These eggshells stop many of us from addressing the elephants (the unstated issues or concerns) in the room. We create barriers between each other by laying our eggshells all around ourselves and worrying about stepping on those that others have laid around themselves. We believe if we talk about what is not working or what is a problem or a concern we will step on their eggshells. Almost everything becomes too uncomfortable or off-limits to discuss. So we don't! Instead we just keep everything inside to avoid the eggshells and the practice environment deteriorates. The chance to make good things happen, (better results, better relationships, and more responsibility) disappear. What appears instead is a herd of elephants. Everyone knows they are there and yet no one will talk about them for fear of stepping on an eggshell.

The problem is, if we don't discuss the issues as they happen, they don't go away. Instead the issues become elephants and the herd continues to grow until it takes over the entire practice. We end up tiptoeing around each other's eggshells and pretending the elephants don't exist. Communication between team members becomes emotionally charged. The conflicts continue to grow; resolution becomes almost impossible. The office environment is stressful and negative. This emotional stress and negative environment can drive even the best of team members to leave the practice!

To overcome the eggshells we need to first acknowledge they exist. Have a team meeting to talk about the eggshells in the office. Have each team member identify which eggshells they surround themselves with most often. They are their hot buttons and can be set off very easily.

I recently held a team meeting where each team member identified their eggshells. There was a variety of answers; desire to be liked, hurt feelings, judgment, criticism, retaliation and nothing ever changes. They differ for each team member because of their past experiences.  

Once the eggshells have been identified discuss the importance of talking about issues as they happen regardless of their existence. This proactive communication helps to prevent and remove the elephants in the room. Reinforce the message; we are all working together towards the same goal of a healthy office environment. In order to accomplish this we have to give each other a break and believe that our other team members' intents are good. We need to talk about the issues even if talking about issues creates eggshells like judgment, being disliked or criticized.