PMI Conference discussion on tips for the Accidental Project Manager:

What is an Accidental Project Manager?​
The individual called upon to undertake project management responsibilities with little or no formal training. Many accidental project managers do an effective job by: utilizing individual technical skill, working with people, applying leadership, communicating with stakeholders, remaining focused, and enjoying some occasional good luck; however, any success is difficult to repeat, creating inconsistent results over multiple projects.

---

Helpful Tips for Accidental Project Managers

• Practice intentional stakeholder management to align expectations
• Clarify success criteria
• Use standard communication practices
• Understand and manage the most relevant constraints and assumptions 
• Avoid fancy tools – or tools fancier than the project
• Managing a realistic schedule is very useful.
• Learn some good estimating tricks applicable to your type of work.
• Ask an experienced PM for guidance and a start-up checklist
• Use basic tools/templates:
  • Charter - agreement of what needs to be done.
  • Schedule - who and when will the work be done.
  • Status Report - how are things going?

Accidental Project Managers should avoid:

• Taking on too much, too quickly, or too big of a  project!
• Don't try to use PMI / PMP language when necessary.
• Underestimate the importance of communication!
• Assumptions about things 'just getting done", be proactive! 
• Ignoring issues and bad news. It is not like red wine and will NOT get better with age. Deal with it and move on.
• Dependance on Hero's and "Hail Mary" moves. Plan around reality and capability.
  
• S.M.A.R.T. goals, be realistic when planning and managing the work.
• Using complex tools like MS Project, use tools that you are familiar with and provide leverage for managing the work. 

---