Projects Completed on time

• I think the baseline is the commitment you are making to your customer. If you are unsure on certain factors at the time of making the commitment, then you need to ensure that adequate Risk Management is done properly and all risks are mitigated in time. Also, assumptions and constraints if any need to be brought out upfront. That is what planners and Project Managers are expected to do. I think saying “…you simply do not know everything that you are up against” is inadequate planning
  and simply an excuse. Every project “bleeds” some time or the other. As the PM, you need to ensure that sufficient controls are in place to reduce the impact due to this. By Sharat,
• If I could disagree with both of you learned gentlemen about having to stick to the deadline in the original baseline. This is simply not practical in the leading edge projects that I have been involved in. In those where the tasks were treading fairly well known tracks I would agree with you, however in the leading edge projects you simply do not know everything that you are up against. While you fight as hard as you can to keep with the original plan, I find it difficult to attribute such changes to the incompetence of the original planner when you are on the “bleeding edge”. By Darryl
• this issue also borders on second level Situational leadership. It is necessary to balance the Development levels (competence and commitment) of these guys with an appropriate Leadership style from you. Depending on the level the guys are, you can apply any of the following styles – Directing, coaching, supporting or delegating. One of these styles will definitely appeal the individuals’ motivations and confidence on the task. Ken Blanchard has good propositions and a book on Situational Leadership2. It could help as well. By Jonathan