{"id":29413,"date":"2020-07-06T07:04:01","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T11:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/?p=29413"},"modified":"2023-10-25T15:35:49","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T19:35:49","slug":"technology-people-and-the-collaborative-pyramid-of-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/blog\/technology-people-and-the-collaborative-pyramid-of-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Technology, People and the \u2018Collaborative Pyramid of Needs\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
As you can imagine, COVID-19<\/a> heightened our clients\u2019 interest in numerous tools that enable workforce collaboration. While some of these tools could be purchased and deployed, others, such as Microsoft Teams<\/a>, might already be available but not yet deployed. Still others, including the ubiquitous Zoom, provide free basic services to anyone with a browser and good Internet connection.<\/p>\n And as we know now, the shift to remote working is not temporary. During the pandemic, nearly 75 percent of chief technology officers say working at home will be the new norm<\/a> going forward. COVID-19 forced us into a transition that has been underway for some time. In one case at the University of Sussex, they deployed a five-year digital strategy<\/a> in a week to directly support its remote workers\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n However, getting collaboration right affects how we work. We must remember who we are as leaders, as employees, as colleagues, and as community and family members.<\/strong><\/p>\n One challenge we see organizations struggle with as we rush to switch to remote work is remembering we are people first \u2014 no matter what technologies we use. Our team spends a good amount of time in the field thinking about employees and how they work. We\u2019re fortunate that we can do the same within Centric\u2014employee satisfaction, engagement and collaboration are core parts of our culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n All of this caused me to think more deeply about the human side of collaboration. More than a decade ago, a communications consultant named Daniel Baverly came up with the term \u201cCollaborative Pyramid of Needs.\u201d He adapted it from psychologist Abraham Maslow\u2019s \u201chierarchy of needs,\u201d which proposes our basic needs go through five stages as we mature: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization.<\/p>\n In this post, I will build on Baverly\u2019s concept by tying it more closely to specific technologies. My idea is to capture the idea that as organizations move up each of the Collaborative Pyramid of Needs\u2019 five levels (outlined below), the technologies each level represents become more complex, as do the human needs that they fulfill.<\/strong> And, just like in Maslow\u2019s theory, organizations must master each level before they can move to the next, though they can slip back.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a closer look.<\/p>\nThe Collaborative Pyramid of Needs<\/h2>\n
Level 1: Email — Fulfilling the Need for Basic Communication<\/h3>\n