About David Behr

Focusing on Teamwork, Leadership & Continuous Improvement 15 Years as Plant Manager, 40+ Years in Manufacturing MS Manufacturing Systems Engineering, BS Industrial Engineering Skilled in Lean Manufacturing tools & techniques Trained as a 6-Sigma black belt Experience at: 3M, Rubbermaid, Plygem, and Generac Leading a manufacturing plant presents a number of challenges: gaining buy-in, alignment & engagement leveraging diverse perspectives mentoring the transition from Operator to Supervisor developing ownership & accountability driving continuous improvement while meeting daily commitments I've learned from great leaders and navigated my own set of challenges. If you need ideas for improving teamwork, developing leaders, and driving continuous improvement, I'm here to help.

Vision, Mission & Values

Vision If you take care of your team, they will take care of your customers, your customers will take care of your profits and shareholders. (Paraphrased from an interview with Richard Branson, co-founder of Virgin Group.) The mission and values below reveal more on taking care of your team. Mission Help leaders create “moments that matter” for their team. A leader’s job is to intentionally look for opportunities and take action to help the team: Gain clarity about the goals and how each individual fits in. Develop a strategy and plan for overcoming obstacles and achieving the goals. Evaluate progress. Feel recognized and rewarded. Feel respected, valued, and appreciated. Grow and develop skills and experiences. Build connections and teamwork. Find the resources needed to be successful. Respectfully, quickly redirect efforts that are not in line with the goals. Effectively address conflict or disagreement without letting it derail the team. These are the moments that matter for employee success. Values Every person is special, precious, wonderful, and important. As leaders we make sure they feel recognized, respected, valued, appreciated, and needed. There is a synergy between showing appreciation, and building teamwork, leadership, and continuous improvement. When team members feel respected, valued and appreciated they also build connection, trust, engagement, alignment, and commitment. These grow teamwork, leadership and continuous improvement. The opposite is also true. Why? I have put together this training and material to assist you in your leadership journey. I’ve learned from some great leaders and a few not so great. I’ve had some wins and situations I could have handled better. Interaction-next.com briefly covers many of the best practices I have learned along the way.

Workshop Topics

Workshops usually include one or more of the following well received topics:

• Building Great Teamwork – Usually a group favorite, learning about interaction style and team dynamics. An eye-opening experience unveiling factors that fuel and foul teamwork. A fun look at self-development, leveraging different perspectives, and giving insights into a recipe for helping teams thrive.
• Handling Difficult Situations – Group coaching and role play applying best practices and gaining experience dealing with poor performance and other difficult topics. The workshop teaches a method to make it possible to candidly re-set behavior and still maintain an ally.
• Giving Praise – Group coaching and role play giving an effective thank you. Learning methods to recognize and refuel co-workers leaving them feeling energized, valued, appreciated, and ready to do more great things.
• Building Engagement, Alignment and Commitment – Discussion on forces that drive behavior leading to the realization that if you want employee engagement, alignment, and commitment, start first by building a foundation of praise, positive connection, and trust.
• LEGO® Lean – Hands-on, practical learning building with LEGO® blocks. Practicing lean manufacturing concepts, creating flow, eliminating waste, and applying quick changeover methods. Learn continuous improvement in a fun and engaging way.

TM and Terms of Use

Trademarks and copyright are the property of their respective owners.

The Interaction-Next^TM brand is trademarked as a brand for information, training, and methods for teambuilding, team development, Interaction style survey, style profiles, self-development and leadership development.

The name Interaction-Next^TM comes from learning skills and insights to help make your next interaction more effective.

The information contained on this website reflects the ideas, personal experience, thoughts, insights, and opinions of the author. These pages are presented as is. There could be typos, errors and incomplete information and may not apply to the reader's situation. It is the reader's responsibility to determine the accuracy and suitability for use. There are no implied or express warranties. There are no guarantees regarding accuracy, availability, suitability of any kind, or purpose. Content is subject to change without notice. That being said, we sincerely hope you have fun and find the information insightful.

Interaction Style Survey

The survey is really quick. Just answer the 5 questions
and click on the corresponding buttons.

1) Do you create the Vision or are you known for your Skills?

L1 Visionary
M1 Specialist
hard to
decide

2) Do you prefer Flexibility or Structure?

L2 Flexible
M2 Structured
hard to
decide

3) Are you more Kind or Competitive?

L3 Kind
M3 Competitive
hard to
decide

4) Are you Bold or Analytical?

L4 Bold
M4 Analytical
hard to
decide

5) Finally, of the 4 choices you made above (highlighted in blue), which 2 sound the most like you? Write down your answers. Those are your interaction styles.

If you would like more detail download the free Survey-Paper Version. ©Interaction-Next.com 2007-2025

The 4 Style Pairs

L1 Visionary is the opposite of M1 Specialist.

L2 Flexible is the opposite of M2 Structured.

L3 Kind is the opposite of M3 Competitive.

L4 Bold is the opposite of M4 Analytical.

Different situations call for different skills. No single style is best. A great team needs all 8 skills and the ability to view the same situation from varied perspectives.

As it turns out, each pair has opposite and complimentary skills. One’s blind spot is the other's hot button. One's vulnerability is the other's wheelhouse. They can learn a great deal from each other.

Really?

In team meetings ... watch for unexpected reactions. A puzzled or stern expression, sudden silence, or testiness; all signals that someone's feeling dismissed, devalued, excluded, or disrespected. These feelings can lead to teammates that withdraw, rebel, or otherwise undermine teamwork.

Blind spots and Hot Buttons are revealed when one action seems okay and natural to one teammate but noticeably bothers others. One example is an M3 Competitor teases a teammate about a poor outcome. Observers on the team see that as being insensitive. Another is when an L3 Kind overlooks an obvious poor effort for the sake of getting along. The rest of the team questions their leadership.

Imagine if you developed a well thought out plan and just before implementation a more flexible teammate wants to make a last minute, significant change in direction. How about when a more analytical teammate is pushed to make an important decision before having a chance to review the information.

All these are examples of different perspectives looking at the same situation. One feels like there is nothing to it (blind spot). The other feels uncomfortable and bothered about it (hot button). If a teammate feels too ruffled up they have a tendency to withdraw or rebel from the team.

Considering diverse perspectives is a strength of a good team. Teams will not always agree. The key is in seeing the other perspective and resolving the difference of opinion with direct, candid, respectful discussion. There are 3 potential truths: one person is correct, the other person is correct, or there is some win-win common understanding. The correct answer depends on the circumstances and ends with each individual feeling respected, valued, and appreciated.

Setting Clear Expectations

In addition to setting "SMART" objectives (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound), there are best practices that will help create clarity and improve the chance of success.

• Say the expectation out loud, don't assume it is understood.
• Ask your team to paraphrase the expectation in their own words.
• Write it down. For significant projects it is a good idea to create a project charter.
• Define what success looks like. How will we know?
• Keep the expectation concise and focused.
• Share the "why" behind the expectation.
• Establish milestones on the path to success. Establish check-in points.
• Clarify accountability. Who is accountable for delivering on the commitment?
• ... and yes, keep it SMART.

Building Commitment

Looking for employee engagement and commitment? First build a foundation giving praise, building connection and trust. Then, alignment and commitment go hand in hand.

• Giving sincere praise builds connection.
• Connection builds trust.
• Trust drives engagement.
• Engagement leads to commitment.

It doesn’t work to try and skip steps. Some leaders wonder why engagement is low when they have not worked on building trust first.

Gaining Alignment

6 best practices for gaining alignment

Be known for helping others succeed. They will want to help you. Include the team in setting the goal. Explain the "why" behind the goal. Let the team know you value their help and would appreciate their support. Ask management to indicate their support and "literally" ask the rest of the organization to help the team be successful. Develp a solid team charter.

Recognition & Appreciation

There are 8 great words in leadership. Every person is special, precious, wonderful, and important. As leaders, we should make sure they feel respected, valued, appreciated, and needed.

In workshop we practice this recipe for giving praise.

• Smile, be friendly. Signal you are proud to be on the same team.
• Inform them you are thanking them. Focus on giving back well-earned, positive energy.
• Use their name. This shows respect and demonstrates you care and value them.
• Say “thank you”, show appreciation. Keep consistent, “up-beat” expressions, tone, body language, and words.
• Be sincere, specific, and timely.
• Let them know about the positive impact of their actions.
• Celebrate, smile, and let them enjoy the moment.

Practice helps praise to become a natural, sincere part of your leadership style.

Handling Difficult Situations

Teammates won't always agree. There can be room for multiple-valid perspectives. In workshop we discuss that there are 3 potential truths: one person is correct, the other person is correct, or there is some win-win common understanding. The correct answer depends on the circumstances and ends with both individuals feeling respected, valued, and appreciated. It is best to handle differences of opinion with direct, candid, respectful conversation.

Giving an Effective Reprimand

There is a delicate balance in giving a reprimand. Be direct and candid enough so the individual is motivated to change the behavior and still respectful so they continue to be a part of making the team successful. In workshop we practice a recipe for giving a reprimand. You will notice the reprimand has more to consider than giving praise.

• Don’t smile, neutral body language.
• Let them know it is about something they need to improve on.
• Tell them what they did wrong, be specific, use their name.
• Tell them how it makes you feel and how it hurts the organization.
• Don’t mix messages. Be concise and direct.
• Pause and let them feel uncomfortable.
• Explain what good performance is.
• Let them know what consequences there will be so far.
• Encourage them to do better. If appropriate, ask if you can help.
• Let them know you want them to succeed.
• Ask them to commit to improve.
• Smile, end the meeting positively but do not let them off the hook.

Practice helps to make giving a reprimand easier and more effective.

Uncovering Waste

Learn to recognize activities that add cost but not value.

Creating Flow

Materials and products incur cost if they are sitting (not moving). Storage space, inventory $, counting cost, shelf life, obsolescence, and concealed defects are just a few examples of wasted resources.

Apply Value Stream Mapping and other lean techniques to keep processes moving in small batches. The benefits come from reduced inventory, less working capital, and shorter customer lead times.

Quick Changeover

Make process changeovers less of a hassle.

Process changeovers can be a hassle. Learn Lean Quick Changeover methods and have fun using LEGO® blocks. Learn how to significantly reduce changeover times.

1. Develop a step-by-step process.
2. Divide the steps in two groups:
   • Those that can be done while the machine is still running.
   • Those that cause a disruption to the process.
3. Challenge the list of tasks, find innovative ways to do more while the machine is running.
4. Apply Lean Principles to reduce waste and make efficiency improvements.

KAIZEN & Quick Action Teams

Trouble getting traction with your KAIZEN teams? I can help you set up and run a great Kaizen event.

LEGO® House LEAN Example

Let's apply some LEAN concepts. There is a LEGO® house made up of 16 blocks.

A very good time for building this house is 25 seconds. In the video below a team applies several LEAN Manufacturing concepts, eliminating excess, creating clarity, preventing disruptions, and dropping the assembly time to 14 seconds. There still is some opportunity for improvement. What ideas would you like to try?

• Organized, visual workspace.
• Only the materials and tools that are needed.
• Standard work sequence and procedure.
• Materials and tools staged close to point of use.
• Components in correct quantity & orientation.
• Parallel operations.
• Sub-assembly (1st 3 parts supplied in position).
• Trained employee, quality at the source.
• Specialized fixtures and tools.
• Using ideas from participants.

Reducing Variability

A more challenging project might merit more rigerous 6-sigma methods.