Is there a clear cut difference between Project Mgmt & Product Mgmt? Any Project Mgrs currently working w/Product Mgrs in a software co. that are experiencing overlapping responsibilites? Saving Changes...
Andy JordanPresident| Roffensian Consulting S.A.Cherry Grove, AB, Canada
In my mind there is a very clear difference, but I suspect that there are many organizations who use the terms interchangeably. My company broadly follows Microsoft's solutions development discipline (SDD). Whilst it is far from perfect, it does define a product manager fairly clearly.
It says that a product manager is the representative of the paying customer (not necessarily the same as the end user). In other words the person on the project team who is always looking out for the interests of the guy writing the cheques. Often this person will also be the product manager when the product is released.
It is easy to see where confusion comes into the equation - project managers are often from a business background and have a lot in common with the product manager's way of thinking. In addition the project and product manager roles are often performed by the same person.
The answer to this really comes down to a fundamental questioning of what a project manager is within an organization. Is it the responsibility of the project manager to deliver the project on time, under budget, with the defined feature set - or is it to keep the guy paying the bills happy. More often than not executive management consider it to be the second option, but this causes problems at various stages of the project - consider a last minute scope change request that jeopardizes product quality for example.
So to summarize this long post, yes there is a difference, but not all organizations realize it, or value it. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Thanks Andy for your reply. That definitely gives me a clearer picture. Any other comments will be greatly appreciated. Saving Changes...
Mike Cooper PMPPrincipal Project Manager (retired, sort of)| New England Project ServicesWestford, Ma, United States
I wrote an article called "Conflicting Priorities Between Product and Project Managers in a Combined Product / Services Organization" that might be of interest to you.
It was published by the Information Systems Specific Interest Group of the Project Management Institute. www.pmi-issig.org/n_sept_002.html
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Anonymous
Thanks Michael for sending your article. Its very informative & thanks for your input. Saving Changes...
I've thought about the differences between a Project Manager and Product Manager and read carefully responses previously posted. I like the idea that a Product Manager is really representing the Customer. But really, so does the Project Manager. I don't see a large difference between the two roles from a Customer perspective. The Product Manager is representing many more (potential) customers where the Project Manager is usually working with a smaller set. I think the differences lie with what processes are being managed. Project Managers must focused upon a diversity of discrete tasks dealing with multiple resources. Product Managers are focused more on the "what they are building aspects of development." Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Thanks Ed for your reply. I agree Product Managers should focus on the Product itself - - features, functionality, etc. to meet market needs. Analyze Product Life Cycle, Competitive analysis, etc.
Project Managers are managing the tasks to complete a successful delivery. Facilitator, communicator, liason between inter-departments, follow through on issues, etc.
Thanks again. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
I may be a little late to this discussion, but where I work, the Product Mgr. is responsible for defining functionality: how should this product work, look, feel, etc. In other words, how will we take the marketing requirements and translate them into a product. We don't have Project Mgrs, but we do have Program Mgrs, who are responsible for making sure we proceed according to schedule. They are the true ganttheads. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
I think as we look at terms being used to reference a role we need to look at each company individually as well as the methodology being used.
We have the following:
Product Managers- who manage the features and functionality requirements from the marketable perspective. They focus on ROI (Return on Investement) based on delivery date. These resources push the project teams to keep the product competitive in the market place.
Project Managers- Who are responsible for the work being done by the project team. These resources communicate to the Product Managers and management as a whole to share progress and issues surrounding the project.
Program Managers- Whose responsibility is to look at the larger picture. Groups of projects that interrelate as well as leveraging of efforts from one project to speed up/ share the knowledge to another project just beginning to deal with similar issues.
As with all cultures the use of terms can vary depending on how the company has established their method of work.
First and foremost is to make sure all those involved know what role they play, what responsibilities are associated with that role and we move ahead from there. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Thanks for your reply - - I believe your definition is correct. It really depends on how the company defines each role. Do you think product mgrs oversee the beta testing process or proj mgrs? Saving Changes...
I would believe these definitions apply in more than 95% of the cases. If there are company specific differences, then its best to make sure that you are getting what you want !! Saving Changes...
