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Team Development

Teams often reach out for support with enhancing communication, increasing collaboration and information sharing, strengthening team dynamics, and learning to work together as a new team. 

Employee Learning & Engagement offers the following services to support you, your team and your department, as we work together as One Vanderbilt in support of the University:

Our Employee Learning & Engagement team acts in a consulting role, to tailor and individualize our content to fit your team's needs and goals. 

How do I move forward with submitting my request?

Timing: We ask that you submit your request as far in advance as possible so that we can ensure facilitators and resources are available, as well as adequate time to plan for the session.   *If you are requesting an existing workshop, we ask you to submit your request at least two weeks in advance. If you are requesting a new learning opportunity or retreat experience, we ask you to submit your request at least four weeks in advance.

Cost: Our learning experiences are offered at no cost to individual employees or departments, with one exception - CliftonStrengths sessions incur a fee for each participant to complete the assessment via Gallup. For Top 5 results, the cost is $24.99 per participant. For Full 34 results, the cost is $59.99 per participant. 
 
Submitting your request: We invite you to submit your request via this form. ELE reviews incoming requests every week. Once we review your request, an ELE team member will reach out to discuss goals and details with the manager of your team. 
Professional Development and Teambuilding Workshops

The following workshops are currently available for team or departmental experiences: 

4 Stages of Psychological Safety  

Description : Have you ever been ostracized, demeaned, hushed, or scorned? These are all experiences that can result from everyday human interactions, whether in a personal situation or the workplace. Based on Dr. Timothy Clark's book, The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety: Defining the Path to Inclusion and Innovation, this workshop takes a journey through the four stages framework, illuminating the human need for inclusion as well as safety to learn, contribute, and to challenge the status quo. Whether you lead a team or you are part of the team, this workshop will build your awareness of patterns of fear and social friction and enhance your ability to create a sanctuary of inclusion and innovation at work and beyond.   

Facilitator(s) : TaShunda Franklin  
 Length : 2 hours  
 Format : Virtual  
 Engagement Level 2  

5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace   

Description : The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace will give you the tools to improve staff morale, create a more positive workplace, and increase employee engagement. How? By teaching you to effectively communicate authentic appreciation and encouragement to employees, co-workers, and leaders. Most relational problems in organizations flow from this question: do people feel appreciated? This session will help you answer “Yes!”  

Facilitator(s) : Chance Ryon  
 Length : 2 hours  
 Format : Virtual or In-person  
 Engagement Level 3  

Atomic Habits  

Description : Vanderbilt football coach, Clark Lea, talks about the importance of 'heartbeats and habits' and there's no time like the present to begin building new habits as we approach August.   

Atomic Habits has been called "the most comprehensive and practical guide on how to create good habits, break bad ones, and get 1 percent better every day."  This book, by James Clear, encourages people to think deeply about the systems that need to accompany new habits.    

What new habits do you want to develop for the workplace?   

What old habits are you ready to be rid of in the workplace?   

Come learn about Atomic Habits and leave with an action plan to implement these practices into your work at Vanderbilt.   

Facilitator(s) : Krystal Clark  
 Length : 1.5 hours  
 Format : Virtual  
 Engagement Level 2   

Awe, gratitude, mindfulness, connectedness, and self-compassion in our daily lives: A microlearning series on positive psychology  

Description: Grounded in positive psychology research, this bite-sized micro-learning series draws resources and inspiration from the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, Jon Kabat-Zinn (University of Massachusetts Medical School), Dr. Kristin Neff (University of Texas at Austin), and more. Each session will focus on one aspect of positive psychology – awe, gratitude, mindfulness, connectedness, and self-compassion.  Each session involves research highlights, practical strategies, and opportunities for shared experiences.   

Individual sessions cover:  

  • Awe  
  • Gratitude  
  • Mindfulness  
  • Connectedness  
  • Self-compassion

Facilitator(s) : Krista Vaught  
 Length : 30 minutes each (select one or more)
 Format : Self-paced  
 Engagement Level 1  

BRAVING - Exploring the Anatomy of Trust  

Description : An essential part of our daily work revolves around relationships with colleagues, whether in proximity or distant. Trust is a key factor in building and maintaining those relationships. In this workshop, Brene Brown's BRAVING concept will be explored as it pertains to the anatomy of trust and workplace relationships. Presenting trust as a fundamental two-way street, the workshop aims at highlighting how each person in the professional relationship is responsible for building, earning, and maintaining trust. Join us in discovering the positive outcomes of having workplace relationships with trust as the foundation.  

Facilitator(s) : TaShunda Franklin  
 Length : 1 hour  
 Format : Virtual  
 Engagement Level 3    

CliftonStrengths for Vanderbilt Teams

Description : CliftonStrengths is a self-awareness tool that provides insight into natural recurring talents and abilities. Based on theories of positive psychology, CliftonStrengths reveals your Top 5 talent themes. Within teams, CliftonStrengths provides a tool for shared language at work and in collaborative relationships. 

In this session, each participant will:

  • Explore what it means to develop a talent into a strength
  • Identify and reflect on how they can leverage their strengths towards a specific goal or to overcome a challenge
  • Explore the Four Domains of Team Strength
  • View your team's strength grid and discuss what it means for communication, collaboration, and leveraging each team member's strengths towards collective success

Facilitator(s) : Krystal Clark, Chance Ryon, TaShunda Franklin, Krista Vaught  
 Length : 2 hours
Format : Virtual or In-Person    
 Engagement Level 2   

Dealing with Change at Work  

Description: “There is nothing permanent except change.” – Heraclitus. Working within a thriving and evolving workplace means that change is constant. We all handle change differently and it’s important to continue developing strategies that allow us to deal with change effectively. This session will focus on the point of view of being on the receiving end of change and not being the formal leaders of change. How can you use personal leadership skills and influence as an informal leader to lead yourself and support others through change efforts?  Attend this session to fill your toolbox with practical go-to tips to help you navigate change.   

Facilitator(s) : Krystal Clark  
 Length : 1.5 hours  
 Format : Virtual  
 Engagement Level 2   

Digital Communications: Is That What They Meant?!  

Description :  Every piece of digital communication is subjective. In the workplace, seemingly subtle choices can lead to miscommunication, inefficiencies, and challenging interpersonal dynamics.     

Have you ever experienced a supervisor sending a meeting invitation without a subject for a late afternoon, a colleague responding with one word when your email outlined multiple questions and priorities, or a message that the sender marked urgent that was not at all urgent? From emails, video calls, and texts, to emojis, punctuation, phrasing, tone, and more, this workshop will explore how digital body language influences your relationships, effectiveness, and understanding. We will discuss how brevity, response time and medium, seemingly meaningless word choices such as adding “very” or another adjective for emphasis, and other non-verbal virtual cues can impact our message.     

Together, we will explore strategies to enhance and clarify our digital communications so that our messages are fully received in the way that we intend, and so that we’re giving our colleagues the benefit of the doubt when we interpret their messages. For example, we can shift our response to a proposal a colleague shares from “I like your ideas here, but...” (which can feel invalidating or can, at the least, make others focus on what negative feedback might be coming after the “but”) to “I like your ideas here, and I wonder...” We can limit our use of words such as “kind of” and “just,” which can undermine our message, and we can limit saying “I’m sorry” (such as, “I’m sorry to bother you...”) to times that truly call for an apology.     

This workshop draws from multiple resources, including Harvard Business Review, TEDx talks, Erica Dhawan’s Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust & Connection, No Matter the Distance, and various other articles.     

Facilitator(s) : Krista Vaught  
 Length: 1.5 hours  
 Format: Virtual  
 Engagement Level 2   

Five Dysfunctions of a Team  

Description : “Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.” – Patrick Lencioni  

Attend this session and take some time to focus on the state of your team. There are five dysfunctions as diagnosed by the author that can impair the performance and success of any team. Due to our virtual environment, teamwork has looked a bit different over the past 1.5 years. We want to equip you with knowledge about each dysfunction and strategies for proactively addressing it within the workplace.   

Facilitator(s) : Krystal Clark  
 Length : 1.5 hours  
 Format : Virtual or In-Person   
 Engagement Level 3  

Perspective Taking: Expanding Beyond Your Viewpoint  

Description : What is perspective taking? How does it differ from empathy? From mitigating implicit bias to enhancing team performance, perspective taking can have a positive impact in the workplace and beyond. Learn more about its benefits and put this powerful tool to use through hands-on practice in this engaging workshop.  

Facilitator(s) : TaShunda Franklin  
 Length : 1 hour  
 Format : Virtual or in person    
 Engagement Level 2  

Unlocking Your Potential at Vanderbilt: Employee Learning & Engagement Opportunities

Description : Discover the dynamic role of our Employee Learning and Engagement team in this concise 20-minute overview. Explore our comprehensive support framework, encompassing live learning experiences, new staff orientation, leadership and team development, employee appreciation initiatives, and accessible self-paced resources.

In this session, you will:

  1. Explore a diverse array of live and self-paced learning experiences and workshops for individual employees
  2. Learn about opportunities to grow your leadership skills and knowledge via leadership develeopment cohort-based programs and self-paced opportunities

Facilitator(s) : Krystal Clark, TaShunda Franklin, Chance Ryon, Krista Vaught
Length : 15-20 minutes
Format : Virtual or in person    
 Engagement Level 2  

Mission and vision building sessions

Explore the fundamentals of mission and vision building in this interactive workshop, designed to empower teams with the skills to articulate and align their purpose. Participants will engage in collaborative activities and discussions to craft compelling mission and vision statements that drive organizational success.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Understand the significance of a well-defined mission and vision in fostering team cohesion and success, and the difference between mission and vision
  2. Reflect on the contribution your team makes, why it is important, how you implement it
  3. Ideate and collaborate to draft a mission and a vision
  4. Discuss how to convey the mission and vision, fostering engagement and commitment within the team and towards your goals

Facilitator(s) : Krystal Clark, Chance Ryon, Krista Vaught
Length : 2-4  hours
Format : Virtual or in person    
 Engagement Level 3

Customized learning and development

Our expert facilitators collaborate closely with teams to understand their unique needs, crafting engaging sessions that address specific challenges and foster a culture of continuous learning and growth. Elevate your team's potential with workshops designed to inspire, align, and drive collective success.

Requesting a learning experience for your team

To begin a request for a departmental experience, we invite you to complete the departmental request form. If you have any questions, please contact us by email.

Teambuilding activities and additional resources
  • The  HR Consulting, Employee and Labor Relations  team helps to foster supervisor and employee relationships and providing guidance to employees and leaders on strategic people initiatives, workforce analysis, policy creation, interpretation and guidance, leave management, employee and labor relations, workers' compensation, discipline and performance management, leader and employee training
  • The Wond’ry offers an Innovation and Design Workshop, designed for any business or work unit on the campus who are looking to solve their problems creatively. For more information on The Wond’ry Innovation and Design Workshop, please see this flyer 
Teambuilding activities

Energize your team meetings with our curated teambuilding resources, designed to foster collaboration and camaraderie. From virtual icebreakers to trust-building exercises, ideas in the below resources can make your team experiences engaging and memorable interactions.