The easiest expectations to fill are the expectations that don’t exist. Just because an expectation isn’t written down doesn’t mean that one doesn’t exist. Managers will often have a deadline in their head for delegated tasks even if it isn’t clearly communicated. But for some projects, the schedule is firmly in the hands of the project team.
A schedule with no deadlines or commitments will always be the easiest to meet. If you don’t have to do anything, then there is no point when you can be behind. Every Red/Amber/Green report can be shown as green. Every status update can be given an “everything on track” statement.
Eventually, the process will always catch-up though. Someone will get around to asking “so what have you been doing all this time.” The answer cannot be that you were just having meetings and developing a plan. The moment the question is asked “what you have been doing,” an expectation has officially been established. Unfortunately for you, that expectation will be something better than where things are at.
It’s always best to establish firm expectations up front even if they are aggressive and cause you to go Amber/Red on your updates. At least that shows that you are trying and tracking. That’s how things get done.