Hierarchy of Remote Work Needs

Not Maslow’s. It’s Liz’s. During Covid times.

We are in Covid-19 era. We are in unusual time. It’s all different. No wonder that that the guide to the 5 Levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs has also evolved now. I came across Liz Fosslien’s adaptation of above -

Liz Fosslien

Hi, I'm Liz. I'm the co-author and illustrator of the Wall Street Journal best-seller No Hard Feelings: The Secret…

www.fosslien.com

Overview

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory of motivation which states that five categories of human needs dictate an individual’s behavior.

Buy it here — https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/826728338/hierarchy-of-remote-work-needs-small?ref=shop_home_active_28

1. Physiological needs — Coffee (or any drinks)

The first and the basic need at the bottom of pyramid is the psychological need. The most basic human needs include water food rest and overall health. In the COVID-19 world, health is one of the most important item.

For a remote worker, coffee is the most important one. I would also add, apart from coffee, it’s the water throughout the day. Not to miss some juice around 11am-ish, a coffee post lunch and a coke late afternoon. Being a big time

So, don’t miss your shot of Actimel anytime during the day.

Overall it is very important to keep yourself hydrated. We are at “work from home” mode which means we all have lack of fresh air hence we need more water to keep our body healthy.

2. Safety needs — Stable Wifi

“Hello” “ hello” “Are you able to hear me?”

Often, this is heard not only due to the ‘mute’ button, rather it’s also because of a poor Wi-Fi connection.

Let’s take the example of my home this week. The senior member(so called) of our house needs the Wi-Fi for his Zoom classes from school, the member of our house needs for her college class and the junior member of the house(yes, that’s me) needs for the office work.

So Wi-Fi is our safety need. Think about a scenario where we don’t have Wi-Fi! How will we manage our school college office life. Wifi is our protection from from the world. This is the best security for our work and work means it’s financial security as well and emotional stability and well being.

3. Love and belonging needs — Chat + texting

This seems to be the most deprived one overall. The social needs on the third level of Maslow’s hierarchy relate to human interaction.

Human interaction ? During Covid-19 era ? Complete no no !!!

So, for a remote worker it’s all about chat window. You get an excitement when a “hi” message pops up in your team’s window. That’s a tickle to talk to your colleague. Or participate to the teams chat window. It may be a quick 5mins talk asking someone “How are you ?”. We all need belonging need more that anything else currently.

Cultivate compassion for those less intelligent than you. Many people, through no fault of their own, can’t handle forms, scammers, or complex situations. Be kind to them because the world is not.

4. Esteem needs - Likes

The primary elements of esteem are self-respect (the belief that you are valuable and deserving of dignity) and self-esteem (confidence in your potential for personal growth and accomplishments). Self-esteem can be broken into two types: esteem which is based on respect and acknowledgment from others, and esteem which is based on your own self-assessment.

A small like on your office yammer.com post, or a small like on your team chat comment can be a huge esteem boost. It’s a sign that you are aligned with your team mates/co-workers. The “cherry on the top” moment will be to get those multiple likes (like a viral) as acknowledgement for the great summary on your confluence page.

Remote worker looking into the computer screen craves for those likes.

5. Self-actualization needs — Putting phone on airplane mode

Now we are at the top where self-actualization describes the fulfillment of your full potential as a person.

When you are working alone “self discipline” and “self actualization” are the two factors keeping you away to fulfill your own potential as a remote worker. The main contributor on the being your beloved phone.

Be it the constant flow of online notifications or the Whatsapp pings, it’s those continuous distractions which are forcing us to “not perform” at our top level. If you are like me, you put the phone in “silent & disconnect the Internet” and focus on your work. Things that aren’t your fault can still be your responsibility.

Not following or being updated cell phone in this world which is “full of news” is a sacrifice. Some days back I spent a Sunday on digital detoxing which was away from smartphone, tablet, television and you know what ? The world moved on ! Nothing changed.

The reason for this is the “infinity pool”.

Infinity Pools are always-on, effectively infinite sources of information and entertainment. Things like:

Pull-to-refresh apps (Facebook, Mail, Instagram, Twitter, etc)
Video streaming services (YouTube, Netflix, HBO, etc)
Even web browsers (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc), which provide on-demand access to pretty much all the information in the world.