Roles of Project Manager and Product Manager

By Stanley Ng, CPM.CPMM.PMP

13th July 2018

• Principal Consultant, EPMi & Progreso Training

• Product Innovation, Concorde Security

• Head of ASEAN, Sellution Inc.

• Project Management

• Genting Group

• Tradenex.com

• Product Management

• Microsoft

• Hewlett-Packard

• Certified Product Manager (CPM)

• Certified Product Marketing Manager (CPMM)

• Project Management Professional (PMP)

• Certified Professional Intellectual Property Manager ICPIPM)

• Certified Trainer and Assessor (ACTA, DACE)

• California Institute of Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) entrepreneurship program

• BBA in Management Information Systems

Experience Qualifications

Stanley NgDigital Strategy, Product Innovation, Customer Experience and Market Intelligence

https://youtu.be/7JmXAzByGVg

https://youtu.be/SxmTFTZ9T1c

Definition

• Product — what you are providing to a group of users. It can be anything: a physical product that you hold in your hands, a software application, or a service that you are delivering.

• Project — a plan with a series of activities that has a defined outcome and a fixed start and end date. The project is completed when that outcome is accomplished.

Role

• Product manager — often described as the CEOs of their products. They set the strategy, prioritize releases, talk to customers, and clearly define features. Their efforts are ongoing and involve managing the entire lifecycle of the product. A product manager’s goal is to deliver a product that customers love.

• Project manager — oversee a fixed project from beginning to end. It can be a single project or a group of projects. Their job is to execute the strategy set by the product manager or leadership team. A project manager’s goal is to work with a broader team with a diverse set of skills and to complete a project on time and under budget.

Responsibility

Product manager — responsible for setting the product strategy. By having a goal-first approach to managing and building the product, great product managers can create initiatives to help reach those goals.

This approach helps determine which features should be built to achieve those goals.

Product managers must answer, “What problem does this solve? What are you building? What will the benefits be?”

Product managers own:

• Strategy

• Releases

• Ideation

• Features

• Go-to-Market

• Organizational training

• Profit and loss

Product Management Framework (PMF)

GatePhase

Responsibility

Project manager — often less concerned with specific product goals. They are more focused on the project itself.

A project manager takes product initiatives and features to develop a timeline based on any potential constraints related to resources, risks, or scope.

Project managers must answer, “What resources are needed? When will the project get delivered? Who is going to do what?”

Project managers own:

• Budget

• Delivery

• Resources

• Capacity

• Cross-team organization

• Problem resolution

• Status updates

Collaboration

The product manager collaborates daily with cross-functional teams, such as engineering, sales and marketing, and customer support, regarding the future of the product.

And since the product manager is responsible for the product throughout its lifecycle, they will naturally be involved with any project that concerns the product.

So, it is the product manager’s job to define the scope of each specific project. They explain why these projects will achieve high-level goals for their product and business.

The project manager also works with the broader team but is focused on bringing plans to life. And their work is more time-fixed.

They manage one effort and once that project is complete, they move on to organizing other tasks. For example, a project team might be assembled to tackle a UX redesign with a target date that is six months away.

The project manager will be concerned with that project’s budget, resources, deadline, and quality. They will understand the many details of each project.

Product managers and project managers work closelytogether in high-performance organizations. Both work withthe broader product team and executive leaders.

Product Manager versus Project Manager

• Responsible for leading the team to deliver the end product• Strategy• Roadmap• Feature definition of the

product

• Product lifecycle

• Product team

• Work with project manager

• Work directly with customers

• Work directly with product team

• Responsible for leading the team to deliver a successful project• Strategy and process flow• Project plan• Requirements of the

project

• Project lifecycle

• Project team

• Work with product manager

• Work directly with customers

• Work directly with project team and product team

“CEO” Like• P&L• Forecasting

Areas of potential conflict

• Who owns the roadmap?

• Who gets to talk to the product team?

• Who gets to talk to the customer

Comparison of Key Deliverables

• Product knowledge base

• Competitive Analysis

• Product portfolio analysis

• Market strategy plan

• Market requirements document

• Product requirements document

• Product business case

• Product roadmap

• Technology roadmap

• Beta plan (test plan)

• Launch plan

• Marketing plan

• End of life plan

• Project knowledge base

• Project portfolio analysis

• Project Charter

• Project management plan

• Work breakdown structure

• Earned value analysis

• Feasibility study

• Communication plan

• Procurement plan

• Quality assurance plan

• Risk management plan

• Status report

• Lessons learned

Product Management Career Paths - XO

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Project Management Career Paths – AT&T

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Professional Certification

• Project Management• Project Management Professional (PMP)

• Project Management Institute

• Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)

• International Project Manager Association (IPMA/PMAS)

• Product Management• Certified Product Manager(CPM) / Marketing Manager

(CPMM)

• Association of International Product Marketing and Management(AIPMM)

• Product Management and Marketing Body of Knowledge (ProdBOK)