Project management knowledge is useful to almost any role involved in change in organizations. However, to be a successful product manager, deep business domain knowledge, business analysis skills, potentially profit/loss experience and user experience skills are also critical.
There are some overlaps in the soft skill competencies between a project and product manager but there are many which are specific to the product manager role.
PMP knowledge alone does not enable someone to be an effective product manager. The PMBOK itself is product agnostic. The principles and practices apply to any kind of product. Product management includes knowledge areas such including project related requirements, but does not include others such as product functional requirements.
There are various management models and job titles where a project manager has more technical authority over the product, but a "technical PM" role includes skills and knowledge outside the core knowledge of a PM as described by PMI. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
While I worked in the product manager role from long time I will say it is not enough. To put this in the framework of the PMI (while it is outside it) you need Business Analysis plus Project Management to play the role in the right way PLUS all related to marketing and business administration practices/theory. Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
In a simple view, a product manager is mainly concerned about the what (deliverable), the project manager about the how (work). That is why project management is industry agnostic, product management not.
Then still the question is who deals with the why, which is a question of value creation, purpose and strategy. This often is outside the product and project domains, e.g. by a program manager delivering benefits. Saving Changes...
George FreemanThought Leader | Author | Architect| Florida, United States
As the role of project managers are incredibly diverse, so are the roles of product managers.
However, if I were to generalize, I would say that you have “strategic product managers” who operate and gain value from the profession of project management, as they hold an accountable position for the product (i.e., responsible for its success or failure). Thus, they direct and coordinate activities at a cross-functional level (e.g., R&D/ Engineering, Marketing, Sales, Finance, Support, etc.)
On the other hand, you have product managers who primarily act as coordinators for a specific life-cycle segment of the product. For instance, they may have a “marketing only” focus, and anything outside of that realm is not their direct responsibility. Although project management skills would always help this type of role, they are unlikely to have the ability to control/direct cross-functional resources, although they would interface with them. Saving Changes...
