INFO:

The eye-roller….🙄🙄 As a manager it can feel very disrespectful if someone rolls their eyes during a conversation. Eye-rolling is a form of passive aggressive communication that people use when they are unable to communicate whatever the issue is directly (there can be many reasons for this). It’s generally viewed as an immature behaviour that we want to avoid at work, so as the manager you want to ensure you respond in a way that doesn’t perpetuate this dynamic. It can be very tempting to “tell them off” as I have shown in the first part of this video but this is likely to perpetuate the behaviour as you’re then playing a role similar to a critical parent. I would recommend trying to understand what is behind the behaviour (eye-rolling) and let them know you would really like to discuss whatever the issue is so that you can move forward. This is assertive adult to adult communication. In their next 1:1 I would have a discussion with them about the importance of honest and transparent communication. Let me know if you would like me to do a video on this. Please be mindful that the perspective offered in this video is generalised and won’t fit every situation so please follow your instincts about whether this applies to your situation. You’ve got this!