Product management vs. Project management

Project managers are responsible for the successful delivery of a project — a one-time endeavor with a goal, scope, deadline, budget, and other constraints. A project manager will work to align resources, manage issues and risks, and basically coordinate all of the various elements necessary to complete the project. As they relate to products, projects can be undertaken to build a product, to add new features to a product, or create new versions or extensions of a product. When the project is complete, the project manager will usually move move to a new project, which may be related to a different product.

Product managers are responsible for the overall and ongoing success of a product. Once the project to build the product is complete and the project manager has moved on, the product manager remains to manage the product through the entire lifecycle. Other projects related to the product may be initiated, with the product manager being the one constant stream throughout, defining the project goals and guiding the team to accomplish the business objectives that have been defined.

There are some important points to keep in mind related to project management and product management:

■ Just like every product needs a product manager, every project needs a project manager.
■ Just because product managers think they can manage their own projects does not mean they should.
■ The skills, talents, and traits involved in project management are very different from those involved in product management.
■ Just like it is hard to find one single person who can fill the product management role and the product marketing role, it is hard to find one person who can be successful at both the product management and the project management role.
■ Project management is not a stepping stone to product management, nor vice versa.
■ Good project managers are just as valuable as good product managers.
■ Finding a good project manager to manage your projects will help you be an even better product manager.
■ The less time product managers spend on project management, the more time they will be able to spend on product management.
■ To avoid conflicts between product management and project management, product managers, project managers, and project teams should all agree on shared goals and objectives as much as possible.

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