February strategy session confirms BSC alignment and reinforces One IT at Yale

    February 9, 2023

    Previous ImageNext Image
    John Barden, Barbara Rockenbach, and Jenny Frederick participate in a panel discussion in front of IT Leaders at a Strategy Meeting at West Campus
    IT Leaders engage in discussion during an IT Strategy Meeting at West Campus
    IT Leaders present Balanced Scorecard Updates in front of a room of IT Leaders at West Campus
    A panelist presents to IT Leaders, with Lisa Sawin looking on, at West Campus
    Two IT Leaders present Balanced Scorecard Updates to a room of other IT Leaders at West Campus
    Hadar Call, an IT Leader, presents to a room of other IT Leaders at West Campus
    Ryan Schlagheck stands, speaking to a crowd of IT Leaders at West Campus
    IT Leaders listen to presentations given at a Strategy Meeting at West Campus

    On February 6, IT leaders met at West Campus to review the status of eleven Balanced Scorecard (BSC) goals, listen to a panel discussion, understand emerging expectations for FY24, learn about a book inspiring the Senior Leadership Team, and network. The session connected IT colleagues across the University and re-invigorated efforts to achieve established goals.   

    Hosted by Vice President for Information Technology John Barden, the meeting followed a similar format to the session held in July 2022 and started by reviewing IT’s goal “to enable the mission of Yale and expand the realm of possibility” and strategic anchors, defined as: 

    • One IT: Align to seamlessly enable institutional goals
    • Service Quality: Consistently deliver against evolving institutional needs
    • Workplace of Choice: An engaging environment that empowers, equips, and includes everyone 

    Throughout the day, BSC co-leads offered ten-minute updates on each goal’s scope, anticipated outcomes, accomplishments to date, expectations by July (end of the fiscal year), and any necessary support needed to achieve their goal. Examples of accomplishments thus far include:

    • BSC1 “Service Costing Alignment”: Reviewed ITS Service Costing schema and our evolution, realized benefits, discussed a common go forward approach.
    • BSC2 “Customer-Focused Service Representation”: Completed analysis of historic artifacts from projects with adjacent or similar scope.
    • BSC3 “Revisit Service SLAs”: Facilitated disaster recovery tabletop for recovery sequence.
    • BSC4 “Service Governance Principles”: Developed Service Governance Guiding Principles​.
    • BSC5 “Institutional Data Strategy”: Developed new IVY+ data strategy group.
    • BSC6 “Foster Innovation”: Develop innovation survey.
    • BSC7 “Targeted Messaging”: Reviewed and updated email templates.
    • BSC8 “Integrated Plan Review”: Save-the-date sent to participants of upcoming workshop.
    • BSC9 “Job Family Redesign”: Initiation of ITS C&T review. 
    • BSC10 “Mentorship Program for IT at Yale”: Defined guiding principles for the program.
    • BSC11 “Improve Communications Methods”: Developed a report summarizing initial research, including peer reviews, stakeholder interviews, and performance data.

    Following a review of these BSC goals, leaders agreed that they remain aligned with IT priorities. Additionally, they observed connections and themes across BSC goals, and plan to leverage those opportunities.

    The meeting also featured:

    • An engaging panel discussion (and Q&A session) about the link between the University’s strategic plans and technology expectations, featuring Barbara Rockenbach, Stephen F. Gates ’68 University Librarian, and Jenny Frederick, Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives.
    • A discussion about upcoming expectations for FY24, including receiving updates from each of the distributed IT leaders to better understand their emerging priorities and identify shared interests.
    • An introduction to “The Advantage,” a book about organizational health that the ITS Senior Leadership Team is using to promote cohesive collaboration across their leadership team.

    As the program concluded, Barden thanked leaders for their contributions and commitment to advancing BSC goals. He noted that he was “encouraged with the progress central and distributed partners have made, as One IT, to support the university’s evolving IT needs.”

    One IT at YaleService QualityWorkplace of Choice