As much as you might want to multitask, there is a limit to how much work in progress can be handled at once. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed—whether due to your own commitments or because management keeps piling on more projects—assess the situation and see what you can do to improve your condition without letting your work suffer.

Some of the hardest and most crucial instances in any project execution are the user acceptance test phases. But having a thorough and clearly documented process for evaluating acceptance and exit criteria that you previously agreed on with the end-user will help you handle expectations and plan on results.

An employee may become indispensable through arrogance or happenstance. These employees can cause bottlenecks and often prevent others, as well as themselves, from learning and growing professionally. "Firing" these indispensable employees sets your team free to work even when the expert is not available.

Project managers have to deal with different kinds of people and personalities every day when trying to keep their teams working together and focused on goals. The same strategies managers embrace when building a team or leading a project also can be applied when leading a meeting. The key to success is planning.