Product Manager vs. Product Owners
One challenge I have often encountered in my work is helping organizations distinguish between Product Managers and Product Owners. While these two roles may seem similar, they have distinct differences that can impact the success of a product. In this article, I will explore the differences between product managers and product owners, and how they contribute to product development.
The Product Owner
The Product Owner is a role, not a job. The product owner role is typically found in agile software development teams, where (s)he is responsible for representing the interests of the stakeholders, prioritizing all the requests they receive and working with their team to figure out how to deliver them. Because the role requires a deep understanding of the product, the market, and the customer, it is often filled by someone with another job title who already has subject matter expertise, such as a business analyst, project manager, or technical lead.
The Product Owner is a key decision-maker in the product development process, responsible for ensuring that the team is working on the right things at the right time. They work closely with the development team, providing guidance and feedback on the work being done and making sure that it aligns with the overall product vision and strategy. In addition to prioritizing the requests they receive, the product owner is also responsible for creating user stories and acceptance criteria, reviewing and accepting completed work, and ensuring that the product backlog is up-to-date and reflects the current state of the product.
The Product Manager
In contrast, the Product Manager is a dedicated job for a specialist who often follows a specific career path. It is also highly political. They need to exercise influence and persuasion on people over whom they have no formal authority. The Product Manager establishes the business case for the product and determines what products to build. It is fundamentally a strategic and business-oriented role. While it is true that product managers need to be skilled at prioritization and execution, they are also responsible for driving the long-term success of a product, from ideation to launch and beyond. They are strategic thinkers who have a deep understanding of the market, the competition, and the customer. They work closely with cross-functional teams to define the product roadmap, establish product/market fit, and ensure that the product is meeting the needs of the customer and the business. They are also responsible for defining and communicating the product vision, setting product goals and objectives, and measuring and reporting on product performance.
Typical responsibilities of a Product Manager include:
Conduct market research to understand what competitors are doing and identify opportunities
Work with the commercial-side folks to understand client needs and ensure the product is perceived as a valuable solution to the clients’ problems.
Ask questions about each proposed initiative: What objective does it help us achieve? How impactful will it be? What is the value to the customer? How often will they use it?
Determine product/market fit through low-cost prototyping
Ruthlessly prioritize and retire unused functionality
Differences between the two roles
In larger companies, two to three Product Owners can report into a single Product Manager. The table below summarizes the key differences between a Product Manager and a Product Owner with respect to Mission, Focus, Responsibilities, and Skill.