Using online survey sampling to study the behavior of project workers in project-based organizations, we investigated the impact of project overload to their intrinsic motivation on performing projects. Project overload is considered as an event that usually occur in a project-based organization which might affect project workers’ behavior. Previous working relationship in terms of relationship climate was also examined for its influence on project workers’ performance. Relationship climate represents the result of highly interrelated work practice in a project-based organization to project workers’ behavior.
Results of hierarchical regression and multigroup moderation for the moderating effects demonstrated that only one facet of project overload affected intrinsic motivation. Relationship climate showed no moderating effect on performance. The study reveals that when project workers perceived their capacity as fully loaded during project overload, intrinsic motivation decreases. Suggestions for job design during project overload were proposed in order to minimize it’s negative impact on project workers’ motivational reaction. Insignificant findings for the moderating effect of relationship climate and the other facet of project overload were addressed as the limitations of this study which opens the opportunity for future studies.

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