The Accidental PM: Who They Are and How We Can Set Them Up To Succeed.

Business Acumen

Jay Cohen, MBA, PMP, CSM

Program Manager

The Canton Group

About the Presentation

Accidental PMs are individuals without specific PM training who have been tasked with managing a project outside of a PMO and without formal oversight.  As professional project managers, supporting these individuals will lead to greater success for the organization, professional development for the Accidental PM, and improved perception of the PMO and project management within the organization.  This presentation breaks our complex methodology down into key principles and tools that Accidental PMs can use with great success.

Learning Objectives:

·         Learn what an Accidental PM is and how to identify them.

·         Learn the benefits of proactively supporting Accidental PMs and their associated projects.

·         Learn how to distill Project Management into several key concepts and how to apply them to “unofficial” projects in the organization.

·         Learn how to use and teach the use of simplified project artifacts for use by Accidental PMs.

About Jay Cohen

Make Things Better" has been Jay Cohen's personal mantra since he began managing projects in 1998.  After gaining experience and serving time in fashion, healthcare, insurance, and entertainment industries, Jay found his happy place amid the chaos at the intersection of IT and public works.  He has served as program manager for megaprojects and stood up multiple PMOs in the public sector and utilities industry.  here, he formalized his "Real PM" approach to project management, emphasizing people, simplicity, integrity, and Making Things Better.