John Barden on mid-year evaluations, goals, and performance reviews

January 23, 2020

Yale’s Chief Information Officer, John Barden, addresses questions asked by the community through our Ask John survey feature. This week, John shares an update on our mid-year evaluations and his philosophy on goals and performance reviews.

I believe it’s time for mid-year reviews, though I haven’t seen any communications about this. What is your philosophy on goals and performance reviews? (anonymous)

Yale’s current formal evaluation cycle is July 1 to June 30. I highly encourage everyone to have a mid-year checkpoint, which is a broadly adopted practice within many departments, including Information Technology. It is a good time of year to review with your supervisor the goals you agreed to in the last planning cycle and consider how the work is unfolding. Often, these goals need some degree of adjustment to reflect shifting priorities and/or evolving career goals. It can be helpful to revisit any development opportunities noted and consider if your assignments are providing aligned opportunities that will help your progression. If not, you and your manager should setup a healthy discussion about what options may be possible in the context of our current University and department needs. I also encourage that mid-year assessments include a written self-assessment and one-on-one discussion with your supervisor. This mid-year documentation has the benefit of both a thoughtful checkpoint as well as ensuring that you and your supervisor are discussing your accomplishments to-date against your goals and what you want to achieve for the end of the year. 

Lastly, I hope that as we have encouraged several changes in our approach to climate and culture, all are seeing good practices in active and ongoing real-time feedback. While formal checkpoints can act as a safety net, regular and meaningful interactions are one of the most important attributes of a healthy work environment and best aligned to support our individual and organizational goals. 

Visit the Performance Management page on It’s Your Yale for additional information and resources.

Do you want to ask John about something on your mind? Take a moment to share questions and ideas you might have; submissions are anonymous and responses will be addressed in each subsequent IT Update.