Are you an accidental project manager? I hope that no one gets offended by this term since the use of this term in our view is not offensive at all, rather it reflects a common reality. It is for those non-project managers who are asked and expected to manage projects.
However, if anyone objects to the term, we truly apologize in advance and humbly ask you to read on and you might find out that our intentions are good.
Definition
Project Management is a series of hurdles to overcome, to deliver a successful project!
So what is the accidental project manager? Is it someone who is clumsy and stumbles into too many accidents? Absolutely not!
It is a term that somewhat common in project management.
It typically refers to a professional who is educated and practicing in one function or domain, other than project management. Domains such as engineering, programming, marketing, human resources, finance, general business, art, and healthcare, among many other fields. This professional, who is not a project manager, is tasked with managing a project related to their function or department. Now, the challenge is that more often than none, this professional might not have any experience or education or training in project management yet they are still asked to manage a project. These could be business majors, doctors, pilots, engineers, or any other field of specialty.
In other words, the professional is accidentally, or by chance/coincidence, get to manage a project although that was not likely a preferred career choice. Managing the project can be on a part-time or full-time basis. Once the project is complete, the professional resume his or her normal functional duties and maybe never manage another project again.
The above situation creates opportunities and threats.
The Opportunity
For some professionals, the above bring about a great opportunity. An opportunity to take on a new challenge, and acquire new and highly valuable skills; project management skills. These skills are in demand in today’s economy and in life. Further, these skills are transferable to many domains, including managing personal non-work initiatives.
If the person does a good job in managing the first project, she/he might be given an opportunity to manage another, and another, and maybe shift totally into project management and become a career project manager. A career project manager is someone who chooses project management as a career choice and shifts into it from whatever career they were in before. The transition might not be easy but would be quite rewarding.
The Threats
The threat to the professional (the accidental project manager) and the organization is that the accidental project manager might not be ready to manage a project and as a result, they might not do well on the project. If the project has a degree of complexity, then the project might even fail and we are likely to blame the project manager. Could this failure be the fault of the accidental project manager? Basically, this professional is given a new “challenge”, as the boss might have claimed, yet this professional who is given the challenge might not have the characteristics that are necessary for a good project manager. Further, this person might not have been given the necessary education/training or know how to manage the project and would not be fair to blame her/him.
Therefore, the threat, in this case, is double edge:
- On the personal aspects, the accidental project manager is likely to feel responsible for the failure and this situation might hurt them professionally and personally. In some cases, the consequences could be severe and detrimental to the person’s career.
- The other aspect is the organizational aspect. Here we have a failed project with cost, schedule, and possibly other consequences. If the project is for a client, the damage could be significant.
In short, all involved lose in this scenario.
The Solution
The above threats and opportunities are synonyms for risk. Then how can we manage this risk; i.e. minimizing the threats and maximizing the opportunities?
One solution is to have all project managers educated or trained in project management and should be professional project managers. However, we do not believe this is necessary for all type of projects. For major capital investment projects, and projects that are very important for an organization we need the necessary preparation before we should put a project manager in charge and in these situations we need career project managers.
On the other hand, for many projects, especially those in our day-to-day life and business, we can manage them effectively with accidental project managers … with some preparation and development. We should not throw the person into the ocean and expect them to reach the shores safely if they do not know how to swim. We need to help them learn the necessary skills to survive, maybe we start in a large pool and not the ocean; for the ocean, we need an expert swimmer and on a calm beach, basic swimming skills will do. The same concept applies in the organizational environment.
Developing project managers
How can we do that? How can we prepare and develop a person to become an accidental project manager and maybe even a career project manager?
We can have the professional works on projects to see what it is like. Provide some basic project management learning opportunities. Have the person work as an assistant project manager under the supervision of a more experienced professional. All of these actions will enhance the chance of success and reduce the chance of failure. This way, we would have effectively managed the risk of the accidental project manager and the professional gain new skills while the organization enjoys the benefits of a new service or product.
For all the accidental project managers out in the world, welcome the opportunity to manage a project and it may change your life. If the organization gives you the task without getting you ready, prepare on your own. Seek the new knowledge and best of all learn how to apply it.
We wish you an enjoyable and exciting journey of learning and growth.
Personal Note
The author of this article was an accidental project manager. I started my career as a civil engineer and worked on projects; not as a project manager. I fell in love with project management and I went back to school to get a Master of Science in Engineering and Construction Management; a specialized form of project management and I have been in this domain ever since.
It has been a wonderful 22 years since my MS and looking forward to another 20 years of joy in helping people realize their potential.
Originally published in September 2013, updated November 2013.
This comment is By Daryl Fuller, MBA, PMP on LinkedIn:
I like this topic but I feel we have to be careful to not make things more complicated. To reduce risk as identified in the article, one solution as described is the PMO – provided it is set up appropriately. PMO’s tend to be funded by Sr. Executives, so they usually expect something for their support. This usually comes in the form of reporting on the status of the projects – just the Executive ‘dashboard’ that so many PMO’s produce, at the expense of the PM’s and their limited time availability. More effective PMO’s, especially for the accidental or reluctant PM’s, have a PM assistance mode. Checklists, templates for meeting Agenda’s, quick and easy reporting of project status forms, company standard PowerPoint templates for project reporting, samples from successful projects, and other useful documentation that PM’s can use, if and when they need them.
Give them enough ‘stealth education’ and these accidental PM’s will often choose Project Management as their new career. I know, because it happened to me.
This comment was posted on LinkedIn Project Management Global Resources group by William Woloschuk
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It’s not actually that “Accidental” that someone without specific training/education or experience is selected as the Project Manager. Senior Management needs help to solve a business problem and it’s your responsibility to go through some of the steps that typically is expected from the PMO Group but not always. I believe it can be a good thing to take on a new and challenging assignment to see what difference you can make using the “Skill set” that you already possess in Business, Engineering, and so forth.
This comment was posted on LinkedIn Project Management Global
Resources group by Mitchell Rodriguez
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I to believe that it is good for a person to experience new challenges. That being said, a company with a Team of Project managers and several project’s going at once the team should not want any of the Projects to fail in any way and the “accidental” PM should ask for assistance when needed and it should be given. If it is not then it will be detrimental to that person as the article wrote. We would like to
think that upper management would not hold the “accidental” PM responsible but that is not reality. Mitch
This comment was posted on LinkedIn Project Management Global
Resources group by Heather Seemuth-Johnson, PMP
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When I was an operations manager, being an “accidental project manager” came with the territory. I saw this as a great opportunity and it has turned into a career as
a full fledged project manager. There continues to be the need for strong
people managers who know the skills of their employees and make an appropriate
match for their “first” projects. It is important that they check in
on status, coach, and help their employees grow as needed.
This comment was posted on LinkedIn PMO group by Jim Milliken, PMP, https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Are-You-Accidental-Project-Manager-106439.S.5962027162788777985view=&gid=106439&item=5962027162788777985&type=member&commentID=discussion%3A5962027162788777985%3Agroup%3A106439&trk=hb_ntf_COMMENTED_ON_GROUP_DISCUSSION_YOU_CREATED#commentID_discussion%3A5962027162788777985%3Agroup%3A106439
This is a good summary of the situation many people — maybe most people — get into on occasion.
The natural-born project manager finds the challenges exciting, and enjoys engaging problems. Figuring things out is an engaging process for such people, and I agree with Sukad that there tends to be a succession of such opportunities.
Many people I have known become “magnets” for difficult, puzzling situations. Their managers and peers steer the problems to them, and they keep taking things on and resolving them.
I do a lot of project management training and consulting, and I would say most of the people I work with fit into that category — as did Sukad himself. We’re not born with project management certification attached — we develop the expertise and eventually formalize it.
For all of us, the lesson is to not join with the majority of people in avoiding problems. Be the problem-solver, and that is the pathway to becoming a project manager.
This
comment was posted on LinkedIn PMLink – Project
Management Link – Project, Program & Portfolio Managers, PMP, PMBOK, PMO group by Charles Smith,
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I enjoyed your article. It’s very useful to look into the realities of how people become PMs.
In my own story-based research I’ve identified 6 types of PM, and two of these might fit your ‘accidental’ category.
One is the Analyst, who starts by delving into complex task interactions and becomes the PM who resolves incompatibilities and glitches.
The other is the Expert, who is qualified in a specialist professional discipline, and has a ‘script’ for how the job should be done, and then becomes PM, finding those who have drifted ‘off-script’ and bringing them into line.
I’m not sure I like the term ‘accidental’ which may belittle the careers of those (me included)whose paths have taken unexpected turns. There is a commendable art, I think,of taking the confusions of today and using them to leverage a new direction -a change in one’s professional identity.