There are few points forced to manage the project without Project Manager:
- Project is small in terms of quantity of work and number of people to carry out that work
- The complexity and risk is low
- The sponsor feels that they do more on technical jobs or R&D or performing case study, so that the need of the project management is minimal (this point is opposite to the above points as the technical jobs, R&D and case study have more uncertainties and challenges)
- No budget to cover the cost of Project Management indeed Project Manager