Product Managers are NOT Project Managers — Here’s why

If someone squeezed a dollar into my hands every time I was referred to as a Project Manager instead of a Product Manager, I’m pretty sure I would be rivaling Elon Musk by now.

Despite being very different roles, it is astonishing the number of people who do not know the difference between a Product and a Project Manager, and hence refer to both roles interchangeably.

Image Source: Paymo

Product managers generally suffer this mix-up more because compared to project managers, their title is relatively new. As we go on, I’ll talk about the responsibilities and differentiating factors of both parties, and you can tell me if your days of confusion are over. Deal?

Now let’s begin by discussing the two puzzling keywords — Product and Project.

A product is anything that satisfies the needs of users. It could be a physical product like a mobile phone, a software like my tool for my productivity, or simply a service. Products generally go through a life cycle of being developed, introduced into the market, grown in acceptance until they mature, and then get retired once they are no longer needed.

On the other hand, a project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. The temporary nature of projects indicate that they have a definite beginning and end, and usually go through five stages — initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closure.

Who then Are Product and Project Managers?

Well easy — people who manage products and projects, right?!😁

A recent article from Koombea provides the simple yet perfect analogy that explains “The Dynamic Difference Between Project Managers and Product Managers”.

“A Project Manager is akin to a midwife. The person in this role delivers the project and moves on to the next one. He or she cares for the product up until the product is delivered, and then hands the responsibility over to the ‘mother’ (in this case, the Product Manager).

The Product Manager is similar to the mother in this situation because he or she conceives the idea, develops it for months, eventually brings the product to market, and is responsible for it until it becomes obsolete.”

Focus: Product Managers (Vision) | Project Managers (Mission)

You probably get the overall gist by now, yeah? Good. Let’s dive in a little bit deeper.

Although product and project managers might overlap in terms of certain skills, such as leadership and communication, they greatly differ. And here’s how:

Skill Set

Product managers typically have the following skills:

• Research Skills: For uncovering user behaviors and ensuring they build products that meet needs and solve customers’ pain points.
• Strategic Thinking Skills: To analyze the different factors that can impact product development, recognize and remove the blockers, and prioritize activities.
• Business Skills: To better understand competitors, market trends, and business models and ensure the product is viable.

While project managers would possess skills in:

• Planning: In order to draw up detailed project plans and create tasks and milestones.
• Organization: To ensure that all processes run smoothly and tasks are completed according to set goals.
• Time Management: For allocating time wisely to ensure that all tasks are delivered within certain deadlines.

Roles and Responsibilities

“A product manager is the CEO of a product.”

This is the most common definition of a product manager, and rightly so, as they set and own the overall strategy and direction of the product. However, I like to say that a product manager deals with the What, Why, and Who of a product.

“WHAT needs to be built?”

“WHY does it need to be built?”

“WHO does it need to be built for and what would success mean for that product?”

Image Source: UTC Blogs

Answering these questions as a product manager would involve:

• Understanding the consumers’ needs and relaying them to the team.
• Creating a product roadmap that outlines the strategy for the product.
• Outlining product features, prioritizing launches, and solving roadblocks.
• Defining key metrics for product success.
• Working with cross-functional teams (like engineering, design, and marketing) to develop and pursue product strategy.
• Monitoring product performance and finding ways to improve or grow the product through market analysis and other research.
• Testing, monitoring, and analyzing new product features.

Basically, a product manager understands the users’ needs, translates them into a design or MVP (Minimum Viable Product), leads a development team to build the product to meet those needs, and then keeps monitoring and improving the product to ensure it stays relevant.

“A project manager is like the captain of a ship.”

Project managers, however, can be compared to the captain of a ship. They are responsible for steering the project in the right direction, which makes their role more tactical. They focus on execution by ensuring the primary objectives of the project are delivered on the agreed time and cost.

Essentially, project managers answer the ‘What’, ‘How’, and ‘When’ aspects of a project.

“WHAT are the project objectives and deliverables?”

“WHEN are they going to be delivered?”

“HOW much will it cost?”

Image Source: The Dad Investor

Project managers are also responsible for identifying and managing processes to better organize priorities, increase efficiency, and successfully bring a project to completion within the agreed budget, time, and quality.

They do this by:

• Determining key goalposts like project scope, timeline, and budget estimates.
• Breaking down large initiatives into actionable tasks.
• Delegating and tracking project tasks and schedules.
• Managing and minimizing potential risks and issues that might delay the project completion time.
• Collaborating and communicating extensively with leadership and all stakeholders.
• Creating and maintaining processes for changes in the project.
• Ensuring the project is on track to meet program objectives.

In summary, while product managers set the vision for the product, gather requirements, prioritize them, and focus externally on the customer and the overall and continued success of the product, project managers focus internally, act upon this vision and ensure that it is executed on time and budget.

So that’s it! If you’re like me, then project managers probably remind you of ‘Olivia Pope from Scandal’ or ‘Monica Geller from Friends’ while product managers remind you of founders like Zuck!💡

Still confused about both concepts? Think one person can and should play both roles? Let me know your thoughts.

Until my next post…

“If a product is an outcome, each project is a means to achieve the outcome.”

Hoping to inspire someone out there, one post at a time.

Your PM girl,

K