An under-management epidemic is afflicting the workplace. The pendulum has swung too far toward so-called "empowerment." Afraid of the dreaded "micro-management" and seeking to be "hands-off," or simply unwilling or unable to take charge, most leaders/managers/supervisors are simply not doing enough leading, managing and supervising. They fail to do the hard work of REAL empowerment: Regularly spelling out expectations and setting concrete goals and deadlines with clear parameters. Offering specific feedback and direction about ongoing work on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis. Helping employees meet their basic needs.

The costs of under-management are unacceptable. The fundamental disengagement of managers diminishes productivity and quality. Problems occur unnecessarily. Problems get out of control that should have been solved easily. (And managers spend too much of their "management" time solving problems.) Meanwhile, people go in the wrong direction for days or weeks before somebody notices. Resources are squandered. Managers do tasks that would have been better delegated to someone else. Low performers remain safely undiscovered, while high performers are not taken care of and become frustrated and think about leaving.

The most effective managers today are hands-on and transactional (HOT). Take responsibility for your authority and influence, whatever that may be. Learn from these best practices: (1) Become highly knowledgeable about each direct report and his/her work. (2) Build/maintain a regular dialogue about the work with each direct report. (3) Keep written notes in a running log. (4) Deal with performance problems immediately. (5) Fire employees who repeatedly fail to meet the requirements of the job. (6) Do as much for each person as you can, based on his/her performance.

Anyone can be powerful by focusing on what you can control: YOU. Develop a game plan to get started. Think about how much time you can dedicate every week to one-on-one management discussions. Can you set aside an hour every day? How many discussions can you have each day? Now think about each of your direct reports and the work he/she is doing: What kind of discussions will you have with each person? How often will you meet? When? Where? Why? What will you discuss? How will your discussions go?

Take it one person at a time, one day at a time. Every person is different. You might seek input on strategy from one employee and, yet, you have to spell out to-do lists for others. Some employees need to be cajoled every day, but others are looking for inspiration. Each regular dialogue will take on it's own life, appropriate to each person, driven by the work at any given time, and you'll adapt over time as best you can. And you'll wonder how you ever managed any other way.