Sydney, Nov 27: Offices across Australia have found a new way to make their workplaces more productive – laughter classes.

Companies in the country are signing up their employees in hordes for laughter classes.

According to experts, laughter can lower people's stress hormones and boost the flow of endorphins from the brain.

Helene Grover, who is the founder of Laughter Strategies and runs weekly corporate workshops designed to spread laughter, believes that promoting hilarity in the office can lead to the formation of a balanced and productive work life, and give people an opportunity to release their "inner child".

"When individuals learn to lighten up, they enhance their attitude towards their work and life, improving their overall well-being. There's richness in laughter. You don't even need to say a word - you can just laugh,” News.com.au quoted Helene, as saying.

"It's the one thing we've got in our bodies that costs nothing,” she added.

She further said that the sessions help improve staff morale and workplace happiness, even though many workers are unwilling to laugh at first.

"For some people, it's not that simple to just get up and laugh. I think people are frightened to make fools of themselves. To create more laughter, sometimes we have to be more silly, and teach people to look at these things and have more fun,” she said.

Helene said that the initial expenditure from the laughter workshops is returned right away as workers decrease stress-related claims, become more competent, and are better equipped to convince customers.

"By encouraging their employees to create a fun environment, (businesses) will increase their productivity and creativity,” she said.

This revival of corporate laughter classes comes in the wake of the launch of the Lighten Up Australia initiative by food company Sanitarium.

This revitalization of corporate laughter classes comes after the launch of the Lighten Up Australia initiative by food company Sanitarium.

The campaign promotes humour and fun in the workplace as a way for management and staff to give their day-to-day work meaning.

In Helene’s program, participants are presented with a large variety of activities that encourage fun and laughter.

Her tips for creating laughter in the office include creating an office ceremony called the "wacky minute", in which everyone spins in their office chairs and sends paper planes across the room.

Other ideas included placing at least one light-hearted item on your desk to offer a moment of fun all through the day, and giving out moulding clay for people to play with at meetings.

"Being silly is a big part of my program. Laughter is very healthy,” Helene said.

"We need to have that attitude because, at the end of the day, we have better relationships when we can laugh together,” she added. (ANI)