If you’re involved with social media, you’ve probably seen the acronym “SMH” attached to posts or tweets. It means “shaking my head” and is used to express disgust, confusion, disbelief, etc. about a particular situation, story, or circumstance.

In all likelihood, you’ve had SMH days at your workplace. It’s inevitable. People do things that downright baffle or even anger you. It’s normal to have days like this. But if you find that you’re spending too many of your days in SMH mode, it’s most likely because something is seriously wrong and needs to be fixed ASAP.

It is vital that organizations rid themselves of nonsense – in whatever form the nonsense presents itself. Nonsense kills, demotivates, and hurts productivity (and thus, profitability.)

As a consultant, I have the privilege of working with many organizations. Leaders of organizations that seem to be stuck in SMH mode call upon me to provide an objective assessment of what’s happening. Believe me, some of these assessments have me not only SMH but PMHO (pulling my hair out.) A lot of the nonsense that I’ve seen has been allowed to fester for months or even years with countless hours of lost productivity and wasted time.

Here are some thoughts on 5 of the most frequent SMH causes:

Meetings that suck. I don’t like meetings. In fact, I hate them. I’d be willing to bet that if you asked your organization’s employees what they really thought about meetings, many, if not most, would shake their heads. Never have meetings for the sake of having meetings. If you must have a meeting, make sure you have an agenda, purpose, and bona fide reason for taking people away from their work.

Complainers. If you have employees that resist every change, gossip about anything, disrupt the harmony of the team, or are just unproductive in general, they need to go! You can’t afford to have these people working for you. Here’s a policy to implement: “Constructive criticism or even complaints are allowed. However, a potential solution to whatever ails whoever must also be suggested.”

Policies and Procedures that are outdated or no longer appropriate. If you haven’t updated your policy manual in the last 3 years, you’re probably hanging onto things that aren’t effective anymore. Perform a hard, candid audit of your policies and procedures (or hire someone to come in to give you an objective assessment.) It’s amazing that in today’s fast-paced market that’s filled with technologically savvy consumers, there are still some organizations that cling to “we’ve never done it that way before.” SMH.

Ineffective Leadership. No one is perfect. But leaders have extraordinary responsibilities. If they’re not up to task, it’s time to say good-bye.

Stifling Creativity and Innovation. Why would you NOT want your best and brightest employees creating and innovating? NEWS FLASH: there is a limit to the number of times a creative employee can hear “no” before walking out the door. Are you going to act on every suggestion? Of course not. But if you’re saying “no” because you refuse to take even the slightest risk or are more concerned with your personal reputation than the welfare and progress of the organization, you don’t belong in a management role.

What are your SMH moments and how have you fixed them? Feel free to comment below.

SOMETHING ABSURD! IS COMING from us here at Your Full Potential, LLC. Stay tuned!