In today’s competitive business world, effective management is key to setting you up for success. Project management and product management are essential and complementary roles in business strategy, but they are frequently confused. To create a successful product, you need to understand how these concepts differ.

While a product manager sets the vision and the goals of a product and is responsible for its success from the beginning to the end of its lifecycle, a project manager leads the projects to make those goals become a reality, ensuring its completion.

Product vs. Project

A product refers to any service or item that an organisation creates to solve a problem or to satisfy a want or a need of a customer. Products have a cycle that consists of multiple stages: conceiving, development, introduction, management in the market, and retirement.

A project is a set of tasks undertaken to create a unique product or service. With a project, there is a clear definition of what needs to be delivered by a specified date in time. The lifecycle of a project goes through five stages – initiation, planning, execution, tracking and controlling, and closure.

Product Management vs. Project Management

Product management and project management are essential concepts in the IT world. Product management focuses externally on the customer and the overall success of the project, while project management focuses internally to achieve specific objectives and complete a given project on time and under budget. It is important to note that a product can only be developed within the context of a project, and multiple projects can occur within a product’s life cycle.

Product Management

Product management is responsible for the creation and execution of a product. It is responsible for managing the product lifecycle – from the initial conceptualization through the stages of its development, until the product is introduced in the market and eventually retired.

In product management, there are no clear deadlines since the customer expects a product to meet their needs at the exact moment. It is a continuous process of delivering new features and improving a given product over time to satisfy changing user needs.

Project Management

Project management comprises the application of processes, methods, knowledge, skills, and experience to achieve the objectives of a specific project. It is the act of planning, organizing, and managing a project to achieve a predefined goal or outcome.

The lifecycle of the project goes through five stages – initiation, planning, execution, tracking and controlling, and closure. A project manager oversees the project from start to finish, ensuring that all the goals are met.

Product Manager and Project Manager: What’s the difference?

Both roles work to maximize product value, enhance customer satisfaction, and deliver quality products on time and within budget. While product managers drive product development, project managers drive project execution. The overall differences in the two roles come with the differences in their responsibilities.

Essentially, the product manager has external responsibilities: dealing with stakeholders, management and end users, and understanding the technical aspects of the product. The project managers have internal responsibilities, which involve issues that have to do with functionalities, planning and execution, and they look inward toward the development team.

Product Manager

A Product Manager owns the product from start to finish. They take complete responsibility for a product’s overall and continuous success throughout the entire product lifecycle. Product managers gather customer requirements, define and maintain the product vision, and act as liaisons between the stakeholders, users, and the development team.

Project Manager

A Project Manager is responsible for the successful delivery of a project within a specific deadline and budget. The goal of a Project Manager is to maximize quality while minimizing risk and so they oversee and manage the development of the product by aligning available resources and managing its risks until the project is complete. Essentially, project managers are responsible for building the product envisioned by the product managers.

How do product managers and project managers work together?

Imagine that you want to launch an app. Your company might hire a product manager to be responsible for the app’s development and so they will define its goals and features, and they will organise a team of product developers. Then, your company might hire a project manager to turn these goals into reality.

The project manager will make sure the project (or the product envisioned, in this case) is completed on time and within a budget. Throughout this process, project and product managers communicate with each other to ensure that everyone is aware of the updates in the development process.

If you are interested in project management or product management, we can give you a hand! PrimeIT has a high-skilled team to help your company achieve success. Talk to us!