{"id":10539,"date":"2020-01-29T16:15:51","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T21:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.brainstation.io\/?p=10539"},"modified":"2020-12-02T14:23:36","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T19:23:36","slug":"project-management-vs-product-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/project-management-vs-product-management","title":{"rendered":"Project Management vs. Product Management"},"content":{"rendered":"

While Project and Product Managers often work hand-in-hand, there are a few more differences between these roles than just two letters.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you have any professional experience, you\u2019ve likely either avoided a Project Manager in the office hallway or desperately sought them out. These individuals play a critical, and often fleeting, role in an organization. Their goal is to steer a specific project through its lifecycle \u2013 initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and completion \u2013 with an eye towards striking the delicate balance between time, cost, and quality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Project Managers have a bird\u2019s eye view of a project. They\u2019ve mastered the art of laying out a plan that maps out the timeline and resources needed to bring a project to life, breaks down the budget, identifies and removes roadblocks, and minimizes risks. On top of all of that, Project Managers need to motivate the team through the typical highs and lows that come with project delivery and manage communication with stakeholders of all stripes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Product Manager\u2019s role can be slightly different depending on the organization. For example, some organizations include marketing as a responsibility while others don\u2019t. Ultimately, a Product Manager is responsible for the success of a product from concept to launch to continuous improvement. They determine the what, why, and when of the product that the engineering team then builds out. They communicate this through a product roadmap (more on this further below).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Product Managers eat, sleep, and breathe the needs of their customers. They\u2019re constantly working to create value for them that\u2019s also aligned to business goals. For this reason, many people describe Product Managers as \u201cmini CEOs\u201d that sit at the intersection of business, technology, and user experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What Keeps Them Up at Night?\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

\u201cScope creep\u201d might sound like a villain with fresh breath to you, but it\u2019s enough to make a Project Manager\u2019s blood run cold. In reality, it means that the project work that was once agreed upon is now slowing expanding, putting timelines and budget at risk. This is usually because a detail was overlooked, not shared or simply unknown in the initial planning phase.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Project Managers have to nervously laugh through the suggestion that the timeline for the project was <\/span>yesterday<\/span><\/i> and that they only have 80% of the resources required to get it done. They also have to constantly grapple with stakeholder expectations that may differ, and in some cases, conflict.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a similar vein, changes in corporate strategy can upend even the most carefully planned product roadmap. Like Project Managers, Product Managers have to contend with the often messy politics of stakeholder disagreements. It\u2019s their goal to rally an organization around a single product vision.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s really the two C\u2019s that have the power to rob a Product Manager of a good night\u2019s sleep: competition and customers. A new startup on the block might directly compete or (gasp!) launch an awesome substitute to your product. Not to mention there\u2019s always the potential that customer demand can fall flat after spending months on development.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are Their Deliverables?<\/b><\/h2>\n

The answer to this lies in each of their titles. A Project Manager delivers a complete project, while a Product Manager delivers a usable product. The difference here being that a product isn\u2019t \u201ccomplete\u201d in the same way a project is once it\u2019s launched.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Project Managers own:<\/span><\/p>\n