Product Manager Versus Project Manager

A good product development team in a functioning company usually has two extremely important roles defined; a Product Manager and Project Manager. A normal common misconception is that the Product Manager and Project manager’s responsibilities are all but the same. They are definitely not the same.

However, it is not uncommon for one person to play both roles and handle a variety of responsibilities. Depending on the methodology or framework one uses, these roles may also be referred to as Scrum Master, Product Owner and even Business Analyst.

• A Product?is an ultimate result that you provide to your users. It can be a physical touchable product, a software platform, app or a service.
• A Project?is a plan which consists of different activities. All the activities have a defined outcome and fixed start and end dates. When the outcome is accomplished, your project will be completed.

Every job, from attorneys and physicians to engineers and developers, requires some form of project management, a product manager or?product marketing manager?– a professional who oversees activities devoted to creating, delivering and marketing products – is no exception. Though product manager and project manager roles intersect, they’re essentially two different positions that work together to achieve different things.

A?product manager?focuses on the creation and development of products, while a?project?manager?focuses on managing the activities around product development (or any other function) through its implementation. A simpler explanation can place each position into two categories: tactics (project management) versus strategy (product management).

Know the difference:

Product Managers own the “ What” and “Why”.

Project Managers own the “ How” and “When”.

Product Management

Product Managers do very much like their title states: They manage products. A product can be a physical product, hardware, or software. Product Managers determine the product’s vision, roadmap, features, user needs, and work closely with the development team and project manager to ensure the proper things are being built. The product manager determines the priority of features to be built. This may span multiple projects, sprints, and product releases that can affect multiple software and hardware products.

The role of a product manager varies widely depending on whether he or she is focused on technical versus business goals. A Product Manager is the bridge between the present and future of the product.

Product managers?drive the development of products. They prioritise initiatives and make strategic decisions about what gets built.

?A product manager’s main responsibilities can encompass:

• Developing?product roadmaps?for future products
• Product strategy
• Product Vision
• Ideas and initiatives
• Feature prioritisation
• Future releases
• Ideation
• Go-to-Market strategy
• Writing?product requirements?and other technical documentation
• Conducting?competitive analysis?and studying market trends
• Market research

A Product Manager should understand the implications, constraints, dependencies, priorities inside a project in the same way as a Project Manager does

Product managers communicate how products should be delivered to customers based on the company’s business and?marketing strategy. Since product managers focus more on the “what” than the “how,” they must stay abreast of current and future trends in their respective industries. Combining this market knowledge with technical expertise, the product manager determines how the company’s product offering can meet current and future customer needs and enhance customer experiences overall. The product manager is responsible for the strategy, roadmap, and feature definition for that product or product line.

Project Management

Project managers pay close attention to the current project and development team. A given product may be made up of several projects, and a development team may work on numerous products. The Project Manager collaborates closely with the Product Manager to guarantee that user stories are produced with the proper requirements and acceptance criteria. The Project Manager also assists in directing the developers by properly planning their work for each sprint and ensuring that projects stay on track to meet feature goals, financial targets, and targeted timetables. Project managers are typically in charge of managing difficult discussions between stakeholders, developers, and the product manager.

Occasionally, one or more aspects of a product manager’s job will fall into project management. Nevertheless, it’s the project manager who oversees the vehicles that support products and other activities related to designing, building and selling those products.

Rather than performing tasks that contribute to the strategic direction of the company, project managers rely on a set of methodologies to deliver a project on time and within budget. The project manager also ensures that the project meets the specifications outlined by the product manager.

Whereas product managers are heavily involved with a product from conception, project managers can also become involved during the planning phase of the?product life cycle. Project managers keep their project within scope and?budget, managing the various?schedules, roles, resources, risks and costs around those activities. Once the project is completed, project managers transition to the next project.

Project managers also often oversee the execution of plans that have already been developed and approved.

So Project managers are responsible for:

• Resource allocation
• Time allocation
• Project budget
• Team collaboration
• Capacity
• Status updates
• Problem resolution
• Project delivery

key responsibilities that highlight the differences:

Product managers are responsible for the overall product vision, directing the?people and the roadmap (the strategy) for getting there.

Project managers are responsible for getting the logistics, scheduling, planning and task allocations done. Think of it as the Product Manager being the CEO of the product and the Project Manager being the COO of the product.

Some of the major differences that distinguish product managers from project managers are roles, responsibilities and framework.

Project Manager:

• deals with a?project?–?a plan with a series of particular activities that has a defined outcome and a fixed start and end date;
• is not that much concerned with the product goals but with the project itself;
• focuses on needs:?takes care of?budget, team’s organisation, solving problems, deadlines,?etc.
• responsible for internal completion and delivery of one project at a time –?once the project is finished, he moves to other tasks/projects;
• ?prioritises the tasks and makes sure the team follows the instructions and agreements.

Product Manager:

• deals with a?product that customers are provided with;?
• is a product owner;
• is responsible for setting the product strategy;
• once the project is finished and a product is delivered to customers, a Product Manager still works on it and makes sure it meets customers’ expectations;
• focuses on internal needs:?understanding customers’ needs, researching market, makes sure there are no bugs, decides where to go with the product, what changes introduce,?etc.

The role of a product manager is defined and dictated by a specific product or?product line. Likewise, the product manager continues to support the product, from creating documentation to fielding customer inquiries and requirements, even after the product’s launch.

The Challenge

The difficulty is the wide range of abilities needed for each function. In my view, product management tends to test your capacity for original thought and leans more towards the fine arts. Defining and interpreting precise data on product consumption and other analytics is necessary, but the real challenge is in leveraging the data to guide crucial product decisions. Additionally, having effective communication skills is crucial for both your internal team and your customers as they build and purchase your product.

Project management requires a good understanding of numbers to help one effectively budget time, costs, and other project intricacies. A Project Manager also must be able to communicate well. Being able to be the liaison between the business or Product Manager to the development team is essential. Project management also requires strong time management skills, for both oneself and for their development team. A Project Manager must be the voice of reason to keep pushing their team toward sprint goals and commitments.

While one person can certainly possess the skills to be great at both roles simultaneously, it should not be an expectation.

Why companies need both even though one company I once worked for claimed they didn't need both**

I know of a company whose management thought the two roles; project and product management were one and the same. Despite explaining that they were two roles necessary for the development of the company, a deaf ear was rendered. They have since woken up when it is rather too late, long after they have lost major customers.

Some industry experts argue that detaching product design and development roles from those that focus on coordination and execution creates redundancies and miscommunication within business operations. If feedback and collaboration between product managers and project managers become broken, this leads to poorly developed products that fail to meet the company’s budget and requirements or that don’t meet the customer’s needs. This concern has led many organisations to merge the two positions, where product managers handle design, development and launch activities. However, that does not work in their favour eventually.

While it gives them greater control of the overall process, allowing product managers to design products, develop strategy and manage projects is probably best suited for smaller companies. Larger organisations may be better served by appointing project managers who handle the administrative issues that crop up during implementation. Moreover, as product teams grow, so does the number of deliverables.

The project manager helps keep the different product components in sync and on schedule so that product managers can devote the bulk of their time to analysis and product vision. By allocating enough time and people resources (i.e. project managers), companies avoid the pitfalls of delivering a product that fails to compete in the marketplace.

In nutshell

If you decide to separate the product management and project management roles which is ideal, make sure there’s consistent communication between the two. For example, if the project manager discovers that a project is going over budget, the product manager can determine if keeping certain product functionality or removing it altogether will enable the project to meet its budget.

Product management and project management indeed have different goals, but they are inseparable functions when it comes to successfully producing and delivering products and services.

Although, there are differences between product manager and project managers, both play an important role in the success and failure of a company. They both perform unique functions and have specific goals. These roles and responsibilities differ greatly from one another. The two have to frequently collaborate in order to create the best outcome possible.

Ask yourself two questions:

• Without the product manager, will the team be able to function well and produce results?
• What would happen to the team if the project manager left?

Your responses will most likely demonstrate the value and irreplaceability of both perspectives. The success depends on their cooperation.

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