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Work Management for Teams

The Accidental Project Manager

Published By Nikki Glaser
The Accidental Project Manager

Technology and globalization are driving a need for improved collaboration and project management across teams, but what about those individuals who must keep track of project status, timelines, and documents and ensure projects are seen through to completion? How is the typical accidental project manager dealing with the “get more done with less” concept? And who’s really affected?

The truth is, everyone is a project manager these days, so it affects a good majority of team members.

Everyone is a project manager these days
Trying to manage numerous projects, deadlines and tasks while maintaining visibility into status gets complicated.

In fact, an Appleseed Partners survey of 200 people based in North America who manage or participate in projects found that 2 out of 3 participants may not be project management certified. Of those, 30 percent were “accidental project managers,” managing projects even though it was not in their primary role. Another 62 percent were uncertified, but lead or participated in projects.

Collaboration is king – no matter how many complex projects, the majority of us need technology that will help support our project management efforts to get work done.

The bottom-line: staying focused on key priorities will always be risky for the accidental project manager, especially when juggling multiple projects and large assignments. Further complicating this issue is a lack of workload visibility and confusing cross-functional team collaboration.

Check out Jason Morio’s blog on Projectlab titled, The Accidental Project Manager and take a deeper dive into our survey results to learn more about tackling your biggest collaboration hurdles.

Are you surprised by these stats? Share by leaving a comment below.

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Written by Nikki Glaser

Nikki Glaser is responsible for developing awareness and driving demand for Planview’s project collaboration software, Projectplace. Nikki has been involved in many different roles including marketing programs, events, integrated marketing and demand generation that have helped her develop into the modern marketer she is today. She graduated from Western Michigan University with a BA in Advertising.