Why you should encourage 'banter' in the workplace

When it goes wrong, banter, defined as the playful and friendly exchange of teasing remarks, can veer closer to harassment than is advisable. But what about when it doesn’t? What is its effect in the workplace?  

An article in journal Personality and Social Psychology Review, titled ‘A Meta-Analytic Review of Social Identification and Health in Organizational Contexts’, has found that increased camaraderie, or banter, with colleagues leads to a stronger connection to the company itself.

Furthermore, staff will have better health and happiness, and have a lower chance of burn out, as a result.

The analysis looked at 58 past studies that included 19,000 people in 15 countries.