I think it is important to have some buffers in the schedule to account for any unexpected delays for any reason. The time frame and budget is set when a project is approved. It is better to overestimate the time and money needed for the project when getting approved. If the time and money is underestimated, the company may not have the resources or want to use the resources to continue the project when it needs more time or money, poorly reflecting on the project manager. On the other hand. if a project uses less time or money from when it was originally approved, it reflects good on the team and project manager for saving the company resources.

In response to whether the project should downplay progress or not, I think the project manager should answer questions about progress in relation to the buffered budget and schedule as explained above. In my opinion, it is not the project manager’s job to prevent other departments such as marketing from “jumping the gun”. This seems like a bigger problem within the company.