Almost every successfully run project has one major characteristic in common: it was planned well from the beginning and anticipated issues up front. Once a plan starts falling behind, it is extremely hard to try to bring it in on-time. Yet, one approach often used is to have the executive management conduct meetings with the project team in order to "resolve" issues. Outside management acts as if the project team members and project managers were goofing off during the project and it is their job to refocus everyone and lead them to success.
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In the short-term, this kind of strategy always seems to work. Some people on the project team get the picture- work harder or face the prospect of being eliminated. "This is a career limiting project". Of course, putting undue pressure on the project team does nothing to actually bring the project in within the defined parameters of quality and cost. It only forces people to exaggerate the truth about tasks or to temporarily work faster. It can't last. And team morale certainly takes a hit.

The shame of it is that this kind of pressure is well-intentioned (sort of). Management wants to help the project finish on-time. They want to lend their abilities to making the project a success. The problem is that experienced managers aren't used to helping a project leader succeed, especially if they are below them in the organizational chart. Managers are used to leading. So, these meetings invariably cause the project manager to have to report to an extra level of management that is trying to micro-manage the project. So, more time is wasted trying to bring the new leadership up to speed on the analysis work that the project team has done.

In reality, when management detects a project slippage, they can really help the situation. They can simply let the project manager know that management and management resources are at the project manager's disposal. With the extra resources at their disposal, the project manager is free to tackle the issues at hand. This illustrates the project’s importance and the confidence in the project management that true leaders ought to have.

Of course, management can also help by allowing the project team to set realistic end dates, but that is another story.