in senior career civil servants in an effort to increase the level and quality of serviceprovided. An ultimate goal of the research was to gain a critical mass to move the organization in anew direction. Seventy-five civil servant supervisors were exposed to a two-and-one-half daymanagement seminar. A snapshot of the organization was taken through the use of two surveys: amanagement development survey and a client survey. The training consisted of eight maincomponents: creativity and vision; organization culture; assessment of current culture, leadershipstyle and stress conditions; small-group exercises; building small wins; setting a direction; and apersonality-type indicator. The study concluded that change is difficult when dealing with an"antiquated infrastructure", and that substantial risk is involved when managers state their valuespublicly.Raudsepp (1987) proposed a list of twenty-four interventions to enhance organizational andpersonal innovation and achievement, and to harness and focus employees energies to achieveinnovative results. Among the interventions listed, of special note was the philosophy of providing a11 | P a g eSADAIN RAFI AHMED 12. safe atmosphere for failures. Business managers and psychologists were quoted to support theinterventions. Conclusions were not offered.Business Management Week (2001) published on the World Wide Web a synopsis of a five-dayround table discussion on the role of creativity in UK business.The discussions Global were built on the findings of Professor Amin Rajans report,"Harnessing creativity to improve the bottom line." Of note among the discussions were thestatements that business creativity was not a "luxury" to be harnessed only in prosperous times,but was essential all the time; that there are suspicions of creativity in some organizations due to itselusive nature; that creativity can best be harnessed by creating small teams within an organizationthat are not over-controlled and that are connected within the company; and that creativity shouldnot be compartmentalized, but should be seen as a way of life for the entire organization. Umilker(1988) presented a review of literature identifying the often-faddish nature of businessimprovement theories, and gave six necessary characteristics of successful managers that want tosupport organizational creativity. The six characteristics were: identify innovative employees;foster an innovative environment; provide challenges; provide idea sources; and offer rewards.Conclusions were not offered.MANAGEMENTManagement in all business and human organization activity is simply the act of getting peopletogether to accomplish desired goals and objectives. Management comprises planning, organizing,staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people orentities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resourcing encompasses the deploymentand manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and naturalresources.Management can also define as Directors and managers who have the power and responsibility tomake decisions to manage an enterprise. As a discipline, management comprises the interlockingfunctions of formulating corporate policy and organizing, planning, controlling, and directing thefirms resources to achieve the policys objectives. The size of management can range from oneperson in a small firm to hundreds or thousands of managers in multinational companies. In largefirms the board of directors formulates the policy which is implemented by the chief executiveofficer.Management operates through various functions, often classified as planning, organizing, leading/motivating, and controlling. Planning: Deciding what needs to happen in the future (today, next week, next month,next year, over the next 5 years, etc.) and generating plans for action. Organizing: (Implementation) making optimum use of the resources required to enablethe successful carrying out of plans. Staffing: Job analyzing, recruitment, and hiring individuals for appropriate jobs. Leading: Determining what needs to be done in a situation and getting people to do it. Controlling Monitoring: checking progress against plans, which may needmodification based on feedback.12 | P a g e SADAIN RAFI AHMED 13. Motivating: the process of stimulating an individual to take action that will accomplish adesired goal.Imagine a world where managers always recognized and rewarded their most capable people. Itwould be hard for a rational employee to leave a great job for a ten percent chance of creatingsomething even greater. But leaving a boss who is Satans learning-challenged little brother isrelatively easy. And if the general economy isnt serving up wonderful job opportunities at othercompanies (thanks in part to bad management) then you can see why people gravitate towardstarting their own companies.One has to thank The Dilbert Principle for some of this entrepreneurial zest. The Dilbert Principleobserves that in the modern economy, the least capable people are promoted to managementbecause companies need their smartest people to do the useful work. Its hard to design software,but relatively easy to run staff meetings. This creates a situation where you have more geniusesreporting to morons than at any time in history. In that sort of environment youd expect thegeniuses to be looking for a way out, even if Plan B has a low chance of success.DILBERT PRINCIPLE:The most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the leastdamage: management. (Scott Adams)Big companies with bad managers are the ideal breeding ground for entrepreneurs. Employees areexposed to a wide variety of business disciplines, and can avail themselves of excellent company-paid training and outside education. When you add broad skill development to the inevitability ofeventually getting a moron for a boss, thanks to frequent internal reorganizations, its no wonderthat big companies spray entrepreneurs into the environment like the fountains at Bellagio.METHODOLOGYRESEARCH QUESTIONWhat is the Impact of Humor in Training and Development?DATA COLLECTIONIn order to explore the impact of humor in T&D, quantitative research method is used. Thequantitative approached were used. Questionnaire construction is used in this research because13 | P a g e SADAIN RAFI AHMED 14. they are a valuable method of collecting a wide range of information from a large number ofindividuals, often referred to as respondents. Good questionnaire construction is critical to thesuccess of a survey. Inappropriate questions, incorrect ordering of questions, incorrect scaling, orbad questionnaire format can make the survey valueless. A useful method for checking aquestionnaire and making sure it is accurately capturing the intended information is to pretestamong a smaller subset of target respondentsBased on Literature Survey, two sets of questionnaires were designed for the trainers fromdifferent training institutions as well as for the trainees to explore the major impact of humor inTraining and Development.Both close-ended as well as open-ended questions were used in questionnaires.TRAINING INSTITUTIONSTwenty five corporate trainers from nine best training institutions of Pakistan have been focused,which has a designed management development programs specially tailored to meet the needsof individual companies.1. Pakistan Institution of Management2. Center of Management Development3. Octara4. Narejo5. Franklin Covey6. Paramount Consulting7. Learning Minds8. Navitus9. ICILFollowing are the areas of training and development:1. General Management14 | P a g eSADAIN RAFI AHMED 15. 2. Communication3. Marketing Management4. Operations Management5. Quality Management6. Financial Management7. Economics8. Human Resource Management9. Project Management10. Information Technology11. Personal Effectiveness12. First Line Supervision13. One Day Seminars14. World Class CompetitivenessTRAINEESParticipants were drawn more than 50 employees from different organizations in the field ofbanking, oil refinery, media, fertilizers, etc RESULTS15 | P a g e SADAIN RAFI AHMED 16. The respondents opinion on the impact of humor in T&D is very positive although few trainersbelieve that humor creates a non serious playful environment that causes a clutter in the learningprocess.Following are the graphical representations of the respondents opinion that includes the trainersand the trainees.QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE TRAINEES1. The use of humor in trainings isA) not effectiveB) effectiveC) very effective80% of the trainees believehumor is effective and 20%consider it to be very effectivetool in corporate trainings.Figure 4 316 | P a g e SADAIN RAFI AHMED 17. 2. Does humor reduce mental and physical stress?A) YesB) MiddleC) NoFigure 590% of the trainees believe humor reduce stress in trainings while 10% believe it may not be thespecific tool to decrease the stress of the employees in the training.3. Can humor in training sessions, keep you focused?A) YesB) MiddleC) NoFigure 680% of the respondentsconsider humor as a source of paying attention toward learning rest 20% believe it may help togain attention.17 | P a g eSADAIN RAFI AHMED 18. 4. The use of race, religion and sexual topics as humorous act can make the trainingA) not effectiveB) effectiveC) very effectiveFigure 790% of trainees believes race, religious and sexual jokes can cause offensiveness environment and 10% consider is to be effective.5. Do you think humor helps in the learning processA) YesB) MiddleC) NoFigure 890% of respondents believehumor helps in the learning process, and 10% consider it t be a possibility.18 | P a g e SADAIN RAFI AHMED 19. 6. Is humor an effective tool for increasing divergent thinking?1. Yes2. MiddleFigure 93. No50% believe it can be a good tool toincrease divergent thinking, 30%declared it to be a perfect tool andrest 20% think humor isnt theperfect tool for increasing divergentthinking.QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THETRAINERS1. The use of humor in trainings isFigure 10 A) not effective B) effective C) very effective60% of the trainers believe humor is a very effective tool, 20% state its not effective and the rest20% respond it to be just effective.19 | P a g eSADAIN RAFI AHMED 20. 2. Does humor reduce mental and physical stress of a trainee?D) YesE) MiddleF) No60% of the trainers believe it doesreduce stress, rest argue humor mightbe a good tool to reduce mental andphysical stress of the trainee.Figure 11 3. Is there a difference b/wHumor and telling jokes? A) Yes B) Middle C) No70% trainers know the difference b/w two and 30% is judging it to besame.Figure 124. Can humor in training sessions, keep your clients focused?D) YesE) Middle20 | P a g eSADAIN RAFI AHMEDFigure 13 21. F) No60% of the trainers argue that humor intraining sessions keep the trainees focused,while 40% are not in a favor.5. Material need to be practiced and perfected to use humor isA) Not ImportantB) ImportantC) Very Important 70% believe material must be practiced before presenting humor, while 10% say its an important move toward humor Figure 14 and the rest 20% disagree.6. The use of race, religion and sexual topics as humorous act can make the trainingD) not effectiveE) effectiveF) very effectiveFigure 15100% trainers agree that race, religiousand sexual topic can upset trainee by any mean.7. To attract new clients, humor can be?A) Not helpful21 | P a g e SADAIN RAFI AHMED 22. B) Little helpfulC) HelpfulD) Very helpful40% of the trainer believe humor may help to attract new clients, while 30% say its a helpful tool,25% believe is very effective tool, while 5% judge it to be not helpful.Figure 168. Can Humor be offensive to some audience?A) YesB) MiddleC) NoAfter understanding b/w humor and joketelling, 60% of the trainers believe humorcannot be offensive to audience, and 40%believe it will.Figure 1722 | P a g e SADAIN RAFI AHMEDFigure 18 23. Figure 19 9. Do you think humor helps inlearning D) Yes E) Middle F) No 60% of the trainers believe, humor really help in learning process, while 40% think it may help.10. How important is it to know your client, to use humor?A) Not importantB) ImportantC) Very important50% responded it to be just important, 20% say its a very important and rest 20% say its notimportant to know you client to use humor.11. Is humor an effective tool for increasing divergent thinking?1 Yes23 | P a g e SADAIN RAFI AHMED 24. 2 Middle3 No Figure 2050% believe humor is an effective toolincreasing divergent thinking, while restbelieve it may be a good tool.MAJOR FINDINGSTheres a different b/w humor and telling jokes, you can use humor beautifully and expertlywithout telling a single joke, while theres a chance that joke telling can demolish the creativity ofthe training. Respondents believe that telling jokes can create offensive environment in the trainingsession.24 | P a g e SADAIN RAFI AHMED 25. More than 60% of the trainers and trainee believe that humor is the efficient tool that can be usedin trainings to reduce stress, keep the clients focused, help attract new clients, helps in learningprocess and increase divergent thinking, which will result in productivity, CONCLUSIONThe study concludes that humor is a powerful tool for helping individuals with better understandand handle real-world situations, as well as a way for the people in their lives to better understandthem. We chose to emphasize humor as our training medium because a large no. of respondentssuggested to us that humor would enhance the process of learning: humor adds a positiveemotional valence to the presentation, it makes the session more interesting, it makes the sessionnon-threatening, and it requires the use of multiple components of the brain to process it. RECOMMENDATIONSA Creative training practice that could bring humor in the corporate trainingsTraining Practice: Always acknowledge the BOMBThis rule is based on a fact that as a born creative genius, most of the ideas will stink. Put in a stand-up comics terms, you will bomb. By bomb, it means a humorous ad lib which is made up in25 | P a g eSADAIN RAFI AHMED 26. advance. Bombing, and then humorously acknowledging your bomb, can give your listeners threewonderful gifts: 1Freedom from having to feel embarrassed for you. 2Renewed respect for your competence and confidence.(After all, you were smart enough toknow that you just bombed, and confident enough to put it into perspective.) 3Reassurance that they themselves might bomb in front of you without fear of ridicule.(Note: This one is no small gift!) To sum it up, far from harming the credibility, a nice little bomb can actually increase rapport andtrust between you and your listeners.A brainstorming...................................................................10CACKNOWLEDGEMENT.........................................................4Albany...............................................................................29 Cambridge........................................................................11Aristotle........................................................................7, 29Cognitive...........................................................................28B comic strips.........................................................................5Communication..........................................................15, 29Berkeley......................................................................11, 29competence......................................................................2626 | P a g eSADAIN RAFI AHMED 27. CONCLUSION....................................................................25 Leading.............................................................................12confidence........................................................................26 LITERATURE REVIEW...........................................................6controlling........................................................................12MControlling........................................................................12corporate policy................................................................12 MAJOR FINDINGS..............................................................24creative thinking...........................................................6, 10management.......................................10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 28creativity............................................5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 24, 28 Management.............................................10, 12, 14, 15, 28DMETHODOLOGY................................................................13 Motivating........................................................................13DATA COLLECTION............................................................13ODilbert Principle................................................................13divergent thinking...........................................19, 23, 24, 25organizations...........................................................8, 12, 15Eorganizing.........................................................................12 Organizing.........................................................................12Economics.........................................................................15 Pemployees...............................................5, 9, 10, 12, 15, 17Fplanning............................................................................12 Planning............................................................................12Freud...............................................................................7, 8 Psychotherapy..................................................................28GQGruner..........................................................................7, 28QUESTIONNAIRE.........................................................16, 19HRhuman resource development plan....................................9 RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................25humor.3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, REFERENCES......................................................................2725, 28, 29 respondents.....................................................................16Humor...............................................................................26 RESULTS............................................................................15Irole-playing...................................................................9, 11 Sideas..................................................................8, 10, 11, 25Impact of humor in training & development......................3 satisfaction.......................................................................28initiative............................................................................11 staffing..........................................................................5, 12JStaffing.............................................................................12 strategic managements......................................................5joke............................................................6, 7, 8, 22, 24, 28stress...........................................................7, 11, 17, 20, 25Ksurvey.........................................................................11, 14 TKaupins...............................................................................9Lteamwork.....................................................................5, 10 theories.........................................................................6, 12laughter...............................................................7, 8, 28, 29time management..............................................................5Laughter....................................................................5, 8, 28 trainees..............................................5, 9, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21Leadership..........................................................................7Training.............................................................9, 13, 14, 25REFERENCESAvolio, B. J., Howell, J. M., & Sosik, J. J. (1999). A funny thing happened on the way to the27 | P a g e SADAIN RAFI AHMED 28. bottom line: Humor as a moderator of leadership style effects. Academy of ManagementJournal, 42(2), 219-227Begley, T., & Boyd, D. (2000). Articulating corporate values through human resourcepolicies. Business Horizons, 43, 8-13.Berger, A. (1993). An anatomy of humor. New Brunswick, NJ :Transaction Publishers.Bergson, H. (1956). Laughter. In W. Sypher (Ed.), Comedy, (pp. 61-190). Baltimore,MD: Johns Hopkins Press.Burns, T. & Burns, I. (1975). Doing the wash: An expressive culture and personality study ofa joke and its tellers. Norwood, PA: Norwood Edition.Chapman, A. & Foot, H. (1976). Its a funny thing humour. Oxford: Pergamon Press.Consalvo, C. M. (1989). Humor in management: No laughing matter. Humor: InternationalJournal of Humor Research, 2, 285-297Decker, W. H. (1987). Managerial humor and subordinate satisfaction. Social Behaviour andPersonality, 15, 225-232.Duncan, W. J., Smeltzer, L. R., & Leap, T. L. (1990). Humor and work: Applications ofjoking behavior to management. Journal of Management, 16, (2), 255278.Eisenberg, E. M. & Goodall, H. L. (1997). Organizationalcommunication: Balancingcreativity and constraint. (2nd ed.). New York: St. Martins Press.Feinberg, L. (1978). The secret of humor. Amsterdam: Rodopi.Gelkopf, M., & Kreitler, S. (1996). Is humor only fun, an alternative cure or magic:The cognitive therapeutic potential of humor. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 10(4),235- 254.Goffman, E. (1955). On face work. Psychiatry, 18, 213-231.Gruner, C. (1978). Understandinglaughter: The workings of wit and humor. Chicago:Nelson-Hall.Hobbes, Thomas. Human Nature in English Works, vol. 4, ed. Molesworth (London: Bohn,1840).28 | P a g e SADAIN RAFI AHMED 29. Janco, R. (1984). Aristotle on comedy. Berkeley: University of California Press.Lyttle, Jim. http://www.doctorlyttle.com/Dissert/Meyer, J. (1998, April). Humor as communications unifying and dividing tool.Paper presented at the Southern States Communication Association Annual Convention, SanAntonio, TX.Meyer,J. (2000) Humoras a double-edgedsword:Four functions of humor incommunication. Communication Theory, 10, 310-331.Monro D. H. (1951). Argument of humor. Melbourne, Australia: Melbourne University Press.Morreall, J. (1983). Taking laughter seriously. Albany, NY: State University of New YorkPress.Norrick, N. R. (1993). Conversational joking: Humor in everyday talk. Bloomington, IN:Indiana University Press.Plessner, H. (1970). Laughing and crying. J. Churchill & M. Greene (Trans.). Evanston:Northwestern University Press.Rapp, A. (1951). The origin of wit and humor. New York: E. P. Dutton.Raskin, V. (1985). Semantic mechanisms of humor. Boston: Reidel. INDEXA BACKNOWLEDGEMENT.........................................................4 Berkeley......................................................................11, 29Albany...............................................................................29 brainstorming...................................................................10Aristotle........................................................................7, 29C29 | P a g eSADAIN RAFI AHMED 30. Cambridge........................................................................11laughter...............................................................7, 8, 28, 29Cognitive...........................................................................28 Laughter....................................................................5, 8, 28comic strips.........................................................................5 Leadership..........................................................................7Communication..........................................................15, 29Leading.............................................................................12competence......................................................................26 LITERATURE REVIEW...........................................................6CONCLUSION....................................................................25 Mconfidence........................................................................26controlling........................................................................12MAJOR FINDINGS..............................................................24Controlling........................................................................12management.......................................10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 28corporate policy................................................................12 Management.............................................10, 12, 14, 15, 28creative thinking...........................................................6, 10METHODOLOGY................................................................13creativity............................................5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 24, 28 Motivating........................................................................13DODATA COLLECTION............................................................13organizations...........................................................8, 12, 15Dilbert Principle................................................................13organizing.........................................................................12divergent thinking...........................................19, 23, 24, 25Organizing.........................................................................12EPEconomics.........................................................................15 planning............................................................................12employees...............................................5, 9, 10, 12, 15, 17 Planning............................................................................12FPsychotherapy..................................................................28 QFreud...............................................................................7, 8GQUESTIONNAIRE.........................................................16, 19 RGruner..........................................................................7, 28HRECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................25 REFERENCES......................................................................27human resource development plan....................................9 respondents.....................................................................16humor.3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, RESULTS............................................................................1525, 28, 29 role-playing...................................................................9, 11Humor...............................................................................26 SI satisfaction.......................................................................28ideas..................................................................8, 10, 11, 25 staffing..........................................................................5, 12Impact of humor in training & development......................3 Staffing.............................................................................12initiative............................................................................11 strategic managements......................................................5Jstress...........................................................7, 11, 17, 20, 25 survey.........................................................................11, 14joke............................................................6, 7, 8, 22, 24, 28TK teamwork.....................................................................5, 10Kaupins...............................................................................9theories.........................................................................6, 12Ltime management..............................................................5 trainees..............................................5, 9, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21 Training.............................................................9, 13, 14, 2530 | P a g e SADAIN RAFI AHMED 31. NOTES31 | P a g e SADAIN RAFI AHMED