Exercises: Training and functioning of agile teams

Distinguish between technical skills (hard skills) and soft skills, give two examples of each type, and explain which type businesses value more today when hiring young people and why.

Teams typically pass through four stages: forming, storming, norming and performing. Describe in one sentence what happens in each stage and explain why the storming stage is not necessarily bad.

The figure shows the four stages a working team typically goes through. Identify the missing stage, marked with "?", and describe what happens during it.

Explain the difference between a group of people working in the same company and a real work team (common goal, coordination, shared responsibility), with an example of each.

Agile teams usually have clear roles: the product owner decides what is built, the facilitator looks after the method and removes obstacles, and the team carries out the work and self-organises. Match each role with these actions: prioritising the task list, removing a blocker that slows the team down and dividing up the week's work.

Explain the difference between being a boss (by position) and being a leader (by influence), and give an example of a person who leads without holding a position and of another who holds a position but does not lead.

Distinguish between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and classify these motivators: a bonus for meeting targets, learning new things, feeling that your work is useful for something and a reserved parking space.

A team of six people works without ever knowing each other's tasks, and requests get "lost". Explain what problem a short daily meeting and a visual board with all tasks in view solve.

An agile team in a software company works in two-week cycles, with 15-minute daily meetings and a board where all tasks are visible. Explain what these practices contribute compared to a traditional team that meets once a month.

In a newly created team, two members openly debate who should lead the group and how to divide up the tasks. State which stage the team is in and propose two specific actions by the leader to help overcome it.

An SME is unsure whether to invest €3 000 in training its staff in new digital tools. Analyse training as an investment: what benefits it can bring (productivity, motivation, lower staff turnover) and what risk it involves (that the trained employee leaves), and how you would evaluate whether it is worth it.

According to Maslow's pyramid, basic needs must be covered before the higher ones motivate. A company with low salaries and a tense atmosphere tries to cheer up the workforce with yoga and free fruit, without success. Explain with Maslow why it does not work and what it should resolve first.

Herzberg distinguishes hygiene factors (salary, conditions), which prevent dissatisfaction but do not motivate, and motivating factors (recognition, growth), which do motivate. A well-paid but bored technician asks for a transfer to another section. Analyse his case with this theory and propose two measures to recover his motivation without raising his salary.

Explain what an organisation chart is and what information it shows (hierarchical levels, departments, who reports to whom), and describe the organisation chart of a company with a general management and three departments: production, sales and administration.

A chain with shops in five regions is undecided between organising itself by functions (purchasing, sales and marketing for the whole country) or by geographical areas (one management per region). Compare both departmentalisation criteria with one advantage and one disadvantage of each, and recommend one.

In a newly formed team, two technicians argue over shifts and the atmosphere turns sour; the rest start taking sides. State which development stage the team is in and propose two specific actions by the leader to manage the conflict before it becomes entrenched.

A start-up with a multidisciplinary team (design, programming, and sales) fails to meet deadlines: each person waits for someone else to finish first, and nobody sees the overall state of the work. Diagnose what the team is missing and propose three specific agile dynamics to organise the work, explaining what problem each one solves.

A communication consultancy with 20 employees incorporates generative artificial intelligence tools to automate report writing and preliminary data analysis. Management plans to cut the ongoing training budget in half, arguing: "AI already does the complex work; now we only need employees who follow software instructions and execute mechanical tasks."

1. a) Refute management's stance by justifying what type of human capital competencies increase in value compared to AI and which ones suffer rapid obsolescence.
2. b) Explain why cutting ongoing training weakens the company's competitive advantage in the medium term.
3. c) Design two specific training actions (reskilling or "upskilling") for the workforce and predict how they will impact the added value that the consultancy delivers to its clients.

Design an annual training plan for an SME of 12 people with a budget of $6.000\ \text{€}$: allocate the budget among at least three actions (technical training, soft skills, languages or others), justify the priority of each, and state how you would evaluate whether they have worked.

A company grows from 10 to 40 people in two years: before, everyone knew about everything, and now there is duplicated work, ownerless tasks and decisions that get stuck. a) Diagnose what has stopped working with the growth. b) Propose a work structure (project teams with clear roles and coordination meetings) and explain how it solves each problem. c) Point out one risk of formalising the organisation too much.

"A good leader is one who makes all the important decisions himself." Discuss the statement by comparing leadership styles (autocratic, participative, delegating) and reasoning which style fits best according to the maturity and experience of the team, with examples.

A factory with decent salaries has extremely high staff turnover; exit interviews speak of lack of recognition, monotonous work and no promotion options. a) Diagnose the situation with Maslow's and Herzberg's theories. b) Design a plan with three measures (for example, job rotation, recognition, career plan) and explain which need each one addresses. c) State how you would measure whether the plan works.

After two years of full remote working, a company of 18 people notices the team has "cooled down": fewer shared ideas, new employees feeling lost and conflicts from misunderstandings in chats. a) Analyse what risks remote work has for team cohesion. b) Propose three dynamics to recover team culture without giving up flexibility. c) Assess the hybrid model as a solution.

A new company of 25 people will develop several apps at once and is undecided between classic departments (programming, design, marketing) or multidisciplinary product teams. a) Describe both schemes. b) Justify which fits better with short development cycles and frequent deliveries. c) Point out one typical problem of the chosen scheme (for example, contradictory priorities between projects) and how to monitor it.