The MOVE Process Model is a five-step cyclical leadership framework designed to keep human needs at the center of project leadership.

It helps project managers maintain emotional balance, identify and analyze needs, develop effective strategies, and sustain progress — while staying ready to restart the cycle whenever circumstances change.

1. Establish Emotional Integrity

Before addressing others’ needs, a project manager must first ensure their own emotional balance and neutrality.

This includes:

  • Recognizing personal emotional triggers and stress signals

  • Checking for “borrowed emotions” absorbed from others

  • Identifying potential conflicts of interest

  • Anticipating upcoming situations that could challenge emotional stability

The Integrity Battery concept views emotional stability as a finite energy source that requires regular recharging through reflection, mindfulness, and self-care.

When the battery runs low, empathy and perspective-taking decline.

2. Identify Needs

Once emotionally grounded, the leader focuses on uncovering the real needs beneath surface expressions.

Key aspects:

  • Distinguishing needs from feelings and external triggers

  • Recognizing when emotions are absorbed from the group dynamic rather than originating with the individual

  • Using active listening, adapting communication style, and creating a safe space for openness

  • Applying tools such as direct inquiry, circular questioning, or needs profiles

This step also involves spotting future needs before they escalate and addressing both individual and team-wide needs such as clarity, autonomy, direction, and meaning.

3. Analyze Needs

The project manager evaluates the priority, urgency, and context of identified needs.

This includes:

  • Linking needs to values, cultural factors, and systemic influences

  • Distinguishing between the prominence of a need and its current level of fulfillment

  • Checking for cognitive biases in interpretation

  • Using systems thinking to map root causes and interdependencies

  • Watching for signs of mental health strain and knowing when to involve external experts

4. Define Strategies

Identified needs are translated into clear, sustainable actions, balancing internal (mindset, values) and external (environment, resources) factors.

Key principles:

  • Avoid rushing into premature solutions — use reflective pauses

  • See conflicts as opportunities for innovation and team cohesion

  • Aim for meaningful compromises or win-win outcomes

  • Apply Strategy Zero: always start with emotional validation before proposing solutions

  • Empower team members to develop their own conflict-resolution skills

5. Sustain the Momentum

Needs, motivation, and team climate change over time. This step ensures ongoing alignment by:

  • Conducting regular pulse checks and retrospectives

  • Embedding “empathy checkpoints” into project phases and stage gates

  • Adjusting strategies as conditions shift

  • Returning to Step 1 when emotional integrity or trust needs recalibration

Why the MOVE Process Model Works

Because it’s cyclical, leaders can enter or re-enter at any step depending on the situation — whether rebalancing before a conflict, identifying new needs mid-project, or re-energizing the team after a milestone.