Where does humor fit into professional behavior?

Over the past few days, I've communicated and worked with a variety of people, each of whom has a different sense of humor. The work I've done with these folks has been serious work; the subject matters we discuss have been important, significant issues; the people's responses and demonstration to humor has been different each time.

I don't know where wit figures into work, but I find it to be interesting. On one project this week, I've been working with the woman who is a little younger than I am, who has a very deadpan demeanor, who told my boss and me the funniest story I've heard in a long time--without cracking a smile.

And then there's the person I find it fun to offset because I think he takes things too seriously though I also think he delights in the silliness. Though what we have been discussing is of great importance, sometimes I find a good opportunity to make a joke--sometimes, it's understood, other times not so much. (Of course, I do have a weird sense of humor--another friend of mine likes to apologize when I make jokes with, "Not everyone 'gets' Ana." Of course, he works for the State senate, so it could be that he has trouble with humor in general.)

Next is the person who gets angry if you laugh at something she says or does; even if it is endearingly funny, she takes it personally if you laugh.

There's the other friend who likes to say that the line is where he knows he needs to step across. Although he's never personally insulting in his humor, he can be quite...graphic...in it.

But how does humor work in the workplace? As a tool, it is useful in meetings to make an audience comfortable; at workshops or conferences--amongst a group of strangers--it helps you get to know other people and vice versa. In blogging online, it keeps your audience interested in what you're discussing, or it keeps your audience from growing too bored. It is helpful when you're trying to understand your professional relations, including what motivates them, what they find important, and where boundaries lie. A lot of the most charismatic people in history demonstrated an appropriate balance between wit and intelligence, between professionalism and levity. In some ways, I'd even argue that good humor should count as highly as a job qualification as, say, the ability to communicate effectively. Because, honestly, I've never worked in a job where I didn't use my sense of humor as a tool toward either cutting to the heart of a situation or understanding the people I was working with--and even toward improving team work and team investment on a project.

Of course, humor is also an adaptive instinct.