Grow at Middlebury

Program Overview

The Grow at Middlebury program offers a regular series of professional development workshops and resources to build foundational and specialized skills. Learning opportunities and resources will be available across multiple participation formats, including in-person, online, and asynchronous.

Foundational & Specialized workshops offered during the 2025-2026 year:

View our 2025-26 Anticipated Schedule & Register for upcoming workshops

Foundational Level Workshops

• Managing Self
  • Effective leadership begins with a focus on self and taking an “inside out” approach. We all have the opportunity to influence and take responsibility for how we show up. In the Managing Self workshop we will look at the four skill sets of effective self-management, tools for building self-awareness and self-regulation, and practices for engaging with empathy and social skills to build connection.
• Supervisor Fundamentals
  • Whether you are a supervisor or individual contributor, in Supervisor Fundamentals you will learn strategies to establish clear communication, shared goals and support for ongoing development. We will cover several fundamental practices that can facilitate effective working relationships between supervisor and their direct reports from on-boarding throughout the working relationship.
• Managing Teams
  • A team is two or more people working together toward a common cause. Whether we lead a team or are part of one, we all have the responsibility to contribute productively. In Managing Teams you will learn helpful and practical approaches that you can immediately apply as a team leader or team member. We will look at productive behaviors of effective team leaders and members, review the six steps for team success and how to start up (or restart) a team and orient new team members.
• Organizational Design
  • This workshop will explore the fundamentals of organizational design and its role in building high-functioning teams. Learn how to assess, adapt and optimize team structures by leveraging best practices in people strategy. We will examine tools to design, adjust and reimagine team dynamics to align with evolving institutional goals. 
• Recruiting
  • Learn about the essential strategies to attract and hire top talent through a structured, inclusive, and candidate-focused recruitment process. In this workshop, we will explore how to define roles intentionally, engage stakeholders effectively, and ensure a seamless candidate experience from start to finish.
• Feedback & Recognition
  • The right balance of direction, support and acknowledgment can help your team members thrive. This workshop will explore how feedback & recognition work together, and why they are important. We will focus on effective ways to let people know how they are doing an that they are truly valued for their contributions.
• Onboarding
  • This workshop provides participants time to explore strategies & tactics that help take that next critical step of developing and implementing a new employee onboarding plan to assist with making your team member feel welcomed, acclimate to the new environment, and become an effective contributor.
• Coaching for Development
  • Coaching for development is a strategic, non-directive way to support an individual’s growth for the future. This approach is strengths based, employee driven and leader supported, focusing on fulfilling longer-term potential. This workshop provides leaders and individual contributors with a path to start thinking and acting on development for the future and expanding opportunities.
• Coaching for Corrective Action
  • Coaching for Corrective Action includes a structure and set of tools for supervisors to help employees engage in positive change to meet the expectations of their role & employment with Middlebury. This approach provides clear pathways & templates to support both supervisors and employees throughout the process.
• Managing the Institution
  • This workshop serves as an introduction to the concept of leading with an institutional mindset by understanding how to contribute to shared goals while staying grounded in your role & sphere of influence. We will explore practical frameworks & tools to build cross-functional alignment, reduce friction across silos, and generate solutions that serve both their individual area and the broader institution. 

Specialized Workshops

• Quarterly Conversations
  • Quarterly Conversations are regularly scheduled conversations between supervisor and employee with a focus on strengths, opportunities, and goals. This workshop will review sample structures for quarterly conversations and tips for making them a smooth and beneficial experience for all involved.
• Career Growth at Middlebury
  • This workshop will explore how internal candidates can foster career development and connect with opportunities within our organization. We will review the hiring process for internal candidates, highlight opportunities to engage with HR, and explore examples and resources for growing your career at Middlebury.
• Facilitation Skills
  • Whether you are preparing to lead a meeting, host an interactive workshop, or help coordinate a group activity, this workshop will introduce facilitation practices that can be applied to a variety of settings. Participants will have the opportunity to build their facilitation skills and develop a personal facilitation toolkit.
• Online Facilitation
  • This workshop will focus on the unique considerations of facilitating in an online space. From technical and logistical planning to creative ways to engage and interact, this workshop will help you build your online facilitation toolkit to create smooth and successful experience for all involved. 
• Five Behaviors of Effective Teams
  • This workshop will dive into Patrick Lencioni’s Five Behaviors of Effective Teams, and invite participants to brainstorm everyday practices that can improve team dynamics and help a team achieve their goals. Participants will walk away with a roadmap for fostering these five behaviors to support team success.
• Negotiation & Conflict Resolution
  • Working through conflict and negotiating key issues are often some of the most important and productive conversations we can have - and yet it’s common to dread or avoid these situations. This workshop will help you develop your ability to effectively engage these conversations and build your confidence for finding a way forward and leaning into these meaningful opportunities.
• Skill Matrix
  • The skill matrix is a framework for considering where an employee is in their overall career progression and serves as one of three key factors in our compensation program. This workshop will provide an overview of the skill matrix framework, and how we can use this tool to consider impact, ownership, and opportunities for growth.
• Upholding Dignity
  • Explore the application of The Dignity Model as a framework to enhance how leaders can shape organizational environments that uphold human dignity. We will define dignity and how it can be fostered to shape a work environment where people feel valued, respected, and can thrive.
• Navigating the Middlebury Network
  • Whether you are new to Middlebury, or still getting acclimated to the many departments and programs within our organization, come learn about our global network and the structures that guide and connect Middlebury.
• Needs Assessment
  • This workshop will provide an introduction to needs assessment as a foundation for building towards successful change. We will explore some simple frameworks, discuss what can get in the way, and identify practices that can deepen understanding and increase success.
• Managing Energy for Full Engagement
  • This program is designed for leaders and employees who want to perform at their best. Grounded in the work of Tony Schwartz, the program focuses on managing energy—not time—across four key domains: physical, emotional, mental, and purpose-driven.
• Prioritization
  • Effective prioritization can be a key practice for reducing stress, improving time management, and growing your impact where it matters most. Join this workshop to explore a small set of frameworks to integrate prioritization into your short and long-term planning.
• AI Foundations for Middlebury Employees
  • This workshop will give participants an opportunity to explore the AI tools available at Middlebury. There will be space to consider practical ways to bring AI into your daily work while reflecting on questions that shape responsible and effective use.

Learning Pathways

Looking to tailor your learning for a specific skill area? Consider signing up for multiple workshops to create a learning pathway. Here are some sample combinations to consider, you can also build your own!

• Leadership Foundations
  • Managing Self
  • Supervisor Fundamentals
  • Managing Teams
• Building Your Team
  • Organizational Design
  • Recruiting
  • Onboarding
• Performance Management
  • Feedback & Recognition
  • Coaching for Development
  • Coaching for Corrective Action
  • Quarterly Conversations
  • Skill Matrix
• Strategic Thinking & Planning
  • Needs Assessment
  • Prioritization
  • Managing the Institution
• Facilitation & Collaboration
  • Facilitation Skills
  • Online Facilitation
  • Five Behaviors of Effective Teams
  • Negotiation & Conflict Resolution
  • Navigating the Middlebury Network

Employees can register for a workshop through the registration page. When registering,please place a hold on your calendar for the workshops you select and we will send an Outlook invite with the workshop location and other necessary details at least two weeks before the workshop.

For questions or help with registering, please email Melissa Sorenson at msorenson@middlebury.edu for assistance.