Product Manager vs Project Manager: Know The Difference

Both project managers and product managers are important for the working of any project. It is essential to identify the difference between a product manager vs project manager to allow creativity and execution. While it has been assumed that they have similar responsibilities, they are not, but they are often compared or are in some way connected. Both of them are capable of performing their important tasks to contribute to the organization’s many tasks in line with the business objectives.

Despite these profiles seemingly overlapping when reading the descriptions, it’s possible to distinguish that a product manager needs to be much more strategic than a project manager. There is more to it, which will be described in the subsequent sections of this article. Let us differentiate between product manager and project manager.

Product Manager vs Project Manager: What Do They Do?

Although they have separate responsibilities, product and project managers frequently collaborate inside a company. They are both essential to the effective delivery of the product.

The product manager establishes objectives and the product’s roadmap, strategy, and vision. They determine the what and why of every given product and are also responsible for developing products that satisfy consumer wants and company objectives.

On the other hand, a project manager ensures that his or her plans are implemented and that goals are achieved. They focus on consequence management by coordinating, planning, and directing the completion of the project. In a nutshell, the project manager maintains that the product manager’s visions are implemented accurately.

However, to comprehend these responsibilities, one needs to define a project and a product. Understanding this distinction is important to distinguish between product management and project management.

A product may be defined as a service or any material thing produced by a particular organization to meet the needs of an individual group or customers. Each product has a lifecycle that starts with development and ends with product release. On the contrary, a project is a group of tasks completed to achieve a particular goal. These often have deliverables and outcomes, such as creating or maintaining the product. PMP training is an excellent way of understanding project management.

What Does a Product Manager Do?

A product manager is responsible for identifying a usable, valuable, and feasible product. They research and set a product vision and later communicate the same vision to the entire organization. These managers must analyze customer behaviors and trends that impact the products directly or indirectly.

They are responsible for the product’s success, which in turn contributes to the company’s success. A product manager is in charge of the entire product lifecycle, and these responsibilities vary with the size of the organization.

For instance, a product manager may be responsible for researching and handling the project manager’s responsibilities in a small company. If they work for a larger enterprise, they may even have high-level work assigned to them, such as managing a team. Additionally, these roles also change from a company’s perspective.

Yet, certain responsibilities solely lie with a product manager. Some of them are listed below:

• Analyzing customer needs.
• Developing roadmaps for products and services.
• Conducting market research on products and competitors.
• Gathering customer feedback about a specific product or service.
• Drafting a strategic plan for new or existing products.
• Communicating about products with different internal and external stakeholders.
• Clearly outlining metrics for the product’s success.
• Working with internal and external teams during product development.
• Closely monitoring the product performance after launch.
• Offer suggestions in case of any product improvement.
• Researching and monitoring new features for products.

What Does a Project Manager Do?

A project manager is responsible for organising, planning, and executing the entire project while meeting schedules and budgets. They are also in charge of teams, setting goals, communicating with stakeholders, and ensuring the project is completed within the deadline. Just like product managers, project managers are responsible for the entire lifecycle of a project.

As a project manager, you require skills to lead the project to completion effectively. You can learn these skills by completing your project management master program. You can also learn essential skills in communication, leadership, critical thinking, organization, and handling pressure.

To handle the project’s lifecycle, a project manager completes the below-mentioned tasks on an everyday basis:

• Identifying and defining the project’s scope.
• Ensure the project is on schedule.
• Planning the cost of the project and working as per the budget.
• Managing project resources, such as workers and teams.
• Project progress documentation.
• Communicating with internal and external stakeholders.
• Risk assessment
• Troubleshooting
• Ensuring the project’s quality assurance

These tasks are never the same and often change with the project and its requirements. If one day a project manager is involved in budget management, the other day, they may be asked to interview and hire new people for the project.

Besides the five stages of project management – initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and closing, each has its job roles and responsibilities. So, in general terms, a project manager works per the project and company’s requirements. To understand more, watch this project management tutorial.

How Do Product Managers and Project Managers Work Together?

Product and project managers must work together for successful product development. In several situations, these roles depend on each other for their respective success and the company’s success. Let’s understand this in detail.

A company plans to launch a product, service, or app for its customers. The first step in starting this product development process is hiring a product manager. The product manager will be responsible for defining the product’s goals and features, building a team of developers, and monitoring any situations that come in the way of product development.

The company will also hire a project manager responsible for realising these goals. If the project manager feels a particular feature that can enhance the overall functionality must be added to the product, he will roll out a project to add this new feature.

For this, the project manager will create a team, set their schedule, and ensure the team completes adding the new feature within the budget and timeline. The project manager will also regularly communicate their part of the progress with the product manager to ensure they are on the same page.

Related Learning: Product Manager vs Project Manager

Who Earns More: Product Manager or Project Manager?

When choosing between product and project managers, it is essential to consider their job outlook and earning potential. Both these roles are highly demanding, and people can expect a good salary. However, these salaries often depend on certain elements, such as industry, qualification, company size, etc.

According to Glassdoor, the average salary of a product manager in India is ₹22,00,000 annually, whereas a project manager makes an average of ₹16,50,000 annually. Although the current trend shows that a product manager is a more lucrative career option, a project manager is equally in demand and an attractive job opportunity.

Becoming a Product Manager vs Project Manager

Choosing between a product manager and a project manager can be challenging. These job roles have many similarities, but they also have many differences. Let’s look at their career paths.

Currently, if you desire to be a product manager, you must have a business, engineering, or marketing degree. You also need to have a certain amount of work experience in market research, customer insight, and product development. Not all who begin their career as product managers are always in product development; some are in sales and marketing, or maybe in technical, say software development, before moving.

On the other hand, if you want to know how to become a project manager, you must gain experience in project planning, monitoring, and execution. In addition, having a background in engineering, business, or project management can be an added advantage. Similar to a product manager, not all directly start their careers in project management; they often transition from operations, IT, or even construction.

Simply put, you can become either with the right skills and experience. Irrespective of which career path you opt for, there are specific skills that you must possess. Here are the skills for both job roles:

Product manager vs Project manager: Key Skills

• Product Manager

  • Data analysis
  • Basic business knowledge
  • Market assessment
  • Basic UX knowledge
  • Price modeling

• Project Manager

  • Knowledge of Agile, Scrum, and Waterfall
  • Basic budgeting
  • Risk management
  • Tools, such as Gantt charts and Asana

Although not necessary, getting a certification is also an excellent option to kickstart your career at good pay. Additionally, some employers may specifically ask for these certifications. Here are some for your reference:

• Project Manager

  • Project Management Professional
  • Professional Scrum Master
  • Certified ScrumMaster
  • Certified Associate in Project Management

• Product Manager

  • Product Manager Certification
  • AIPMM Certified Product Manager Credential
  • Certified Product Manager

Conclusion

To summarize, product and project managers play different but essential roles in an organization. A product manager will focus on the why and what of a product, and a project manager will be responsible for the when and how of the project. Both these roles are essential for successfully developing and launching a product.

FAQs

Is a product manager higher than a project manager?

Most organizations keep a product manager above a project manager, as the former is responsible for the overall vision, strategy, and product success.

Can a project manager become a product manager?

Yes, a project manager can become a product manager. They will have to upskill themselves in product management and build on the additional skills.

Who earns more between product manager vs project manager?

A product manager earns more than a project manager. However, if the project manager is involved in multiple projects, they can expect better pay.

Who is higher than the product manager?

Product managers generally report to a chief product officer or CPO. They handle more than one product and hence manage more than one product manager.