Product Managers vs Product Owners
Nick Finnemore
Director│ Non-Executive Director │ EdTech Expert │ Mentor & Coach │ AI in Edtech Specialist │ AI in Business Specialist │ Product Management Expert
I’m often asked what the difference is between Product Managers and Product Owners.
Product Managers should be strategic, outward facing, and think mainly about the future and what the customer need is and future trends, even if they also need to assure direction on every day projects. They are effectively the CEO of their bit of a solution which means they need to:
- Give Strategic direction to the business
- Set measurable objectives for the success of their solution (revenue targets, customer usage, retention)
- Manage the lifecycle of a solution from inception to in-life and beyond
- Ensure the solution meets the needs of the customer and benefits the company at the same time
- Be ultimately responsible for the success of their solution
A Product Owner focuses on the now and supports both the Project team and the Product Manager to realise their vision. The key is that both work very close together, and both being aligned is fundamental to success. You find issues when the communication between both are not aligned and that leads to Product Managers being dragged into the day to day workings of a project.
Depending on size of company and the types of projects, both roles are important and add a lot of value.
E-Mobility Technology Commercialisation Consultant | Helping EV Tech Start Ups & SMEs to Connect & Sell Into Public & Private Sector Supply Chains
7 年Agree that both roles are key to success. In my experience, the challenge is when both roles are wrapped into one. This is typical is smaller businesses. In this situation, there needs to be a clearly negotiated set of responsibilities with the leadership team that are then shared across the business so there is no ambiguity. that creates tension downstream.