[sopooneo]

The jokes things is something I realized too. Not because I ever tell off-color jokes, but because I realized certain people felt compelled to laugh. And others would then quietly roll their eyes, not at me, but at the exaggerated reactions. It was causing small divisions on the team.

When I just had peers and made a stupid pun, my friends/coworkers would just groan and tell me not to quit my day job. But when people's annual reviews are in your hands, it's a different story. I think it's perfectly fine to open a meeting by lightening the mood with humor, but I feel compelled to generally reign it in.

[noisy_boy]

As a person who finds the blatant tail wagging pretty annoying, I think a good way to address this from the boss's perspective would be to not being seen basking in the fake adulation and keep an even keel. That keeps the ass-lickers in check and sends the signal, to those who are not, that merit still trumps such shenanigans.

[bob1029]

This kind of thing is why we don't do daily standups anymore. The gradual psychological grind of the same, forced interpersonal dynamics every 24 hours can get to be incredibly oppressive.

[jariel]

This is a really good point, the social dynamics change so much in a power position it's really hard to relate.

Keep the 'bad puns' though, that's more of an expression of humility than anything and it gives them an excuse to groan.

Everyone 'hates/resents their manager' just a tiny bit, and a little opportunity to groan but not get too serious about it is a nice valve.

And yes - the greater the power, the greater every little thing gets parsed and possibly taken out of context, I loathe that because it's the thing that stops us from being candid, and why even in the long-form podcast world, people are not truly forthcoming.