For a startup, where money is tight, it's tempting to have the same person for both roles. But what's the difference between these two important functions and can the same person really do them both effectively at the same time?
Both are responsible for the delivery of the product, but:
The Product Manager is responsible for What, Who, When and Why
What is the product? What's the market opportunity? What's the profit potential? What's the risk? What's the distribution route?
Who is the customer? Who are the competitors? Who is regulating the market?
When is the optimum delivery window? When should we launch? When do we introduce the successor?
Why is this an opportunity that needs to be exploited now? Why is the spec. defined as it is? Why are customers going to buy?
The Project Manager is responsible for How and Where.
How is the new product or service going to get developed? How will the technology be developed? How is the resource managed?
Where is it going to get done? Where do we develop, manufacture and do customer service?
So, as you'd expect, I consider them to be different roles - and in many respects they conflict. Or at least, as the CEO of your startup, you want to encourage some conflict between them - you want development to throw a wobbly because it's too hard, you want the Product Manager to be frustrated because s/he's being asked for too many compromises. Because then you're nearing the limit of what your organisation is capable of achieving.
The Product Manager is the customer champion, standing up for the customer to get the highest possible value from your product or service. To smash through the boundaries of innovation and development. In so doing, why? is the most important question. Development will say you can't have that because it's too difficult/ expensive/time consuming. The Product Manager has got to be able to say why it's so important and offer the team the drive and belief to get it done anyway.
The Project Manager is in charge of delivery. S/he has to be able to take the What as it's defined and create the plan on How it's going to get done - to time, to cost, to performance, to quality. To set the milestones, to run the project meetings, to know where to go to solve the problems, to negotiate with the Product Manager. To ultimately deliver the product.
If you can find an individual who suffers from extreme schizophrenia and talks to themselves a lot, then go with them; otherwise it's better to split the roles when your finances allow you to do so.
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