Elon Musk, one of the most creative leaders of our time, embodies the ideal traits of an effective CEO. He is equipped with an array of talents, and the ability to run meetings effectively is one of his core skills.
Musk is well aware that poorly-run meetings dissipate everyone’s energy levels and waste valuable worker time, decreasing employee morale and lowering productivity. Thus, he approaches meetings the same way he approaches every aspect of his work.
In a tremendous email sent to Tesla employees, Musk offered an insightful look into how the company leaders at Tesla run their meetings. Here are his three golden rules for better meetings:
1. Nix large meetings
According to Musk, these types of joints “are a plague for all companies and almost always get worse over time.”
In one interview, he said that a typical meeting at Tesla should not involve more than four to six people. Managerial experts think along the same lines.
So, get rid of a big meeting – and keep it maximum up to 6 people – unless you are hundred percent sure it is providing value to all the members present in the meeting. In a lot of companies when multiple people get invited, half of them can be found thinking of all the other things they could be doing when they have nothing to contribute.
Therefore, before you send out your next invite list, figure out who doesn’t need to be in the meeting. This will help prune down your meeting size down to must-have attendees, so everyone else can devote their time to more important tasks and be more productive.
2. Say ‘no’ to frequent meetings, unless it is something urgent
Elon Musk is also not in the favour of frequent meetings, unless there is an urgent matter that needs to be dealt with.
“Also get rid of frequent meetings, unless you are dealing with an extremely urgent matter. Meeting frequency should drop rapidly once the urgent matter is resolved,” Elon says.
If you have worked for a large organisation, you will recognise the importance of this second rule. Often times, meetings scheduled specifically to deal with a high-priority issue turn into recurring meetings even after the matter gets resolved. This leads to a waste of time and energy, pushing aside other high-priority tasks.
Before calling a meeting, it’s best that you understand the need of the meeting. If it’s possible to communicate updates via group chat or email, reduce the frequency of the meetings.
3. Leave the meeting if you’re not adding value
But what to do if you’re invited?
“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.”
While many people may find this rule quite shocking, the trick is to build this rule into the meeting culture. When both team leads and team members recognise the importance of this rule and set the right example using it, it can significantly build transparency and authenticity in an organisation.
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Paul Keijzer is the CEO and Founder of Engage Consulting and the co-Founder of The Talent Games, which aims to transform HR by digitising talent processes and creating more engaging and productive workplaces through gamification and mobile technology. As a global HR and Leadership Management expert, Paul knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.