Tom Mochal of Tech Republic writes, “Given the high rate of project failures, you might think that companies would be happy to just have their project finish with some degree of success. That’s not the case. Despite the odds, organizations expect projects to be completed faster, cheaper, and better.” There is enormous pressure on project managers to perform, and to perform on budget and on time. Forget the challenging circumstances; forget the diminished resources; forget the personalities you have to bring together to make it all work.

So, how can you make it work in situations like these? Let’s take a look at the three pillars on which successful projects are built.

Every project is different and has its own set of challenges and desired outcomes. Regardless of the resources at your disposal, the team you are leading, or the goals you are trying to achieve, the project leader has to:

When I come into an organization, I make it very clear what my expectations are of the teams I will be working with and how I want things to proceed. On the other hand, I always want to know what their expectations are for me as someone who is going to manage the project. When you manage expectations, you can manage people.

It’s ok; take all the time you need. Go at your own pace. Relax, take a break and come back fresh. Sleep on it. I don’t know about you, but I know my work environment isn’t like this! Does anyone have the luxury of sleeping on anything but their desk when they pass out from exhaustion after working 18 hours? Who goes at their own pace? No one. And that’s exactly why we have deadlines. They are a necessary evil – or a huge benefit, depending on how you look at it. They are also highly variable. When you are working under a tight deadline, what helps get things moving in the right direction?

What does passive aggression look like? It is the person who says, “Oh I’m fine,” while seething on the inside; it is the “friend” who gives you a box of chocolates when you’re on a diet; it is the employee who says, “Sure, I’ll get that done!” and then “forgets.” It is the person who demeans or degrades you but adds a quick, “Just joking!” Dr. Lorna Benjamin of the University of Utah’s Neuropsychiatric Institute, says that passive aggressive people “are full of unacknowledged contradiction, of angry kindness, compliant defiance, covert assertiveness.” They are hurricanes of negativity that kill projects and programs faster and more effectively than anything else.

There are the exceptional people who work 18 hour days, make time to meet with team members, and perform incredibly well for the duration of the project (and after!) – and then there’s these people. They sit on the sidelines, second guessing what everyone else is doing and generally making life miserable – often with a smile on their faces. You might see people:

Failing to plan is planning to fail. Proper planning prevents poor performance. A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. You’ve heard them all; planning is important. But it is also complex, intensive, and requires a little finesse with a crystal ball. Of projects that experience schedule slippage, 60 percent use no planning tools or methods; another 30 percent used planning methodology but not tools. Who knows what happens to the other 10 percent, but the majority tracked slippage back to lack of proper planning. This is why many PMI methodology tools are designed to aid this crucial step. Let’s take a look at three tools that can help a project start on the right note.