Ask a Manager: office pranks shouldn’t end with the ER, vomit, or tears

[minoanmiss]

I’m convinced that there are two types of people in most workplaces: those who find office pranks hilarious and those who think pranks have no place at work, ever.

I say this because I receive a surprising number of letters about pranks at work, and they inevitably provoke a flood of outraged responses from anti-prank readers, followed by a wave of replies insisting those people are killjoys who don’t understand fun.

At Slate today, I wrote about the good and bad of office pranks (including some that ended as the headline says — with the ER, vomit, or tears), and what determines how a prank at work will land. You can read it here.

Comments

[minoanmiss]

I admit to having an opinion on this, but/and I posted it mostly because the discussion quickly became an example of what Alison describes, and was very interesting, especially when people got into discussions of what "prank" means to them. (There are a couple commenters I hope I never work with, though.)

[julian]

My opinion is: don't.

(But I guess I should read the discussion and think about definitions of pranks. Except my basic take is, "If by the broader definition of a prank, this thing you are going to do seems like it could be considered a prank by someone else, even if not you, then don't do it," so people arguing about that would just ... irk me. I never knew I was so opinionated about this!)

[minoanmiss]

whispers I am 100% with you. And there were commenters I really wanted to argue with.

[julian]

Well, yeah, I sorta *figured* you would be...

[sporky_rat]

Pranks such as putting everything away at the end of the day so you can't find the coffee stuff in the morning because when has anyone ever put away the coffee stuff is fine.

Other than that? Eh.

[sporky_rat]

Of course, reading the one about swapping photos was pretty tickling too.

I expect it'd be a good way to chat with folks you don't chat with often.

[minoanmiss]

I have had coworkers so hostile that, if they were given my desk pictures, I would expect they would throw them away rather than give them back to me.

[cereta]

Yeah, and it sounds charming, until you're the parent searching cubicles for the picture of a child who died a year ago, or of the mother who is in advanced dementia. I mean, the whole "fill the office with balloons" prank sounds like something that couldn't possibly misfire, and I'm imagining getting to my office on a day like today when I have a pounding migraine and vile paranosmia and an upset stomach but I can't stay home because I already called in sick earlier in the week, etc, and opening my door only to be deluged with balloons, and it kind of makes me want to cry.

[ayebydan]

I'm totally against it. I'm autistic and pranks irk me but a colleague is also autistic but has a more rigid sense of the world because of it. The most harmless prank could really upset her. I guess there is doing it while she is not around but then if you are needing to do something while avoiding a person then....why are you doing it at all.

[cereta]

Yeah, and doing something that would make her feel left out and isolated, not such a fun thing.

[minoanmiss]

Someone in the discussion talked about that really cogently, how both pranks and being left out of pranks can make someone feel singled out.

[naath]

We only prank the boss, mostly by including the stuffed yak in important presentations. And I guess we have funny reaction gifs in our slack.