The differences between product owners and product managers are frequently unclear. They can signify various things depending on the organisation, the product, and the industry.
Product managers take on a more strategic role. With broader organisational objectives in mind, they define and map out the product management process across the product lifecycle. Product owners, on the other hand, take on a more tactical role and prioritise immediate fulfilment. By producing customer stories, the team can utilise them to make better user-led decisions for product development, they aid in maximising the value of the product.
The PM and PO have the same objective: to enhance and optimise your product so that it meets client needs and delights them. The two approaches to achieving that same objective differ in important ways. To produce a product that customers would enjoy, product owners and managers collaborate. This article will outline their differences and how they do it.
Who is a Product Manager
A product manager describes what success looks like for a product, pinpoints the consumer need and bigger corporate goals that a feature will address, and rallies a team to make that vision a reality.
The novelty factor of the position is most likely responsible for the misunderstanding of what a product manager is. Product managers are still defining what their role should be, unlike practitioners of more established professions like design and engineering who can segment themselves according to their speciality.
Differences Between a Product Owner and a Product Manager
The distinctions between a product manager and an owner can’t be explained in a single way because they depend on the organisational and product needs. In certain organisations, the product manager may handle all aspects of product management, from product vision and road mapping through backlog management, without ever needing to designate a product owner.
Note that “product owner” is more of a function than merely a title. It’s possible for a product manager to also be a product owner. However, a team using agile product management may designate a product owner whose sole responsibility it is to talk to clients, observe user behaviour, and write user stories for the development team.
Although there is frequently overlap, the following crucial characteristics generally set POs apart from PMs:
- Responsibilities Executed by the Product Team
By supervising and directing the product management process in each stage of the product lifecycle with a cross-functional team, the product manager takes on a more significant organisational role in driving the product to success.
The PM comprehends and analyses customer input, studies user behaviour, prioritises features, and takes action to enhance the product to give customers a better experience. Contrary to what the title “product owner” might imply, they don’t control or own the product; instead, they are responsible for seeing that the product initiatives are completed. By using customer feedback to generate user stories for the development team, POs play a tactical role in optimising the value of the product.
In essence, the product owner oversees making sure that the development team adheres to the roadmap and plan developed by the product manager to meet the objectives for the product and the company’s key performance indicators.
- Prerequisites (Skills)
Product managers maintain constant communication with users to learn about their issues, do research, develop empathy for them, and planning efforts to address their difficulties. A product manager needs to have a variety of talents, including leadership, communication, empathy, research, decision-making, critical thinking and product understanding
Due to the fact that a significant portion of their role entails translating the PM’s recommendations for the UX, engineering, and development teams, product owners also need to be adept communicators, listeners, and empaths. However, they must focus on developing some more specialised, job-specific abilities. For example, as POs fall under the Scrum framework, they must be proficient in agile practices and the use of Scrum tools like Kanban.
POs must have a strong sense of accountability and duty, as well as a commitment to deadlines. Product managers’ strategies and the implementation’s results are connected by product owners. They must move quickly because bottlenecks will develop if they don’t.
- Success Metrics Used to Track Progress
The product manager oversees numerous tasks, including iteration, prioritising, and product road mapping. In addition to the cross-functional collaborative activities they oversee and manage, this also occurs.
Product success and overarching corporate objectives are the main success factors for product managers. Because the job of the product owner is more limited, their success is determined by the number of completed stories, the degree to which the product roadmap and vision are converted into product features, and the accomplishments of the development team.
The Difference Between a Product Manager and a Product Owner is Significant for What Reason?
A lack of understanding of the functions of a product owner and a product manager prevents some businesses from turning their product vision into fully functional product features. It can be challenging to determine whether you need to distinguish between the PO and PM because, technically, they can both be the same person in the Scrum framework.
The following are some advantages of defining the roles:
Recognize whether your company requires a product owner, manager, or both.
You cannot decide or justify your need for a product manager or owner in the organisation until you have a thorough understanding of who they are.
A small to midsize company that is in the early stages of developing a product could employ a product manager to play both roles, manage resources, and communicate needs to the development team in addition to creating a product roadmap. The PM has additional duties and hats to wear in a large company with an agile product team, and the development team requires more direct guidance to develop features. The PM and PO are both required in this situation to ensure effective and fruitful cross-functional cooperation.
Work with roles and duties that are clearly defined.
If you’re not aware of the various jobs and duties that product managers and owners handle, you can set the wrong expectations or give the wrong person the job. Knowing the differences between the roles will help you to confidently delegate tasks and make hires where necessary.
Better cross-functional collaboration within the product team
Achieving your product vision is difficult. To convert research and strategies into product features, the entire business must collaborate.
To make sure that everyone follows the product roadmap and that activities focused on products are moving in the proper direction, the product manager must collaborate with the product owner. By recognising who is responsible for what and why the PO and PM will be better able to manage internal and external cross-functional processes.
Obtain business and product objectives
The purpose of the product owner is to bring the product to market; thus, they place more emphasis on that.
The product owner concentrates more on the goals of the product; they work to make the product manager’s vision a reality by instructing the development team on what to do next and how to achieve it. However, the product manager oversees the complete product management procedure, advancing the company’s objectives.
You can swiftly prioritise, assign, and validate tasks to increase the product team’s efficiency and hasten the completion of goals when you can distinguish clearly between the two positions.
Create a product that is driven by the needs of the market.
You may organise tasks and make sure that all product-related developments adhere to the product vision by understanding how PMs and POs differ from one another.
This leads us to the next point: a synchronised team of a product manager and owner will aid in the internal coordination of the product management process and assist the customer by delivering a pleasurable product experience because of collaboration and effective working.
