.

Last week new guidelines from health watchdog, NICE, urged employers to make sure their staff work reasonable hours and take regular breaks along with other seemingly obvious suggestions that will make workplaces happier and healthier. Whether your called a manager, team leader, head teacher or supervisor or just 'the boss', good leaders are the key to creating happier, healthier workplaces. In...

Is it when everything goes to plan? When nobody interrupts you? When you achieve what you set out to achieve that day? If these are your criteria then you may be setting yourself up for a fall. Anyone who’s ever been to a family wedding knows that an event rarely goes exactly to plan, and that a spanner will be thrown...

In this blog post, Juliette Yardley, Laughology consultant and, sometimes sweaty, trainer, explores how 6.30 am gym sessions with 15 other giggly, dancing ladies, can encourage a positive mind-set and offers some top tips when trying something new or getting others to do the same.   Whenever I told people I was in the gym 3 or 4 mornings a week...

Did you know it’s national smile month? If not you can get involved simply by smiling and it’s really good for you. Smiling helps you feel better and it’s contagious. Go on I dare you to see how many smiles you get back this week simply by smiling at others. Pair up with a friend and see who gets the most....

(* double entendre alert) Normally, anyone in the office who implores me to 'have a go on his chopper*' gets the sharp end of an HR beasting. However, in this instance, as I was grumpy and the rest of the team were goading me I felt pressured to comply. And guess what: I enjoyed it. At this juncture you need some...

This month the Laughology team have been working a lot on the theme of change (click here and scroll down the page to read The Laughology - eight stages to organisational change). Change is a word that can cause all kinds of emotional responses in an organisation. Awareness of feelings and managing reactions towards change is an important part of any...

Last week a study into the Journal of Adolescent Health suggested the number of schoolgirls at risk of emotional problems has risen sharply. Scientists from the study analysed questionnaires completed by 1,600 pupils aged 11-13 in 2009, comparing them with similar surveys conducted five years later. A surprising 7% spike in girls reporting emotional issues was noted, while boys' answers remained...

Coming to the end of a successful team development day recently I was reminded of a long-since archived UK talent show called Opportunity Knocks. What came to mind in particular was the show's famous 'clapometer.' This measured the noise generated by the audiences' clapping as each act was announced. The more popular the act, the louder the applause and the higher...

In the wake of the recent controversy surrounding Jeremy Clarkson's penchant for delivering a knuckle sandwich on discovering that he himself would not be taking receipt of a well earned steak, (Hark do I hear the sound of irony?) it re-ignited in me an itch that need some immediate scratching. The itch in question relates to my ever-increasing realisation that more...