Friday 25 November 2022

Use Common Sense If A Company Rule Doesn’t! What Else Elon Musk Expects From Employees To Increase Productivity?

Here are the 6 productivity principles that Elon Musk expects from people working at Tesla: 

1) Avoid large meetings

Large meetings waste valuable time and energy.
- They discourage debate
- People are more guarded than open
- There’s not enough time for everyone to contribute
Don’t schedule large meetings unless you’re certain they provide value to everyone.

2) Leave a meeting if you’re not contributing

If a meeting doesn’t require your:
- Input
- Value
- Decisions
Your presence is useless.
It’s not rude to leave a meeting.
But it’s rude to waste people’s time.
 

3) Forget the chain of command

Communicate with colleagues directly.
Not through supervisors or managers.
Fast communicators make fast decisions.
Fast decisions = competitive advantage.
 

4) Be clear, not clever

Avoid nonsense words and technical jargon.
It slows down communication.
Choose words that are:
- Concise
- To the point
- Easy to understand
Don’t sound smart. Be efficient.

5) Ditch frequent meetings

There’s no better way to waste everyone’s time.
Use meetings to:
- Collaborate
- Attack issues head-on
- Solve urgent problems
But once you resolve the issue, frequent meetings are no longer necessary.
You can resolve most issues without a meeting.
Instead of meetings:
- Send a text
- Send an email
- Communicate on a discord or slack channel
Don’t interrupt your team’s workflow if it’s unnecessary.

6) Use common sense

If a company rule doesn’t:
- Make sense
- Contribute to progress
- Apply to your specific situation
Avoid following the rule with your eyes closed.
Don’t follow rules. Follow principles. 

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The question is how many people feel free to ask questions without having to think about how those decisions are made and who made them? It's up to leaders to set the tone.