The “elephant in the room” cliché refers to a glaring issue that everyone knows about but no one mentions. For some teams, pachyderms present in the form of personalities preventing productive team communication. Many of these individual quirks are, at best, irritating and, at worst, enraging.

These elephants are most noticeable in meetings. Take, for example, the elephants at work in Steve’s weekly team meeting.

Steve is a CEO who is bright, ambitious and committed to the mission. However, he is also conflict-averse. Unless it is positive, giving feedback is not Steve’s strong point. Steve’s team consists of Jake, Maria, Denise, Jackson, Danielle and Arnold.

The following are Steve’s observations of this team, supported by their individual and group scores on a workplace personality assessment:

Jake is silent, sullen and perpetually late. He does not contribute to meetings, but his facial expressions and body language convey his every thought, as does his gossip after the meeting (“What a waste of time!”). People avoid sitting by him.

Maria represents the opposite of Jake: talkative and a real “happy camper.” There is never a problem, as far as she is concerned. In a discussion about risks to the organization, Maria suggests that the group is overreacting and says “all will be well.” Other team members sometimes roll their eyes whenever Maria’s unbridled optimism pops up in these situations.

Denise feels super anxious all the time. Apparent to everyone, her tension is palpable and forces the team to focus on her needs rather than the subject at hand. However, she is also the person who catches problems before they become unmanageable, monitors deadlines and speaks out on behalf of underdogs.

Jackson sees himself as the spokesman for the group, although no one appointed him. He talks nonstop, but he is nice, so no one interrupts him. However, some of the team members resent the time he takes when he goes on and on.