That is life - competition can be outright sneaky and can cause havoc in your day. Just smile, send a message to client that you lost to let him know you will still give him or his friends same service he enjoyed prior to deal not working out, if he chooses to work with you again.

4. I gave an answer to a 2 part question and replied that first part cannot be done as stated (it could not be launched on its own - one would have to launch a separate application within program to make it work), and I answered second part (which was an alternate choice that was better). The person replied that I had a "poor" response because I just obviously didn't know "how" to do first part.

Obviously a "know-it-all" with an attitude. I just let that one roll off my back, not even to try to tell him I know "how", but it needs to launch in a different mode rather than directly. In any case, this person was just being a turkey, and some turkeys are not worth one's time to deal with.

5. We fixed a laptop and spent over 7 hours overall on it. It was so screwed up that it ultimately needed to be formatted and reloaded, but owner had no driver disks or anything. We had to search for components and find drivers to load. They needed to be done in a certain sequence, as found out after loading, so we reloaded again. We charged a mere $225 for all work - a low priced fix for what we did (we figured that a good part of time was loading and downloading, so we were able to walk away from it on occasion). This is much less than any other repair shop would have charged for troubleshooting and formatting and repair. The owner blasted my associate for charging "too much" and called him names. Turned out he wanted fix for "free" even though he was quoted and updated at every step.

We just printed bill and wrote procedures involved. We gave client his laptop and gave him 2 weeks to pay. We figured he'd not refer us to anyone (would we want to be referred as repair team who does work for free?), but we didn't care. We also decided not to back down on amount due because customer was belly-aching so badly with no real good reason - and it cost us our time to do repair. We also decided we would not take on any more repairs from him, if that ever came up again. We also are placing new policies prior to taking on jobs.

So, to sum things up - there are difficult people out there, and some of them try to become your customers. There are people simply having a bad day and they are lashing out without cause. The best thing to do is not necessarily apologize and tell them they are right - but mainly to try to appease them in some way. Let them know you are still on their team, if they want, and leave it at that. The next person they try to work with will probably end up making them realize that you and your company weren't so bad after all. They just haven't found out that others don't give same pricing or service or care - yet. Offer person a discount of their next purchase from you. You might still come out ahead (and at least, not come out "behind").

Oh yes - thankfully bulk of our customers are considerate and appreciative. These other types are always exception.

Not delegating authority - The micro manager will never actually delegate any authority. He will pretend to do so, but never will. This is CEO who still orders office supplies, CIO who must approve every expenditure no matter how small, or supervisor who insists on approving every change to line. Funny how groups managed by these guys can never seem to get anything done ...

Excellent managers delegate authority to their team members. For example, if they hire an office manager, then that office manager is given authority to stock supply cabinet. There is no need to personally check over each order to be sure proper supplies are being ordered.

Not delegating tasks - One of most critical parts of any manager's job is to get other people to do work. This means ALL tasks must be delegated, except for those tasks directly related to getting other people to do their jobs. Managers are like movie directors or orchestra conductors - they do not act in movie or play an instrument in orchestra: they get others to do this PROPERLY and in harmony with other players.

Approving every expenditure - A micro manager has trouble delegating spending authority, so much so that oftentimes even five dollar expenditures must be personally approved by him. The clever micro managers want "reports" of all expenditures instead, but will chew out someone on a moments notice if anything comes across in report that is unexpected.

The great managers delegate spending authority by creating a system of authorities and limits. As long as spending is within guidelines, it is acceptable for team members to spend without approval.

Doing actual work instead of managing - The job of a manager or supervisor is to manage people. One of most important parts of their job description is "managing" or "supervising". This is also one of hardest points for many people to understand, especially people who have been promoted up line. They are not supposed to DO, they are supposed to get others to DO. Except on very smallest of teams, managers who are taking part in tasks on a regular basis have not delegated effectively and are not doing their own jobs ... and they are not letting other people do their jobs as well.

That's key point about good managers - they understand that their job is to manage and/or supervise. They are not "doers" they are people who get other people to do right things at right times to correct level of quality.

All hiring and firing decisions must be personally approved - This is one of signs of a real micro manager. He has "delegated authority" for an area, but refuses to allow his supervisors to make decisions about who to hire. He must perform a second job interview himself to "be sure person is right for organization". He will personally write advertisement for monster.com, insist upon interviewing everyone himself, and "gently guide" you into hiring person he wants. He will question every single termination decision mercilessly, effectively preventing you from firing all but utterly malicious basket cases.

Good managers delegate hiring and firing authority to their supervisors and managers. It is perfectly acceptable for a good manager to interview one or two prime candidates for a critical position, but he understands he does not need to personally check out each and every decision himself.

You see, when a manager insists of interviewing each potential new hire himself and will not allow his supervisors to make firing decisions, he effectively removes a major portion of supervisors authority (at least in eyes of people he supervises). It's clear to everyone that supervisors authority is limited and thus he can be challenged, ignored and made more ineffective. In effect, his authority is dramatically undermined.

Conclusions - So what do you do about a micro manager? Either "fix him", get a new job or transfer to a different department. Little is more miserable than working for micro manager, and if you cannot correct him, leave him to his misery.

If a micro manager works for you, then you must insist he correct his micro managing tendencies immediately. This person is destroying your team, reducing your profits, damaging your credibility and dramatically increasing your turnover.