Differences between project managers and product managers

One sentence is very incisive:

Product Manager-relying on ideas. The product manager is doing the right thing, and whether the products it leads meet the market requirements and can bring profits to the company.

Project Manager-by doing. The project manager is responsible for doing things correctly, making things perfect, and achieving the goal under the conditions of time, cost, and resource constraints.

From the management perspective, the project manager is vertical, while the product manager is horizontal.

For example, if we understand that a project manager is a project manager of a Development Department, it must manage the development of a product, be responsible for the development progress, and coordinate the development process, supply Chain and other issues related to development, his greatest goal is time first, Project Goals reach first. it does not respect the product's own market needs and business logic.

In a company, departments with such vertical management are all functional departments, such as the marketing department, mainly responsible for promotion, and the Sales Department, while the product manager is horizontally managed, in other words, he will be responsible for a product or product line from the business plan, market competition, development needs, promotion solutions, channel strategy, logistics and other aspects. of course, the product manager is not necessarily the decision maker, and each company has different permissions on the product manager, but the product manager is an important participant in the product line from start to end. it requires many talents and skills to be a product manager. He is also the most suitable position for the company to cultivate the potential of compound talents.

A product manager may have no right, but a product manager must be good at using the relationship between colleagues and customers to coordinate and promote the development of things. A project is developed by the project manager, he has the responsibility to achieve development goals. this project also belongs to the product manager, who is responsible for the business plan. therefore, as a product manager, it means something related to this product. Whether it is development, production, promotion, sales, cost, logistics, or channel, it is your problem!

If you want to be a compound talent, select the product manager. If you want to be a dedicated talent, select the project manager.

Another important difference between a project manager and a product manager is that the scope of authorization is different:

A project manager is generally the person in charge of an authorized contract:

A Project contract is a legal contract that stipulates that the contracting, authority, and profit are legally binding. It is the main basis for handling the relationship between the two parties and the criteria for regulating the actions of both parties under the conditions of a market economy.

The project manager is the sole authority entrusted agent of the company to handle all major matters in the execution of the contract on behalf of the company, including the implementation of the contract, changes and adjustments, penalties for breach of contract, etc, is primarily responsible for executing the contract.
Of course, depending on the company, it is another thing for the boss to authorize the Project Manager accordingly.

The product manager's authorization is to ensure smooth circulation of the chain:

The product manager shall ensure that the products it is responsible for, starting from upstream creativity and R & D, procurement and production, downstream channels and channels, and the entire circulation chain of end users is smooth, therefore, product managers must have both product knowledge, market awareness, and coordination capabilities, such as finance, after-sales, and logistics ......

However, the product manager is not authorized to sign the contract externally.

From: http://pm.csai.cn/manager/200703161046461652.htm