Motivation Theories in Agile

This blog is meant to explain the several types of motivation theories that come from project resource management and explain how those fit into the Agile framework. 

Before we discuss motivation theories, we must first explain where they come from. Motivation theories are from a section of project management called project resource management. The resources in the project are human and physical resources. Managing human resources is a very difficult part of project management, there are no clear numbers that can be crunched and calculated in something like cost management. Without people, you would not have anyone to be able to complete any of the other types of management discussed already and later, with that said I can say human resource management is the most important type of management. 

But what exactly is resource management? It is essentially what is done to get the most out of these human and physical resources. When it comes to human resources, this is anyone that is involved with the project, people like customers, developers, stakeholders, etc. are all included.  And not only is it things like managing to make sure they are doing what they need to, but it is also things like hiring, training, compensation and benefits, as well as their relations with others on the project. There is a lot that goes into human resource management, which is why you see companies not just put their workers in a barren white room with just the equipment they need. There are vending machines, restrooms, break/snack rooms, and more.  It is important that there is good human resource management, as without it, it would be very hard to get and maintain workers to even do a project. There is a physical side to human resource management but also a psychological side that plays as just as much of a role. 

The physical resources are things that enable the people, things like materials, equipment, and facilities. They also include the things mentioned earlier like the break rooms. 

Maslow believed that people are guided by their needs. The pyramid consists of 5 sections or "needs". The need's level of importance correlates with their size. This is because Maslow also believed that the section under each section served as a prerequisite. For example, you can't meet esteem needs without first meeting belongingness and love needs, and that can't be fulfilled without first meeting safety needs and so on.  A question you might ask is "if all the important needs are near the bottom, then why try to fulfill the top needs?" All the needs besides self-actualization are considered deficiency needs, when they are fulfilled they are no longer considered a motivator. However, the top need is considered a growth need, and self-actualized people are able to work at peak performance. 

Frederick Herzberg, another psychologist, had another theory. He analyzed the productivity of 1,685 employees and classified factors as hygiene or motivation factors. Hygiene factors are those that prevent job dissatisfaction and motivation factors as factors that cause job satisfaction. He then made a list of the two types of factors:

While his theory is not as conceptual as someone like Maslow's, Herzberg's showed that there was more to making workers happy than just being paid well. 

David McClelland, another psychologist, believed that there were three main needs a person would develop over their life due to experience. Normally though, only one or two of these needs are dominant in people. 

1. Achievement- People who seek to achieve something as well as recognition for it. 

2. Affiliation- People who want relationships and to feel accepted by others. 

3. Power- People who desire personal or institutional power. 

While these are simplified versions of the archetypes created by McClelland, what is important is that someone is identified as these archetypes, and then their needs as that archetype are met. For example, someone who is described as someone with a need for affiliation will need an environment where they feel they are able to have friendly relationships with others there and feel accepted. Someone with a need for power will want to be placed in a managerial role, and someone with achievement should receive some type of recognition for their work like performance checks or something. 

Lastly, we have a couple of theories by Douglas McGregor- those being his theories x and y 

Theory X- This theory was one that McGregor saw was mostly followed by managers/supervisors. This theory assumes workers dislike work and they will try to avoid it by any means necessary. Because of this, managers have to use negative stimuli like coercion and threats to motivate the worker to actually work. It also assumes that the average worker wants to be directed and will avoid responsibility, has no ambition, and just wants security. The studies conducted by McGregor showed these assumptions were not true.

Theory Y- This is a set of assumptions suggested by McGregor himself. This theory assumes workers do not dislike work but consider it to be something natural like eating or sleeping.  The most important reward is esteem and self-actualization- like the pyramid from earlier. 

Theory Z- There is another theory that builds on X and Y but was not made by McGregor. This theory was made by William Ouchi and it is a theory that places itself more in the perspective of the worker than just the manager. It emphasizes things like trust and quality, as well as more collective values like collective decision-making and culture. This is because the theory is based on the Japanese approach to motivating workers. It emphasizes how management views employees but also how employees view management.  It also assumes employees can be trusted to do their jobs if management can be trusted to manage employees. 

In Agile there are things already in place to meet workers' needs. Things like self-organizing teams help to promote sociability and also stop managers from breathing down workers' necks. To be honest, though, there is not really an optimal methodology for Agile itself. There is no optimal theory for anything, we do not know which one is the best as they are just theories. What should be taken away though is something that was demonstrated by every other theory discussed, that one of the most rewarding things for workers is recognition for achievement, sociability, and other personal needs, and not things like pay (which is still important just not as much).

There are several types of theories that we have discussed. I am not able to tell you which one is the best. But in my opinion, you should think about them all when deciding how to motivate workers, maybe except Theory X. What should be noted is what I said in the previous section- that the personal needs of workers like recognition for their work far more important than you might think. 

Schwalbe, K. (2018). Project Resource Management. In Information Technology Project Management (9th ed., pp. 373-424). Cengage.