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Product Management vs. Project Management
I have bounced back and forth in my career between Product Management and Project Management. This is further complicated by the use of (and differences with) Program Management.
Some time ago I saw a blog post that I think does a generally good job at drawing the distinction, product-management-vs-project-management.
I refer to it occasionally, especially in situations like my current one where I am the project manager for one project and the product manager for another. Mentally switching hats (and perspectives) is a challenge.
I've been looking for good sources that discuss how Product Managers and Project Managers can improve the effectiveness of their interactions. Anyone with ideas, please let me know. The Agile courses I've taken talk about the separation of duties but rarely do a good job at characterizing a process by which these two roles can most effectively communicate.
Ted
Some time ago I saw a blog post that I think does a generally good job at drawing the distinction, product-management-vs-project-management.
I refer to it occasionally, especially in situations like my current one where I am the project manager for one project and the product manager for another. Mentally switching hats (and perspectives) is a challenge.
I've been looking for good sources that discuss how Product Managers and Project Managers can improve the effectiveness of their interactions. Anyone with ideas, please let me know. The Agile courses I've taken talk about the separation of duties but rarely do a good job at characterizing a process by which these two roles can most effectively communicate.
Ted
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Comment by Farhad Rostami on March 2, 2009 at 8:25am -
Hi Ted,
This is an excellent topic. I too have moved between the two disciplines in my career and have found unique, but similar challenges to in these areas.
I believe the major difference follow where the Prod Mgr or Proj Mgr plays in delivery of the initiative. Typically, the product manager drives delivery at strategic level and the project manager focuses on executing at the operational/ tactical level. The product manager is the business agent who defines the market/ product strategy and often looks to the project manager to work in the development team to execute against this vision and requirements. There is a distinction here, but with some recent trends this area is becoming gray. For example, in agile project lifecycles, the Product manager is embedded in the development team to drive delivery of the required capabilities/ priorities. The PM often assumes a role as a scrum master to facilitate the process to ensure the team is delivering on all cylinders.
As far as resources, last week, I participated in Contrux’s 10X software engineering best practices seminar and personally saw many of these principles highlighted. I would recommend their seminars and they have an outstanding best practices tool kit on their website. http://www.contrux.com/Page.aspx?nid=14
Also, if you are interested to learn more about project management, the Project Management Institute, www.pmi.org, has resources covering white papers, virtual library, publications and global standards. One of the standards and a good desk reference is PMI’s Body of Knowledge, affectionately called PMBOK in PM circles. If you have a strong commitment to hone your PM skills, I would recommend PMI’s PMP certification program.
It would be nice to hear from the community on what worked or didn’t on past projects or product efforts with respect to the “real or perceived” division of responsibilities between these roles.
Farhad
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