A recent study on project management found out that one of the biggest causes of project failure was an inability to initiate "crucial conversations". The study, which was conducted by Vital Smarts Inc., a Provo, Utah-based training firm, found that project managers' inability to talk to people about negative situations frequently leads to failure. Five of the most common situations are:

Arbitrary deadlines & inadequate resources: Any fool would know that this is a surefire recipe for failure. And yet, for some reason, this mistake keeps occurring.

• Lack of leadership: Agreed project managers are not born leaders but unless you provide the necessary leadership, political clout or energy for a project, it is headed toward doom.
• Manipulating the project priority-setting process: This is an absolute no-no. And yet, some project managers seem to have no qualms about skirting this issue.
• Lack of support: When your team doesn’t support your project as required, you have either not given them the full picture or you haven’t been able to get them onto your side. Either way, the project is headed toward failure.

The worst? Failure to acknowledge problems: We all know that ignoring a problem or wishing it away is not a solution. And yet, many a time, project managers just stick their headin the mud and refuse to acknowledge project problems until it's too late for remedial action.