Goal Evaluations: How Often Should They Happen?

Let’s be real for a second, setting employee goals is one thing. But here’s what everyone should really be asking: Are those goals still relevant? Are they still driving focus? Are they even top of mind for the people who are supposed to be hitting them?

Especially now, with teams spread across remote and hybrid setups, if you want goals to do their job, you should be evaluating them regularly. So how often should you be evaluating goals? And when you do this, how do you make it count?

Let’s unpack the why, when, and how of goal evaluations.

Why Do Regular Goal Evaluations Matter?

Goals aren’t permanent. They’re not set in stone and priorities shift. Still, many organizations approach goals like static contracts, only revisiting them once a year during performance reviews. The problem? That “set it and forget it” mindset leads to disengagement and misalignment.

The result? Goals feel out-of-date, irrelevant, or completely forgotten by Q2. You turn what should be a tool for clarity into a background noise.

Regular evaluations create a feedback loop that keeps employees connected to purpose. They make sure goals stay attainable and relevant in the right ways. Most importantly, they turn goal setting from a checkbox into living,breathing part of how your team operates.

So… How Often Should Goals Be Reviewed?

The goal is to build a steady rhythm into your process, so your teams don’t end up scrambling during a high-pressure year-end review. Each evaluation cycle serves its own purpose, and when done right, they help your team stay on track without feeling overwhelmed.

Quarterly check-ins help you stay agile. Mid-year reviews are your chance to zoom out and reset. And year-end reflections help you close the loop. Together, they form a system that balances progress with purpose,flexibility with focus.

Bonus Tip: Make It Easy with Regular Check-ins

And if you're using Teamflect, you can make this rhythm even easier to maintain. Teamflect's Goal Check-in feature helps keep evaluations consistent without becoming a burden. Once activated in the admin panel, Teamflect will automatically send goal check-in cards through both Microsoft Teams chat and email.

These gentle nudges prompt employees to review their goals and update them if needed on their own schedule.

Just activate the feature from the Admin Center, choose your preferred timing (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly), and Teamflect will send those reminders directly to your team. It’s a simple, but effective way to keep goals from drifting to the backburner.

Quarterly Reviews

If you’re looking for a sweet spot, this is it. Quarterly reviews strike the perfect balance between structure and agility. During quarterly evaluations, the focus is on recalibrating, reflecting on what’s working, and addressing challenges before they become bigger problems.

These check-ins should be a space for teams to celebrate wins and for leaders to highlight progress. It’s also an opportunity to address any roadblocks or distractions that might have popped up.

Quarterly evaluations shouldn’t be rushed. They should be intentional, allowing time for a thoughtful discussion about the direction of the goals, and whether adjustments are needed. The goal is to keep everything relevant and move forward.

Bonus Tip: Track Progress Without the Hassle

Not all goals show up and that’s by design. Teamflect is smart about which goals show up in the check-in cards. Goals that can’t be updated manually like parent goals tied to sub-goals or goals that are linked to task progress won’t appear. That way, employees only see the goals they’re able to achieve. No confusion, no clutter.

Mid-Year Reviews

A mid-year review is your chance to take a breath and reflect a bit more deeply. Here, the focus shifts from tactical to strategic.You’re asking:

• Are we halfway to where we wanted to be?
• Are these goals still realistic, given any changes in the organization’s direction?
• Have we uncovered new opportunities or challenges since January?

Mid-year goal evaluations should provide an opportunity for recalibration, not just reflection. It’s about realigning your team’s efforts and ensure employees still feel connected to the “why” behind their work.

Bonus Tip: Request Updates from Employees

‍Managers can easily request updates from goal owners without sending separate emails or having to chase them down. Just click Request Update in the goal details in Teamflect, and the system will send a notification to the goal owner to provide an update. You can even personalize the message, ensuring you're getting the right information.

Year-End Reviews

Year-end goal evaluations are important, but for different reasons. While quarterly and mid-year evaluations are about keeping things ontrack and adjusting as you go, year-end evaluations are the opportunity to take stock of the full year. This is when you reflect on the progress and look at how the work contributed to both individual and organization-wide success. In that sense, year-end reviews are about synthesis. The lessons learned, successes, and even the setbacks should inform the setting of new goals for the next year.

Just to say it, the best year-end reviews don’t feel like a surprise. They’re the natural conclusion of a year of great check-ins.

Bonus Tip: Clean Goal Wrap-Up

At the end of the year or once a goal is completed, Teamflect allows you to manually close goals and label them as “achieved,” “missed,” “dropped,” or “partially achieved.” Don’t worry, it’s not complicated. We’ve got a few tricks up our sleeve to help you stay organized and make sure your goals stay relevant as you head into the new year. You can label goals based on where you ended up. This helps you separate goals that are still in play from those that are off the table, keeping things nice and tidy.

To stay focused on what’s important, you can filter your goals by specific time frames. Want to see goals from this year, last year, or even a custom date range? Filters are a simple way to make sure your dashboard is only showing what you need, so you’re not getting distracted.

Should You Include Goals in Quarterly Reviews or Just Year-End?

Some reviews spark action, while others... well, they’re just a chance to chat. A quick “How’s that project going?” in a one-on-one won’t cut it. If you want your evaluations to move the needle, they need to be structured enough to drive clarity but flexible enough to adapt as things change.

Quarterly reviews should absolutely include goals - but in a low-pressure, check-in style.
Year-end reviews should summarize and assess those goals - with the full context of the year behind them.

Think of it like this:
Quarterly = progress.
Year-end = performance.

You wouldn’t train for a marathon by running once in December, right? Frequent, lower-stakes check-ins are how you build the consistency (and resilience) that leads to real growth.