Product Manager vs Project Manger

Being a PM involves a lot of moving pieces. One of the most important skills is being able to focus on ”what matters” and make sound decisions. Fundamentally it’s strategy, prioritization, and execution. 

Lots of people ask me this question.

What is the difference between a PM (Product Manager) and PJM (Project Manager)

Everyone has lots of ideas for features and what to do with the product, but having explicit goals lets us stay focused and figure out what to do. Once you’ve figured out what to build, great PMs will do whatever it takes to ship the product. What you do day to day will vary from company to company, and even within a company as it grows or shrinks. 

Your duties might be the normal things in a PM’s job description, like:

Interviewing customers and writing a product requirements document (PRD), but it also might include project management, UX prototyping, and even getting coffee for your team. 

No job is beneath a great PM, as long as it helps the customer win.

In many ways, you’re the conductor in an orchestra.  You work with every section using the right language, and you move everyone towards a goal.  Plus, you don’t make a sound: your goal is to help everyone else sound great so that the audience has an amazing experience.

In the back of your mind, remember, your main goal is helping the customer be awesome. 

They’re not buying or using your product as a favor to you.  They’re buying it because it makes their life better in some way.

Fundamentally, a PM is the voice of the customer, and you need to make sure the customer gets significant value from the product.

Also, it’s worth noting some similar roles that people get confused with product management:

Project managers.  Project management is about putting a plan/schedule together to get something done and keeping track of your progress towards that goal.  Product managers often either work with or also help do project management, and the two roles are commonly confused. They’re not focused on the product vision or customer needs, though.

Further confusing things are that “product management” is sometimes called a different name depending on the company.  Microsoft calls product managers “program managers.”  At Apple, the PM role is split between Engineering Program Managers (EPMs) and Product Marketing Managers (more external/customer/marketing focused than many “regular” PM roles).