Product Manager vs. Project Manager: What’s the Difference?

Product managers and project managers both work to steward a larger initiative from beginning to end, but the focus of their efforts—and the skills they need to do their job—tend to differ.

In this article, we'll dive more deeply into the major differences between product and project managers. Afterward, if you'd like to explore a career in product management, consider enrolling in the IBM Product Manager Professional Certificate, where you'll learn key product management skills, tools, and techniques to engage and manage key stakeholders and clients.

Product manager vs. project manager: What do they do?

Product managers and project managers can work together, but they have distinct roles.

• A product manager tends to be a strategic thinker and focuses on the product management life cycle, including setting the vision, goals, and business trajectory of a product.

• A project manager tends to be more of a doer and oversees projects that are important to a business' goals, which can include products. They are familiar with the project management life cycle.

It might help if we distinguish products from projects. A product refers to any service or item that a company creates to serve a customer's needs. Products can be physical, like furniture or clothing, or digital, like an app or a video feature on a website. A project, on the other hand, is a set of tasks completed to achieve an outcome. A project's goal could be to create or maintain a product—like construct a house, or roll out a new software update.

What does a product manager do?

A product manager is in charge of a product from the beginning of its lifecycle to its end. This means they set the vision of a product, direct any updates, and make sure the product is filling customer needs until the product is retired. Unlike project management, product management usually doesn't have a clear beginning and end.

At larger organizations, product managers can take on high-level work like managing a team. In smaller organizations, a product manager might do more hands-on work, such as market research, or even some project management. 

Because product manager is a relatively new role and can change from company to company and team to team, specific tasks can vary widely. But generally, a product manager does the following:

• Defines key metrics for product success

• Understands consumer needs and relays them to the product team

• Works with cross-functional teams—like engineering, design, and marketing—to develop and pursue product strategy

• Finds ways to improve or grow a product through market analysis and other research

• Keeps an eye on product performance

• Tests and monitors new product features

• Monitors competitors

What does a project manager do?

A project manager oversees projects from start to finish. Projects are a set of tasks designed to achieve a specific goal. Projects can be big, like constructing a new building, or smaller, like rolling out a new tool for a team to use. A project manager is somebody who plans these projects by creating teams, determining schedules, managing budgets, and communicating with stakeholders until each project is completed. There is generally a clearly defined beginning and end to a project.

Project managers can do the following specific tasks:

• Determine key goalposts like project scope, timeline, and budget estimates

• Collaborate and communicate extensively with leadership and stakeholders

• Create and maintain processes for changes in the project

• Use project management software to keep track of tasks and schedule

• Make sure teams are collaborating well, and staying motivated and on schedule

How do product managers and project managers work together?

Product managers and project managers often work together. Let’s look at an example.

Imagine a company that sells furniture online. They want to launch an app that customers can use to browse products on mobile devices. The company might hire a product manager to be in charge of the app’s development. The product manager will define the goals of the app, decide what features should be in it, orchestrate a team of product developers, and monitor new challenges as they arise.

The company might then hire a project manager to turn these goals into reality. Let’s say the product manager determines that people like to discuss with family members before making a purchase, and wants to make this a key part of the app. A project manager might lead a project to roll out a feature on the app that will allow customers to share furniture they like through a messaging platform. The project manager may put together a team dedicated to the new feature, set a schedule for production, and make sure the team completes the project on time and within budget. In the meantime, they might be communicating with the product manager a few times a week with updates on progress.

Who earns more: a product manager or a project manager?

Generally, product managers make more than project managers in the US because of their specialized knowledge of technology and business.

The average product manager’s salary in the US is $124,688 a year, while a project manager in the US makes an average salary of $90,256 [1, 2].

Product owner vs. product manager vs. project manager

In addition to product managers and project managers, you may have heard of product owners. A product owner’s role is to make sure a Scrum team is aligned with the product’s priorities by managing the product backlog (that’s the to-do list of a development team). This makes sure that individual projects are aligned with the overall product goals. So while the product manager is in charge of the overall product, the product owner sits on a smaller team that is working on one aspect of the product. 

So where do project managers fit in here? A project manager often works with product owners within the same project team. A product owner is one of two designated roles in an Agile or Scrum team, the other being the Scrum master, a type of project manager. The two roles generally coexist on a development team.

Becoming a product manager vs. project manager

You’ll find that there’s a lot of overlap between the paths of project and product managers. But there are key differences too.

Career paths for product managers and project managers

The roads to becoming a product or project manager have many similarities—project managers can, in fact, go on to become product managers.

While some people might become product managers straight out of college, it’s common to build up experience and skills first. Since product managers need a good sense of business and customer needs, you might see product managers with backgrounds in business operations or marketing. Product managers might go on to become senior product managers or vice presidents of product.

Project managers, on the other hand, often get their start in industry work. For example, a software development project manager might spend a few years working as a software developer. They might also work first as an associate project manager or project coordinator. Project managers can go on to be product managers, senior project managers, and directors of project management.

Skills

The technical skill set for each of these roles tends to be distinct.

Product manager skills:

• Data analysis

• Market assessment

• Price modeling

• Basic user experience (UX) knowledge

• Basic business knowledge

Project manager skills:

• Knowledge of project management methodologies like Scrum, Agile, and Waterfall

• Risk management

• Project management tools like Asana or Gantt charts

• Basic budgeting

Learn more: 12 Project Management Methodologies

Certifications

Certifications aren’t required to become a project manager or a product manager. However, they may give you an edge in job applications—and sometimes they can be required. Project management certifications are more common than product management certifications. 

Common project manager certifications include:

• Project Management Professional (PMP)

• Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)

• Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)

• Professional Scrum Master (PSM I)

Product manager certifications are available as well. These include: 

• Product School - Product Manager Certificate

• Pragmatic Institute - Certified Product Manager 

• AIPMM Certified Product Manager Credential

Why should you learn project management?

Project management is an incredibly helpful skill, whether or not you plan to become a project manager. Many jobs, from finance to marketing, consist of short- and long-term projects. Learning key skills and approaches can help you get ahead.

Build skills to become a product or project manager

On Coursera, you'll find programs to develop the skills you'll need to pursue entry-level project management and entry-level product management roles.

• The Google Project Management: Professional Certificate is designed for beginners. Over six courses, you'll learn the fundamentals of project management, including how to create effective project documentation and artifacts throughout the various phases of a project.

• The IBM Product Manager Professional Certificate is also designed for beginners. Over seven courses, you'll identify product strategy development and implementation methods and best practices to ensure the right product is produced.