Maslow's hierarchy of needs w.r.t project management

Theory in Psychology which is
proposed by Abraham Maslow (1943)
Maslow's Hierarchy of
Needs w.r.t Project
Management

Presentation By:
Hamna Shahzad

1. Full Name - Abraham Harold Maslow (April 1, 1908 –
June 8, 1970).
2. He created Maslow's hierarchy of needs- Theory of
psychological health that fulfill Human needs.
3. His main focus - Positive qualities in people.
4. Birthplace - Brooklyn, New York

⦁ Abraham Maslow was a Psychology Professor at Alliant
International University, Brandeis University, Brooklyn
College, New School for Social Research, and Columbia
University.
⦁ He died with a Heart attack, while he was jogging.

⦁ Why don't more people self-actualize if their basic
needs are met?
⦁ So, he created - Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

⦁ Recently, a Review of General Psychology survey,
published in 2002 - Ranked Maslow as the tenth
most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

⦁ What Hierarchy of Needs says? - People are motivated to
fulfill basic needs before moving on to other, more
advanced needs - This hierarchy looks like pyramid.

• It deals with the maintenance of the Human body.
⦁ This is a lowest category includes a basic needs that
plays a vital to survival such as the need for good water,
good air (oxygen), good food, shelter to live, clothes to
wear and good sleep.
Psychological Needs

⦁ Security Needs is also known as Safety Needs.
⦁ This includes a desire for steady employment,
healthcare, safe neighborhoods, job security and good
environment also property needs.
⦁ In this generation Wi-Fi, internet, cell phone, security
camera are also comes under security needs only.
Security Needs

⦁ In other words, socials needs can be called as Social
belonging or Love and Belonging which involves
emotional - based relationships such as friendship,
sexual intimacy, acceptance and having a supportive and
communicative family.
⦁ Thus, third level of human needs are seen as
interpersonal which more involved in feelings of
belongingness too.
Love/ Belonging Needs

⦁ Self Esteem needs has two levels.
⦁ Lower level -> need to respect from others such as
recognition or awards, attention, and appreciation.
⦁ Higher level -> self respect such as confidence,
competence, mastery.
Self Esteem

⦁ Humanistic psychologists believe that every person has a
strong desire to realize their full potential, to reach a
level of “self-actualization”.
⦁ In other words, it can be said as the motivation to
realize one's own maximum potential and possibilities.
Self-Actualization

Project Team Needs
The project management team’s needs are focused on.
1. Project Management: The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and
techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.
2. Project Management Team: The members of the project team who are
directly involved in project management activities.
3. Project Manager: The person assigned by the performing organization to
lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives.
Maslow wrote his theory for individual needs and the teams are consisting of
many individuals working cooperatively. In order to motivate the team, project
managers should know their needs. Project managers should know that "a
satisfied need is not a motivator."

Physiological Needs
• Project managers should ask themselves related
questions like “Are the team members sleeping enough,
are they coming work after breakfast, is office cleaned
and ventilated?”
• Physiological conditions of the office are critical.
• There must be available facilities that team members
can eat, drink and rest.
• It is also important that team members should sleep
enough before work.

Safety Needs
• Before project managers establishing their team, it is vital to know team
members' psychology.
• Some people can experience difficulties in their life, and these people might
not be efficient.
• The team should contain people who are already satisfied with their
physiological and safety needs.
• The project manager must be sure that every team member is paid
regularly, being healthy and feeling safe in the work environment.
• Questionnaires and individual meetings can be done for this purpose.
• Team members should know that if they make a small mistake, they will not
be fired. Otherwise, they can not safe and work efficiently.

Belonging Needs
• Project managers should create awareness of being a team for each team
member.
• To create close relationships between team members, social events should be
arranged. “Collaboration in the team is smoother and efficient when the
team members feel that they belong to the team and place the needs of the
team over personal needs. Companies promote team building via company-
sponsored picnics, retreats.”
• The team is motivated to perform well and work towards the project’s goals
when they feel that they are the part of more important aim.
• Therefore, project managers should also motivate the team by socializing
activities together.
• Justice in management is also essential to create a group feeling.

Esteem Needs
• Project teams seek to be competent and efficient so they can gain respect
and prestige from the other people.
• From the project managers' perspective, it is essential to show respect and
appreciate project members successes.
• It is also crucial for program and portfolio managers because every
individual has these needs. So, program managers should motivate project
managers and portfolio managers should motivate program managers by
filling their esteem needs.
• In order to satisfy esteem needs, the manager should approach the team
members appreciating and grateful.
• The project teams and project managers should be the people who are
already satisfying their esteem needs.

Self-Actualization
• In the team building process, project managers should learn the team
members' expectations and purposes.
• When the project manager finds the people who have a specific interest in
the project and natural curiosity for knowledge, it will increase the chance of
success.
• Same factors are in use for the program or portfolio managers. They could
achieve their life goal with a critical program or portfolio.

Limitations in Maslow's Perspective
As Maslow accepted, there are also some phenomena that the theory has limitations.
These are:
• There are some people in whom, for instance, self-esteem seems to be more
important than love. For some people, getting respect from other people is more
important than having family or friends.
• Some ‘psychopathic personality’ cases can be an example of a permanent loss of love
needs. These are people who, according to the best data available, have been starved
for love in the earliest months of their lives and have simply lost forever the desire
and the ability to give and to receive affection.
• Some people, who have never experienced a lack of basic needs like physiological,
safety, belonging needs, can under evaluate the importance of them.
• Sometimes people can give up everything for the sake of their beliefs such as
religions, ideologies, values.

Criticisms
In 1981, a study was published about age differences in motivation related to
Maslow's need hierarchy. The researchers investigated and tested the theory
on 111 people that were five different age groups with both sexes(children,
adolescents, young adults, middle-aged adults, old adults). The study has
shown that:
• Children have higher physiological needs than other age groups,
• Esteem need is the most important for the adolescent group,
• Self-actualization is the most important for young adults,
• Safety need has more importance for old ages than the young ages.
In conclusion, the article suggested that the sequence of the love/belonging
need and the esteem need should be changed in the pyramid according to age

Maslow's hierarchy of needs w.r.t project management

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