This is very true. My experience has always been that my team performed better when there were /less/ controls on their time, rather than more. I also found i

This is very true. My experience has always been that my team performed better when there were /less/ controls on their time, rather than more. I also found it was important to explain the reasons /why/ a particular thing needed to be done by a certain date, on the occasions that some external pressure needed it to be done. People don't mind pulling out the stops and working extra hard, as long as it's occasional and /necessary/. It's absolutely morale-killing to do so for an arbitrary deadline, however. Nothing burns out a team faster than death-marches to deadlines pulled from thin air.