What is the relationship between product managers and project managers?

Let's take Internet product managers and project managers as examples.

First of all, in terms of knowledge area, the project manager requires a technical background, which is a must, and the project manager of the general team is taken by a very experienced RD, whose responsibility is to translate the goal into a quantifiable and achievable project plan, with a focus on the execution level. On the other hand, product managers have a broader field of knowledge and are not necessarily required to be technical.

Secondly, from the perspective of the responsibility cycle, the project manager's responsibilities have a beginning and an end, he can be responsible for one project and then seamlessly switch to another project, while the product manager basically cannot, the product manager grows with the product, and the growth and change of the product is accompanied by countless projects.

Finally, if the product is compared to a child, then the product manager is the mother of the child, and the project manager is a teacher of the child's growth process, the teacher can teach different children, the elementary school teacher can train the child from the first grade to the sixth grade, the child finishes, and the teacher changes to teach another group of students. In this way, everyone understands the relationship between the product manager and the project experience, the teacher can be changed, and the child's mother can be changed casually?

Finally, it is added that in large companies, the division of labor between product managers and project managers is very clear, but in startups and some small and medium-sized companies, product managers and project managers are usually one person, saving manpower and communication costs.

Are the acronyms PM for Product Manager and Project Manager the same thing? If not, what is the difference?

Product manager, abbreviation: Project Manger, refers to the whole life cycle management from market analysis, demand research, demand analysis, product design, product iteration to post-launch operation.

Program Manger refers to a project that is responsible for the implementation of the project according to the design plan.

Put simply, the product manager is responsible for doing the right thing, and the project manager is responsible for getting things right.

In actual work scenarios, especially in Internet companies, product managers and project managers are often the same person, responsible for product positioning, research, planning and design, iteration tracking, project resource coordination, cross-departmental communication, and project plan formulation.

There is no strict distinction between the two. As far as the work that the snail is currently exposed to, the project manager is generally responsible for the project management, including: project progress, overall quality control, risk identification and control.

There are multiple roles under the project manager, including: software and hardware development, marketing, product management, QA, production, etc.

That's probably how it happened.

In today's software projects or Internet projects, project manager and product manager are two positions that are often confused, and the abbreviation of both positions is the same, both are PM, and even many professionals are not clear. So what exactly is the connection and difference between these two PMs?

First, let's talk about the similarities between the two.

Project Manager, Project Manager; Product Manager; Abbreviations are all PM.

Both are project management roles, which are different from paranoid roles such as developers and designers;

Managers need to have the ability to communicate, coordinate, time management, plan making, risk control, etc.

Job functions, more management, less technology.

That said, the two are two completely different characters. While in many companies, project managers and product managers work together in the same person, in modern software engineering, it's best to keep the two separate.

Let's explain the difference between the two:

Functional differences: The main functions of the product manager are to evaluate product opportunities and define product implementations. The main function of a project manager is to achieve product requirements and project execution management. The product manager is responsible for defining the product, and the project manager is responsible for implementing the product.

The dominant point of time is different: if you use the feature and prototype as a cut-off point, it is led by the product manager before that, and then by the project manager.

Different skill biases: product managers are biased towards business innovation, data analysis, user experience, and interaction design, while project managers are biased towards function implementation and technology research and development.

Nowadays, whether it is a traditional software company or an emerging Internet company, product managers and project managers are very valuable assets for companies. The success of a project is directly related to the two PMs. Many companies let the same person hold two positions at the same time, which is a better way in the entrepreneurial stage, and it is difficult to find a more reliable PM.

However, when the company reaches a certain scale, it is difficult for such a staffing to keep the project healthy. After all, a person's energy is limited, and the larger the company, the higher the skill requirements, and the more detailed the division of labor, it is difficult for a person to take care of it comprehensively.

As a practitioner, how do you choose between the two positions of product manager and project manager?

In reality, there are many examples of project managers, lead programmers, system analysts, etc., who have transferred to product managers, and many of them have become very good product managers. Because the position of product manager still has technical requirements, product managers who understand technology can be better qualified for this responsibility. There are few examples of product managers turning into project managers, after all, project managers have relatively high requirements for technology, and technology is not only a change in the way of thinking, but a real hands-on ability.

Therefore, unless the product manager has a certain level of understanding of the technology, it is not recommended to transfer from the product position to the technical position. Students in technical positions must first have a curious heart, change from a way of thinking focused on implementation to focus on innovation, user-centered, and slowly learn product knowledge, at least to become a qualified product manager.

The differences between a project manager and a product manager are:

2. Different development methods: project managers emphasize fast and flexible, and often adopt agile development methods; The product manager needs to go through a strict process such as product definition, feasibility study, demand, design, development, and testing to develop a product, and the product cycle will be relatively long.

3. The object of communication is different: the project manager mostly communicates with the customer and the internal members of the project team; The product manager will communicate with more objects, and it is necessary to communicate with target users, leaders, other departments, and departments, and the dimensions of communication will be more and more difficult to count.