Project vs. Product Manager: Understanding the Differences

Material updated on March 26, 2024

Contents:

• Similar, but so different
• What tasks do project and product managers perform?
• What skills do they need to develop for successful work
• How specialists interact with each other
• Which profession to choose. How much do product and project managers earn
• How to master the profession. Useful resources for studying

Similar, but so different

The confusion in these professions arose due to the rapid development of the IT industry and similar names and abbreviations (PM). Many companies start as small startups with a team of several people, and often from programmers without specialized education, where there is no clear distribution of roles. Therefore, some projects often do without dedicated product and project managers. Their work can be performed by senior developers, company executives, or a separate person who combines the functions of product and project managers.

In reality, project and product management are different roles, tasks, and skill sets. And these are not interchangeable positions. But these specialists work together and complement each other. Although in small startups, one person can cope with the entire range of responsibilities. On large projects, it is impossible to effectively perform both functions simultaneously.

Product manager is responsible for the success of the product from start to finish throughout its entire life cycle. This is a strategist who thinks globally and effectively determines the company's next steps. He sets goals, forms a vision for the product, its concept, determines the benefits for customers, thinks about how to improve the product and make it more attractive to the target audience. It is he who sets tasks for developers.

The project manager works on a practical level. He accepts the task from the product manager and tries to complete it on time and within budget. He leads the development team, distributes tasks, manages resources, monitors deadlines and team efficiency. His planning horizon is clearly defined—he delivers one project and switches to the next.

What tasks do product and project managers perform?

As a rule, the role and list of responsibilities of each specialist may differ depending on the company, team size, project scale, and specific business. Let's look at the main tasks that project and product managers may face.

What does a product manager do?

A product manager is engaged in strategic planning and product development, namely:

• Develops strategy.According to McKinsey & Company research, about 80% of product managers are involved in making strategic decisions regarding the development and launch of a product on the market. A specialist devotes up to 18% of his working time to strategic planning. It includes: setting quarterly and annual goals, preparing cases, monitoring trends, forming the product's position on the market, etc.
• Conducts research. The product manager studies the target audience, its interests, and finds possible gaps in competitors.
• Plans work. This may involve creating a product roadmap, forming priority areas that need to be implemented first.
• Monitors the execution of tasks. A product manager creates tasks, distributes them among different departments, manages the roadmap and budget, tracks metrics (ed:key performance indicators) and makes changes to the product.

In large teams, a product manager may act as a leader who manages a team or even several departments. In small companies, an employee focuses on practical tasks - studying the market, trying to understand the target audience in order to solve the problems of specific users, working with ideas for improving the product, formulating tasks for developers to complete, interacting with users.

What does a project manager do?

A project manager manages a project from start to finish. Projects can be large-scale - the launch of a new application can drag on for several years. Or they can be small, when a project manager implements a new feature (edit: on a working website. This specialist:

• Manages the team.Distributes tasks and coordinates the work of individual specialists and departments that are part of the project group: designers, frontend and backend developers, layout designers, content managers, etc.
• Manages the project. The project manager defines the project goals, develops the concept, records the requirements, sets and decomposes tasks, evaluates and controls resources (budget, deadlines, risks), monitors indicators, provides the team with the necessary set of tools and resources.
• Responsible for the result.It is the project manager who ensures that the team efficiently completes the assigned tasks within the established deadlines.
• Ensures communication between project stakeholders. This includes customers (editor's note:company, client, or product manager) and contractors (project team) — the project manager discusses deadlines, budget, and the list of assigned tasks.

In large companies, the role of the project manager is separate. If the company is small, the functions of the project manager can be performed by a developer or a team lead of the development team. But in both cases, the project manager ensures that the customer is satisfied with the result.

What skills do managers need to develop?

To succeed and achieve results, product and project managers need to develop certain soft (personal) and hard (professional) skills. Let's list the main ones.

Hard skills of a product manager:

• Understanding of marketing. Ability to research the audience, market, analyze competitors, form partner ecosystems, and shape a product vision.
• Business planning skills. A product manager's decisions often influence business development, and in startups with only one product, they determine the company's fate. A good specialist has an entrepreneurial mindset, knows the basics of pricing, can track key metrics, and understands how to create a viable product.
• Knowledge of development principles. In IT, this is an understanding of the development technology stack and design skills. This skill is useful for communicating with design development teams.
• Knowledge of collaboration and planning tools.SWOT analysis, concept map, diagrams and flowcharts for building work processes.

Hard skills of a project manager:

• Mind mapping tools. They are used by teams during brainstorming sessions and help to distribute tasks and set priorities more effectively.
• Project planning and management tools.Functional flowcharts, Gantt charts.
• Knowledge of project management methodologies and techniques: Scrum, Agile and Waterfall.
• Budget and time management skills. You need to be able to create a detailed and realistic plan and stick to it.

How project and product managers interact with each other

It may seem that a product manager is the direct boss of a project manager. In fact, these specialists perform different tasks, although they work together.

A product manager creates a vision and generates ideas, while a project manager manages their implementation. The former works on a product for many years while it exists, while the latter's responsibility ends immediately upon delivery.

The difference between these roles is easier to understand with examples from other industries. In the film industry, a product manager is a general producer. He is responsible for the overall vision of the product - looking for screenwriters, directors, and filmmakers. 400;">, actors, investors, and partners who will be able to release the film.

The role of a project manager is performed by a line producer. They are responsible for organizing the process at individual stages of film production. These responsibilities include equipment rental, organizing meals for the crew on set, working with location scouts, and delivering staff and equipment to the set.

The result of a product manager's work is a film, a holistic work. The result of a project manager's work is the individual shots and scenes that make up a film.

For example, you have a product in the form of an application. The product manager is responsible for the vision and development of the project. On the one hand, he constantly monitors the market to understand what functions should be added, what to improve, how to adapt the design for different devices. On the other hand, he looks for ways to demonstrate new features to customers and is responsible for how potential buyers perceive the product. In turn, the project manager is responsible for individual stages of the project. For example, for releasing a new update or adding a feature. He leads teams of developers and designers until the completion of the project.

In a web development studio, a product manager is responsible for a product—a separate service or area. This could be website or mobile app development for clients. If it's a small team, there may not be a separate position—this role is filled by the department head or studio director. A project manager is a team member who oversees a separate project—website development for a client. They are the liaison between the web development team and the client. The project manager monitors deadlines, oversees the project development process, and addresses client objections.

Product and project managers don't always work within companies; they may act as consultants or outside experts. For example, an online store plans to launch a mobile app to attract more users and increase sales. To do this, they hire a product manager. The product manager conducts research, creates a concept, and engages marketers and designers to create the app's layout. And at the next stage, the company attracts a project manager who assembles a team of developers and implements the project.

Which profession to choose. How much do product and project managers earn?

There is a misconception that a project manager is simply a junior product manager. Although in some teams, project managers sometimes become product managers over time. But these are different career paths with different qualifications and skill sets.

However, you can change your qualifications over time. With experience, this isn't that difficult, considering you'll be working closely with someone in the opposite field, using common tools, and understanding their specific workflow.

You'll be a good product manager if you enjoy analyzing, generating ideas, and can thoughtfully examine an idea from different angles. You make good decisions, but you're accustomed to a wide range of options and don't like to do everything quickly under tight deadlines.

A project manager is constantly solving a multitude of small problems. They must think and act quickly. However, strategic planning skills are not required. It is enough to act on the basis of ready-made algorithms and be able to choose the most effective solution from several concepts.

As for salaries, the income of specialists is approximately the same. According to recruitment.by, a project manager earns from 3,000 to 13,000 Belarusian rubles per month, and on the website rabota.byyou can find vacancies from 1,500 to 10,000 rubles. In the US, according to glassdoor.com, the median salary of such a specialist is 100 thousand dollars a year.

According to recruitment.by, the income of a product manager in Belarus ranges from 3,500 to 13,000 Belarusian rubles per month. This is confirmed by vacancies on rabota.by with salaries from 2,100 to 9,000 rubles. The median annual salary in the US, according to glassdoor.com, is more than 150 thousand dollars.

How to Master the Profession. Useful Resources for Study

To master the professions of product and project manager, you can choose a university education in the fields of marketing, information technology, and business. But, as in many other IT professions, having a higher education does not play a key role here. Companies are looking for specialists who understand modern development methods and know how to manage processes.

Distance learning courses can be a great alternative, allowing you to master a profession in a short period of time and focus on developing specific skills. When choosing, the Skillbox.by editorial team recommendspaying attention to the relevance of the curricula and the opportunity to work on real cases.

To get a better understanding of the product and project manager professions, we recommend studying the stories of successful specialists—Steve Jobs, Marc Andreessen, Jeff Bezos, Steve Case, Michael Dell, Larry Ellison, David Filo, Pierre Omidyar, Larry Page, and David Packard.

It wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on young specialists who are making their products successful right now. A list of the most successful product managers of the 2020s can be found at blog.clovine.com and productmanager.com. And you can meet experts who make a significant contribution to project management at walkme.com, projectmanager.comand brunel.net.

Literature:

• Susan David "Emotional Flexibility" - the author of the book is a psychologist who developed the concept of emotional flexibility. In this publication, she reveals the essence of the concept and shares techniques for managing emotions.
• Melanie Greenberg "The Stress-Resilient Brain" - a book about how to learn to manage stress and benefit from it.
• Peter Bregman "Emotional Courage" — the author talks about how to train confidence, determination and courage.
• Simon Sinek "Leaders Eat Last" — the author considers the role of leadership, creating trust and building a team.
• Kim Scott "Radical Candor" — effective leadership through the concept of radical sincerity. The author shares his own experience and mistakes in leadership.

Online resources:

• Manager Tools— The podcast discusses specific management skills and strategies that can help leaders achieve success.
• TED Talks Business — A podcast with leaders and experts in various business fields.
• Digital Acceleration Company | Netguru — A blog by a team developing IT products.
• The Product Manager — A blog and community for product managers.
• Project Manager — A resource that offers project management tools. It also has a blog with useful articles and videos.
• Product Roadmap Software | Product Plan — an online service for product management. The blog contains articles and videos.