APPRaiSAL™ is designed to support coaching throughout the year, not simply produce a better annual appraisal.
Make values, behaviours and expectations explicit enough to coach against.
Use specific examples and patterns rather than memory, labels or assumption.
Use questions, challenge and discussion to create understanding and ownership.
Agree actions, revisit them and keep the conversation alive.
APPRaiSAL™ deliberately pays attention to ambiguous cases: people who are not clearly excellent, dependable, struggling or disruptive. Those situations demand context, curiosity and a stronger coaching conversation.
Ambiguity is not a reason to force a verdict. It is a reason to coach more carefully.
Good coaching becomes unreliable when observation, interpretation and judgement are collapsed into one sentence.
The method encourages leaders to identify what was actually seen or heard, consider alternative explanations, test assumptions, and then decide what conversation is needed.
Self-assessment is not a courtesy step. It reveals how the person sees their own contribution, where perception aligns, where it differs, and where the most useful coaching conversation may sit.