You may have already managed teams and projects without formal training as that is the new world of work. Project management changes at the pace of business, which is constant. Everyone is getting in on the act, but books like this and programs like mine are helping bridge the gap in understanding so your project work can go more smoothly.

Projects are interesting enough with how much they change and how much you have to adapt. Get training and formalize your approach where possible, to reduce as many unpleasant surprises as possible.

I have a hardcopy of this book where I have highlighted the main points that have really jived with my own experience of performing Project Management in unorthodox, informal, “unofficial”, environments and/or capacities.

This book is about how to get things done and done as well as possible in those circumstances…

Here is my takeaway #5 from one of the most useful practical books in my field, “Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager”:

5) “Most (Franklin Covey) clients say that between 60 and 80 percent of their time at work is project based. But when we ask if their job title is ‘project manager,’ virtually 100 percent answer with a resounding “No!”…The vast majority say they’ve never had a single day of formal project management training. We call these people unofficial project managers.”

Note: This comes from Chapter 1 “The New World of ‘Unofficial’ Project Management” (page 5-6)

Story time: This was the case for me when I was first introduced to project management. I worked for an organization, BYU’s Harold B. Lee Library (A consistently top 5 Academic Library), that brought in Franklin Covey to teach us how to reset our Vision, our Milestones to get there, and align our Department Goals to achieve our Purpose along with the Mission at BYU as a whole. Little did I know at the time that they were teaching us the basics of Project Management.

I was appointed Project Manager (or Lead) of 3 consecutive annual change projects in our department, the largest one, of 70+ people (35+ students at any given time). Because I managed the first project well it led to other change initiative projects that I had a hand in initiating business cases for from my Department Assistant role. I had helped in Project Coordinator activities for training programs prior, but this was my first real taste of managing team projects.

All 3 projects were successes and moved our organization forward, but I could tell we were underachieving, and barely tapping the potential of what project management could do to progress an organization to its potential. This is what prompted me to learn more about project management and eventually to certify as a Project Management Professional (PMP). Interestingly enough, even with a PMP I have had more opportunities to informally manage projects than not.

So even though I have a lot of formal training and experience I still mostly encounter organizations that need an “unofficial” project management approach to get the ball rolling, gain momentum, and capture the snowball effect to build off in order to achieve the most out of the project at hand and future projects (and that’s okay…gives me business).