Differences & Similarities Between Product Owner and Product Manager Aasim Naseem, April 1, 2024April 27, 2024 Did you ever struggle to understand the concept of Product Owner vs Product Manager? You’re not alone! These two roles are often confused, but they both play crucial roles in bringing successful digital products to life. Let’s explore the differences & similarities between product owners and product managers, and how they work together seamlessly during the product development lifecycle stages.Who is a Product Owner?A product owner is the voice of the customer within the development team. They are responsible for maximizing the value of the product by prioritizing features, managing the product backlog (a prioritized list of features), and ensuring the development team is focused on the right things at the right time. Product owners are champions of user experience (UX), and their decisions are heavily influenced by user feedback, market research, and competitor analysis. They typically thrive in agile development frameworks like Scrum, where they collaborate closely with the development team throughout sprint cycles.Who is a Product Manager?A product manager takes a broader view of the product, overseeing its entire lifecycle from conception to launch and beyond. They also conduct market research, analyze competitor offerings, define the product vision and product roadmap, and ensure the product aligns with overall business goals. Product managers handle various tasks, including user research, competitive analysis, product marketing, and stakeholder management. They might use tools like user story creation to capture user needs and translate them into actionable product requirements.Similarities Between Product Owner and Product ManagerDespite their differences, product owners and product managers share a common goal for creating successful products. They both:Focus on the user: Understanding user needs and pain points is paramount for both roles. They leverage user research and feedback to inform their decisions.Prioritize ruthlessly: Both have to make tough decisions about what features to build first and what can wait. Backlog management is a key skill for both.Communicate effectively: They bridge the gap between different stakeholders, and make sure the alignment of everyone on the product vision and roadmap.Difference Between Product Owner and Product Manager – Focus and ScopeThe key difference lies in their focus and scope. To understand the true Difference Between Product Owner and Product Manager, we need to learn the scope of their responsibilities. The product owners are more included towardsTactical: They manage the day-to-day tasks of product development and ensure the development/delivery of features within the sprint cycle.Delivery-focused: Their primary concern is ensuring the development team delivers high-value features on time and within budget.Internal-facing: They primarily interact with the development team and other internal stakeholders like designers and engineers.On the other hand, product managers are:Strategic: They think about the long-term vision and roadmap for the product, ensuring it aligns with market trends and business goals.Market-focused: They analyze the competitive landscape and ensure the product aligns with market needs through competitor analysis.External-facing: They interact with a broader range of stakeholders, including customers, sales, marketing, and executives.The Framework FactorWhile product owners are typically associated with agile methodologies like Scrum, product managers can exist in both traditional and agile environments. In agile settings, the product manager might provide strategic direction to multiple product owners working on different aspects of a larger product. In non-agile settings, the product manager might handle some of the responsibilities of a product owner, but with a less iterative and more linear approach.Product Manager and Product Owner in SAFeContinuing the discussion on how Agile and SAFe are similar & different, SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) specifically encourages having both Product Owners and Product Managers for successful product development.Here’s how they fit into the SAFe framework:Product Owner: In SAFe, each Agile Release Train (ART) typically has multiple product owners, each representing the needs of customers and the business within a particular solution area. They collaborate with a Product Manager (PM) to ensure product strategy and implementation stay aligned throughout the value stream.Product Manager: SAFe promotes having a Product Manager at the ART level. This PM provides strategic direction and ensures all the POs within the ART are working towards a cohesive product vision. The PM acts as a central point of contact for stakeholders and helps maintain alignment across different solution areas.The Dream Team: Working TogetherProduct owners and product managers are not interchangeable, but rather complementary roles. In an ideal scenario, they work together to create a winning product strategy. The product manager sets the overall direction, while the product owner translates that vision into actionable steps for the development team. Their combined efforts ensure a product that is not only innovative and user-friendly but also commercially successful.ConclusionBoth product owners and product managers are key players in the teams. Both are necessary for the success of the product. By understanding the unique skillsets and focus areas of product owners and product managers, you can gain valuable insights into the product development process and appreciate the teamwork behind the products you love.Aasim NaseemI’m an engineer by profession, a blogger and a photojournalist by hobby. Seasonal writer at LAFZ Media UK. I write on different topics and things around us. Contact me at +971.56.126.8842 or Aasim.Naseem@outlook.com Agile & Scrum Digital Diary Product ManagerProduct Managers in SAFeProduct OwnerProduct Owner in SAFe
Do product owners and product managers work together on the same tasks? You mentions they work together, but are there any tasks they actually share?Reply
They do, for sure. They work together on user story prioritization, defining the roadmap, and researching users, market etc.Reply
It is a must to have both roles in a project? What if we can’t afford such a big team? Which one we should skip?Reply
If you are tight budget, then you should consider the success criteria of your project.– If you just want to deliver features of a new or a running product, go for a product owner who can help you in the development process and ensure features meet user needs.– If strategic planning and market research matter more, go for a product manager. He/she can who can set the long-term vision and roadmap.It’s all about balancing what’s most essential for your project within your constraints. I would love to have comments from a product guy to add more values.Reply
What are the exact tasks they work individually? It is something confusing as you mentioned many things which they work together and looks like everything is mixed-up.Reply
Well, in traditional waterfall project management methodologies, roles like “product owner” and “product manager” may not exist in the same form or under those titles as they are defined in Agile frameworks like Scrum. In waterfall, the focus is typically more towards completing each phase of the project sequentially, like requirements gathering, design, implementation, testing, and deployment.Now, the responsibilities of product ownership, defining requirements, setting priorities, and client satisfaction may be distributed among different roles or managed by a project manager or a business analyst.In my old days, I worked with business analysts who do all those things which product managers are typically doing nowadays.Reply