You were a team member and have just been promoted to the project manager position. Or you became a project manager because you “inherited” a project after the former project manager left the position. In any case, you became the so-called accidental project manager, even though it is rarely an accident that one is promoted to this position. Suddenly, you are a project manager. You have no project management training, nor experience, you are a “newbie”. You were likely assigned the project manager role because of your technical skills and years of experience in the organization, and you are expected to become a project manager in no time.

Technical Skills are Not Enough to be a Project Manager

Having the technical skills and experience in your field without having any project management experience or training is not sufficient. For example, this situation happens often in IT when software developers suddenly find themselves promoted to project manager positions. Just because they know their job is no guarantee that they are automatically good project managers. So what can they do to run the project successfully and make a smooth transition from a technical to a managerial role? Usually, there is no time for them to enroll in a project management course, since they have to run the project in the same time.

Find a Mentor and Read the Lessons Learned Documents

If in your organization there are other project managers who worked on similar projects, their experience is extremely valuable. You should convince them to mentor you, even if it means they can only do that during their lunch break or on their schedule rather than yours. Ask specific questions, rather than what you should do in general. If your organization has had similar projects, consult the lessons learned documentation so that you can plan properly for your project and mitigate at least some of the risks. (more…)