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&lt;p&gt;While it may seem like there&#39;s little in the way to joke about of late, being able to make your colleagues laugh—especially at the right time—is a skill that can pay serious career dividends, according to research cited by the &lt;em&gt;Wall Street Journal.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;According to the research, which was conducted by researchers at the Wharton Business School and Harvard Business School, &quot;simply recalling a funny joke by a co-worker elevated the joke-teller’s status in participants&#39; minds&quot;—meaning that those with the ability to create camaraderie or defuse tension with a well-placed quip came to be seen as more respected and powerful.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But, as WSJ columnist Sue Shellenbarger points out in the following video, any aspiring office comedians really need to keep that &quot;well-placed&quot; piece in mind. As Shellenbarger says, &quot;you really have to understand the setting. It&#39;s always OK to make gentle fun of yourself, [use] self-deprecating humor, gentle teasing of colleagues you know really well or make fun of something everybody&#39;s frustrated about, or defuse a conflict.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, it&#39;s also important to understand the timing. Shellenbarger notes that, as well as being relaxed, wise-cracking colleagues need to be &quot;sensitive to the setting […] trying to drop a one-liner into the middle of a really serious meeting where everyone&#39;s trying to make a big decision is probably not going to be taken too well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Check out the full video, which includes an anecdote on how a single joke can completely change your reputation, here:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;iframe width=&quot;512&quot; height=&quot;288&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; webkitallowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; mozallowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; marginheight=&quot;0&quot; marginwidth=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;http://video-api.wsj.com/api-video/player/v3/iframe.html?guid=2323C64E-3B95-46D7-AC10-2B69D727A442&amp;amp;shareDomain=null&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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