5 ways to be more productive, according to an email Elon Musk sent staff

Elon Musk is CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla, he also founded The Boring Company and put a car into space.

And that’s just the beginning.

The inventor is a poster boy for productivity, and in email allegedly from him to his Tesla staff about increasing productivity to manufacture more Model 3 cars, he outlined some of the best strategies the company should use to be productive.

The email, obtained by jalopnik, says:

First, congratulations are in order! We have now completed our third full week of producing over 2000 Model 3 vehicles. The first week was 2020, the second was 2070 and we just completed 2250 last week, along with 2000 Model S/X vehicles.

Thanks for being such a kickass team and accomplishing miracles every day. It matters. We are burning the midnight oil to burn the midnight oil.

Here are five ways Elon Musk thinks companies - and you - can be more productive:

1. Get rid of frequent meetings.

Excessive meetings are the blight of big companies and almost always get worse over time. Please get of all large meetings, unless you’re certain they are providing value to the whole audience, in which case keep them very short.

Additionally, unless it’s an “urgent matter”, you don’t need to go to frequent meetings.

2. In fact, walk out of a meeting if you're done with it.

Walk out of a meeting or drop off a call as soon as it is obvious you aren’t adding value. It is not rude to leave, it is rude to make someone stay and waste their time.

3. Don't use acronyms.

The Tesla CEO doesn’t like them.

Don’t use acronyms or nonsense words for objects, software or processes at Tesla. In general, anything that requires an explanation inhibits communication. We don’t want people to have to memorise a glossary just to function at Tesla.

4. Stop communicating via "chain of command".

Communication should travel via the shortest path necessary to get the job done, not through the “chain of command”. Any manager who attempts to enforce chain of command communication will soon find themselves working elsewhere.

5. Use common sense.

In general, always pick common sense as your guide. If following a 'company rule' is obviously ridiculous in a particular situation, such that it would make for a great Dilbert cartoon, then the rule should change.

Musk is reportedly sleeping at the Tesla factory in an effort to fix production delays with the Model 3 electric car, and the email tells employees that Tesla will switch to 27/7 shifts to push for 6,000 cars per week by June.

H/T Jalopnik

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