Below is a sample list of action verbs to get you started with writing your performance appraisals. These headers are suggestions and an * indicates alignment with a UC Davis core competency.
Communication*
- Address
- Advertise
- Arbitrate
- Arrange
- Articulate
- Author
- Clarify
- Collaborate
- Cultivate
- Comfort
- Communicate
- Compose
- Condense
- Confer
- Consult
- Contact
- Convince
- Correspond
- Debate
- Define
- Develop
- Direct
- Discuss
- Draft
- Edit
- Elicit
- Empathize
- Enlist
- Explain
- Express
- Formulate
- Furnish
- Incorporate
- Influence
- Interpret
- Interview
- Involve
- Join
- Judge
- Lecture
- Listen
- Market
- Mediate
- Memorize
- Moderate
- Narrate
- Negotiate
- Observe
- Outline
- Participate
- Persuade
- Present
- Promote
- Propose
- Publicize
- Publish
- Query
- Question
- Reason
- Reconcile
- Recruit
- Refer
- Reinforce
- Report
- Resolve
- Respond
- Solicit
- Specify
- Speak
- Suggest
- Summarize
- Synthesize
- Translate
- Update
- Verify
- Write
Creative
- Act
- Adapt
- Adept
- Anticipate
- Begin
- Brainstorm
- Combine
- Compose
- Conceive
- Conceptualize
- Condense
- Construct
- Create
- Cultivate
- Customize
- Design
- Develop
- Devise
- Direct
- Display
- Draw
- Entertain
- Establish
- Expand
- Fashion
- Formulate
- Illustrate
- Imagine
- Improvise
- Initiate
- Institute
- Integrate
- Introduce
- Invent
- Model
- Modify
- Originate
- Perceive
- Perform
- Photograph
- Plan
- Revamp
- Revise
- Revitalize
- Shape
- Solve
- Strategize
- Visualize
Stewardship and Managing Resources*
- Account
- Acquire
- Administer
- Adjust
- Allocate
- Analyze
- Appraise
- Assess
- Audit
- Balance
- Budget
- Calculate
- Comply
- Compute
- Conserve
- Correct
- Determine
- Develop
- Estimate
- Finance
- Forecast
- Guarantee
- Invest
- Manage
- Market
- Maximize
- Measure
- Minimize
- Met
- Offer
- Plan
- Predict
- Prepare
- Program
- Project
- Protect
- Qualify
- Quantify
- Reconcile
- Reduce
- Report
- Secure
Teamwork and Principles of Community*
- Adapt
- Advise
- Advocate
- Aid
- Answer
- Anticipate
- Arrange
- Assist
- Clarify
- Coach
- Collaborate
- Comfort
- Consult
- Contribute
- Cooperate
- Counsel
- Deliver
- Demonstrate
- Facilitate
- Find
- Further
- Guide
- Help
- Improve
- Intervene
- Generate
- Mediate
- Motivate
- Prevent
- Provide
- Receive
- Recommend
- Refer
- Rehabilitate
- Relate
- Represent
- Resolve
- Serve
- Simplify
- Supply
- Support
- Validate
- Volunteer
- Unify
- Unite
Leadership and Managing People*
- Achieve
- Administer
- Analyze
- Appoint
- Approve
- Assign
- Attain
- Chair
- Charge
- Consider
- Consolidate
- Contract
- Control
- Convert
- Coordinate
- Decide
- Delegate
- Develop
- Direct
- Drive
- Eliminate
- Emphasize
- Enforce
- Enhance
- Establish
- Exceed
- Excel
- Execute
- Expand
- Foster
- Generate
- Govern
- Handle
- Head
- Hire
- Implement
- Improve
- Incorporate
- Increase
- Initiate
- Inspect
- Institute
- Launch
- Lead
- Manage
- Master
- Mentor
- Merge
- Motivate
- Navigate
- Organize
- Originate
- Overcame
- Overhaul
- Oversee
- Plan
- Preside
- Prioritize
- Produce
- Recommend
- Recruit
- Reorganize
- Replace
- Restore
- Review
- Schedule
- Screen
- Secure
- Select
- Streamline
- Strengthen
- Succeed
- Sustain
- Terminate
- Transform
Organization and Administration
- Approve
- Arrange
- Catalogue
- Categorize
- Chart
- Classify
- Code
- Collect
- Compile
- Correct
- Correspond
- Deliver
- Distribute
- Execute
- File
- Generate
- Incorporate
- Index
- Inspect
- Inventory
- Log
- Maintain
- Maximize
- Minimize
- Monitor
- Obtain
- Operate
- Order
- Organize
- Practice
- Prepare
- Process
- Provide
- Purchase
- Record
- Register
- Reserve
- Register
- Respond
- Review
- Route
- Schedule
- Submit
- Supply
- Standardize
- Systemize
- Update
- Validate
- Verify
Quality Improvement,* Research and Analysis
- Analyze
- Clarify
- Collect
- Compare
- Conduct
- Correlate
- Critique
- Detect
- Determine
- Devise
- Diagnose
- Discover
- Document
- Evaluate
- Examine
- Experiment
- Explore
- Extract
- Follow
- Formulate
- Gather
- Map
- Measure
- Organize
- Publish
- Question
- Research
- Review
- Search
- Solve
- Summarize
- Survey
- Systematize
- Test
- Theorize
Teaching
- Adapt
- Advise
- Clarify
- Coach
- Communicate
- Communicate
- Conduct
- Coordinate
- Correlate
- Critique
- Deliver
- Develop
- Enable
- Guide
- Individualize
- Inform
- Instill
- Instruct
- Mentor
- Motivate
- Persuade
- Report
- Serve
- Simulate
- Stimulate
- Study
- Teach
- Test
- Train
- Transmit
- Tutor
Technical
- Adapt
- Apply
- Assemble
- Build
- Calculate
- Chart
- Comply
- Compute
- Conserve
- Construct
- Convert
- Debug
- Design
- Determine
- Develop
- Dispatch
- Engineer
- Fabricate
- Fix
- Fortify
- Implement
- Install
- Launch
- Maintain
- Map
- Master
- Operate
- Overhaul
- Perfect
- Process
- Program
- Proofread
- Rectify
- Regulate
- Remodel
- Repair
- Replace
- Restore
- Scan
- Solve
- Specialize
- Standardize
- Streamline
- Study
- Survey
- Upgrade
- Utilize