IMHO, the difference between a product and project manager comes down to two simple criteria – P/L and lifecycle. Product manager has (or ought to have) profit / loss responsibilities and managing the product over the natural lifecycle. This requiring defining and exploiting at every stage of that lifecycle to maximize the business benefits of that product. Project managers are implementer, responsible for building new enhancements and features. One can person can do both roles, and in smaller companies, that is often the case. But their responsibilities are distinct.
-Te Wu’s comments on the Huffington Post article below
Ravikiran Rajagopal for the Huffington Post writes: Many in the technology industry collectively agree that the title ‘Product Manager’ is not well defined and I have seen this confusion for years. I will not attempt in defining the term because it, quite practically, differs from company to company. How technical a Product Manager should be or can get also differs from company to company. In smaller companies, the roles and responsibilities are wide spread however in larger organizations, some of the functions are distributed among different people, team or even departments.
In software based product companies, in small companies where there are not enough resources to split the role into product management and project management, it is typical that one person is responsible for both actions. However in medium sized and large companies, these responsibilities are divided among teams or people. Here is where it becomes difficult to understand the responsibilities and division of labor. SNIP, the article continues at the Huffington Post, click here to continue reading….