Elon Musk is one heck of an entrepreneur!
Everyone knows who Elon Musk is.
Not only is he the founder of PayPal, Hyperloop, and OpenAI, he's the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors.
And...he's one of the wealthiest people in the world.
Lately, I have been looking into how the world's most successful people stay productive.
Last time I talked about Neil Patel's productivity tips, this time, I'm focusing on Elon Musk.
According to The Business Insider, a tweet containing tips on improving productivity in your company was sent via email by Elon Musk to his staff at Tesla.
Here are those tips!
1) Stop having long meetings
According to Musk, "excessive meetings are the blight of big companies and almost always get worse over time."
"Please get [rid] of all large meetings, unless you're certain they are providing value to the whole audience."
Takeaway:
Keep meetings short
Always set an agenda
Stick to the allocated time
Only have meetings if it's essential
2) Leave meetings if you're not contributing anything
Keeping the focus on meetings, Musk believes that leaving meetings is better than sitting there if you're not contributing anything.
"Walk out of a meeting or drop off a call as soon as it is obvious you aren't adding value," says Musk. "It is not rude to leave, it is rude to make someone stay and waste their time."
Takeaway:
It's not rude to leave a meeting if you're not contributing.
Say your part, then leave if you are no longer needed.
Again, DON'T HAVE MEETINGS FOR MEETING SAKE!
3) Reduce terminology that hinders communication
Though Musk's advice is about his own company, you can apply the same recommendations to your own.
"Don't use acronyms or nonsense words for objects, software, or processes at Tesla," Musk says.
"In general, anything that requires an explanation inhibits communication. We don't want people to have to memorize a glossary just to function at Tesla."
Takeaway:
Speak properly, don't use slang, acronyms or jargon!
Keep communication simple.
Get straight to the point.
4) Encourage direct communication between departments
Businesses often go through a line of command to get a message to who they need to.
A bit like Chinese whispers.
Musk hates that!
"One of the main sources of problems is poor communication between departments," Musk says.
He says a business can solve this by allowing the "free flow of information between all levels."
"If, in order to get something done between [departments], an individual contributor has to talk to their manager, who talks to a director, who talks to a VP, who talks to another VP, who talks to a director, who talks to a manager, who talks to someone doing the actual work, then super dumb things will happen," he warns.
Takeaway:
Skip the chain of command, and go straight to the source.
Productivity means reducing barriers or blocks.
Be confident and get the job done.
5) Use your common sense first
Why is it that sometimes we don't have an ounce of common sense in us?
Often common sense can solve many problems.
Elon Musk thinks common sense should always be your guide.
He said, "If following a "company rule" is obviously ridiculous in a particular situation ... then the rule should change."
He follows this by saying, "In general, always pick common sense as your guide."
Takeaway:
If something doesn't make sense, don't go with it.
Stick with your common sense, lead with sensible instinct.
Conclusion: Business Productivity Tips from Elon Musk
Elon Musk is an entrepreneur giant!
Not only is he the founder of some of the world's biggest businesses, but he is also a business mastermind and one of the wealthiest people alive.
As you can imagine, you don't achieve these things by being unproductive. No, imagine how insanely busy Elon must be if you think you're busy.
Well, you can learn something about productivity right from Elon himself.
Here is a summary of business productivity tips from Elon Musk:
Stop having long meetings
Leave meetings if you're not contributing anything
Reduce terminology that hinders communication
Encourage direct communication between departments
Use your common sense first
Are you looking to be more productive? Why not give Elon Musk's tips a try!
You never know. You could be the next founder of Tesla!