Product Management & Project Management – Same or Different?
Product management and project management are not the same set of tasks. But both play significant roles throughout the whole product development lifecycle.
It’s an undeniable fact that both are pretty confusing terms, both roles have similar titles, both lean on collaborative efforts, sometimes both have similar responsibilities as well, and much more. However, you are not supposed to misunderstand these two members of the corporate family.
This post will help you to differentiate product managers and project managers, their roles, responsibilities, skills, etc. So let’s get going.
First, let’s understand Project vs. Product.
Any product could be a physical and visible good, software, or service deleted to address customers’ requirements. A product is more persistent compared to a project. A product has to go through the main four stages throughout its lifecycle.
- Introduction to market
- Growth/Progress
- Maturity into the desired structure
- Retires from the market
Any project is a set of different tasks to generate a perfect product. Project development is a temporary task that needs to be concluded within a specific time frame. Project managers are well aware of what needs to be delivered and when. A project lifecycle consists of five main stages.
- Conception & Initiation
- Definition & Planning
- Execution/Launching
- Performance & Control
- Closure
| Project | Product |
| A set of multiple activities | Physical & visible goods, software, services |
| Include various steps | Provide outcome |
| Well-defined end-result | Always improving |
| Short-term project team | Long-term product team |
| Specified time frame | Permanent until abandoned |
Product Manager vs. Project Manager
Product managers are basically the CEOs who set the product vision to be built, gather requirements, and set priorities. They drive product development and set the overall product strategy. They transform user ideas into product features and lead the development team to build an MVP ( Minimum Viable Product). They collaborate with every team including design, development, marketing, sales, support, and any stakeholder responsible to address user demands.
Project managers play a strategic role and concentrate on project execution. They split extensive tactical plans into actionable tasks. They monitor and track a project/ multiple projects from beginning to end. They deliver exactly what the company needs. A project manager executes the vision and strategies set by the product team or leaders of the company. They set time frames, allocate resources, and create an action plan to get the ball rolling within a decided timeline and budget constraints.
Job Roles
| Project Manager | Product Manager |
| Tactical role | Strategic role |
| Also called risk managers | Also called product CEO |
| Execution and efficiency-focused | Customer focused |
| Responsible for providing report progress and quality to stakeholders | Responsible for collaborating with stakeholders for strategies and visions |
| Manage time, budget, and quality | Manage product development |
Responsibilities
| Project Manager | Product Manager |
| Budget and resources allocation | Define product strategies and vision |
| Estimate time and cost | Lead market research |
| Schedule project relevant tasks and define project scope | Drive ideas for new and future product development |
| Monitor progress and prospects | Generate product roadmaps |
| Provide desired business results within a strict time frame | Acknowledge user demands and suggest product features |
| Track and control product quality | Brainstorm product strategies |
| Calculate ROI and disclose it to stakeholders | Sustain effective collaboration with stakeholders |
| Decide on basic and upcoming obstructions | Decide on product releases |
Formal Job Titles
Product Manager
Companies are nowadays determining product management as a significant business job. Hence, four different fields have emerged in recent years.
- Technical product manager
- Data/Analytics product manager
- Product marketing manager
- Product growth manager
These job titles are also divided into different categories based on seniority level.
- Associate product manager
- Junior product manager
- Senior product manager
- Group product manager
- Chief product manager
- Product lead
- VP, product management
- Director of product management
Project Manager
Job titles for project managers can differ based on business nature, the marketplace, and other factors. Project manager jobs are most common in the IT/software, engineering, construction, design, and insurance industry.
| Entry-level | Supporting role | Executive-level |
| Project coordinator | Project admin | Project leader |
| Project scheduler | Project support officer | Program manager |
| Assistant Project manager | Project planner | Project director |
| Project manager | Project controller | Chief project officer |
| Senior project manager | Document controller | Project portfolio manager |
| Project portfolio office executive | ||
| Project management office executive |
Skill Set
Both project and product manager roles need perfect leadership skills. Thorough know-how of workplace progress and the chain of command is essential for both roles. Both should have the determination to make intelligent decisions with the ultimate goal and long-term vision in mind. Also, both require superior organizational and research skills.
These are similar skills of product and project managers. Let’s understand the differences in both skill sets.
Project Manager
- Project managers need to monitor significant business processes and assess them within a project ecosystem. They should also know project initiation, project planning, budget allocation, resource mobilization, reports & documentation progress, on-time project delivery.
- Project managers need to be professional schedulers. They must know how to make a calendar that demonstrates what needs to be performed and when, and whom to communicate. Time and task management are skills you can not ignore.
- Project managers have the knowledge to discover potential risks and how to manage them. They should have pre-planned strategies to mitigate upcoming risks.
- They are able to assure executives and stakeholders that they can submit the projects within a budget and manage overall costs sensibly.
- When it comes to defining project scopes, quality maintenance, and monitoring stakeholders, project managers have control management skills. It helps to properly control goals, limitations, KPIs, etc.
Product Manager
- Communicating with customers, clients, and stakeholders, making successful presentations, simplifying product meetings, leading a team, etc., are the key skills of a product manager.
- They should understand customer requirements in and out to convert them into an advanced feature. They should also know how to create pricing frameworks, present innovative product campaigns, and address ever-changing market demands.
- Product managers need to generate a product roadmap by determining market competitiveness thoroughly. They know how to divide the target market, predict product life cycles, place a product in the market, and build innovative strategies to update a product/launch a new one.
- Product managers should establish their intuition on actual, authentic data. They have to analyze the market, get feedback from customers, and assess them to produce significant numbers. So analytical skills are a must-to-have for product managers.
Tools utilized by Product and Project Manager
There are various tech tools to make product and project manager’s everyday tasks easygoing.
- nTask – Project management tool
- Slack – Communication
- Asana – Task management
- Loom – Video messaging
- Sketch – Product designing
Salary Expectation
The amount of salary differs based on the region, years of experience, and the organization’s financial ability.
However, a product manager’s average payroll is around $110k annually. On the other hand, a project manager’s average salary is $70k annually.
Summing Up
Possibly, this detail helps you to clear your doubt among the product manager and project manager. If any of the roles falls apart, it would be impossible to deliver an end-product within the time frame, under budget, and with each aspect required for the market to adopt it.
On the whole, all product managers lead projects and most project managers look out for products. There are few variations, but they are worth enough.
Source: https://tvasiapacific.com/product-management-vs-project-management/