‘Use common sense’: 6 tips from Elon Musk to his employees to improve productivity

April
29, 2021

3 min read

Using common sense and not following some rules is one of the advice Elon Musk gave his employees in 2018 through an email that was leaked at the time. The Tesla owner’s goal was to increase and meet productivity targets for Model 3 production.

At times like the ones we are currently going through where our productivity can be affected by the different factors that make up a hybrid or remote work format completely, it is convenient for us to review the tips of the employer when you want to meet objectives and we have a marked deadline:

1. Say “no” to long meetings

According to Musk, these types of joints “are a plague for all companies and almost always get worse over time.” The tycoon’s advice is to ditch all those meetings or walk away, unless you are really providing value to the audience. Keep the rest brief.

2. Frequent meetings don’t work either

“The frequency of meetings should decrease, unless it is a very urgent matter,” according to the owner of Tesla, after the urgent matter is resolved, the frequency of meetings should decrease.

3. Leave the meeting if you are not contributing

For Musk “it is not rude to leave, it is rude to make someone waste their time.” The billionaire advises leaving the meeting if you are not adding value

4. Don’t use jargon, communicate effectively

“Anything that needs an explanation inhibits communication.” The employer asks his employees not to use acronyms or words to refer to software, objects or processes in his company.

5. Communicate directly regardless of hierarchy

“Communication must travel the shortest path necessary to get the job done, not through the” chain of command, “he said.

“A major source of problems is poor communication between departments. The way to solve this is to allow the free flow of information between all levels. If to do something between departments, an individual collaborator has to talk to their manager, who talks to a director, who talks to a vice president, who talks to another vice president, who talks to a director, who talks to a manager, who talks to someone who does the actual work, then super silly things will happen. It must be okay for people to speak directly and make the right thing happen. “

6. Use common sense and don’t follow all the rules

The billionaire explains that if following a “company rule” is obviously ridiculous in a particular situation, then the rule should change. To do this, he recommends using common sense as a guide.