Product Owner vs Product Manager – Explore the Difference

The roles of product owner vs product manager are often compared, indicating that these jobs are almost identical. However, it’s only partially true: although both professionals focus on development, they deal with different aspects of it. 

It looks like this: 

• The PM works on the strategy; he chooses the project vector, assesses the market, and sets goals.
• The PO, in turn, implements the strategy using a combination of tactics; the specialist collaborates with the departments, sets tasks, and ensures that the vision is successfully realized. 

In this article, we’ll analyze each role, define their differences, and discuss the responsibilities for each position. 

Product Manager Role 

Product management deals with strategic work on a project. It covers all aspects from market assessment to tool development and improvement. You should understand product management is about the long-term vision of business growth, not its direct implementation.

So, we can define the role of a product manager. It is a specialist responsible for the overall vision of the project and its suitability for industry requirements. They control the creation process, communicate with the target audience, and create a marketing strategy for the launch. After that, the specialist evaluates the relevance of the development and improves it if necessary. 

These are the duties usually performed by a specialist in this position:

• set a clear vision and strategy based on customer needs and market research;
• plan the timeline for development and feature release;
• track the lifecycle from creation to launch; 
• study market trends and competitors to identify opportunities;
• collect feedback from users to improve the outcome and make it more successful;
• track the performance with data and analytics;
• determine the best pricing strategy to increase profits and customer satisfaction.
• keep all stakeholders informed about the progress and gather their input.

Product Manager Skills 

The position of PM requires a set of leadership skills. In addition, this role requires an understanding of analytics, industry trends, and the ability to think out of the box. It allows experts to come up with an effective idea and implement it successfully. 

In a nutshell, here’s a list of hard skills a PM needs: 

• ability to analyze the market and competitors;
• understanding of customer needs to improve the result;
• experience in conducting tests (e.g., A/B, A/A);
• skills in analyzing large amounts of information;
• knowledge of UX/UI design principles and prototyping tools;
• skill in creating and controlling roadmaps using Jira, Trello, or Asana;
• knowledge of Agile practices;
• ability to build financial models to forecast profitability and ROI.

When it comes to soft skills, the ability to think critically is crucial for successful strategy development and risk anticipation. In addition, you need to communicate effectively to explain your vision to the experts who will implement it.

Product Owner Role Definitions

The PO comes into play when we talk about putting ideas and goals into practice. This is a tactician who works to achieve results at a practical level. The specialist creates a detailed map and a list of tasks with specific deadlines and then delegates duties to performers. Experts suggest how to increase the value and practicality of the product at each current moment. 

It’s worth noting that while PMs often work independently, POs communicate with the team and users at different stages to collect feedback. The main KPI is a project that meets the requirements as much as possible during its implementation.

• Create and maintain the backlog, listing all features, enhancements, and bug fixes;
• determine the order in which tasks should be completed based on business value and customer needs;
• cooperate closely with the departments to clarify any uncertainties and ensure everyone understands the requirements;
• participate in Scrum meetings to track progress and adjust priorities;
• review and approve the results to ensure it meets the defined criteria;
• establish communication between the PM and the cross-functional departments;
• coordinate with teams to plan and execute releases to ensure timely delivery;
• control the performance using key metrics for future improvements.

PM Skills & Qualifications 

A PM has practical skills to communicate with developers, control performance, and implement ideas at the highest level. In addition, they need a basic understanding of various technologies to ensure the task is done correctly at all stages. It is a rough list of PO skills:

• Scrum experience;
• agile methodologies and frameworks understanding;
• ability to analyze data using tools like Excel, Tableau, or Google Analytics;
• ability to prioritize activities (both your own and the team’s);
• experience in optimization through A/B testing;
• ability to break down the entire scope of work into separate tasks for further presentation to stakeholders and team members;
• experience in writing technical documentation.

Product Owner vs Project Manager Comparison

As you can see, both specialists are focused on creating and improving the project. However, one thinks more strategically, and the other brings this vision to life. Let’s summarize all the commonalities and distinguishing features between product owner vs product manager.

When comparing product owner vs manager, it’s worth remembering that these roles are interdependent. Thus, to be more effective, they should cooperate in a coordinated manner and have a common vision of the project’s growth. 

Can a Product Owner Be a Product Manager?

When selecting a product owner vs product manager, many firms wonder whether one specialist can replace the other. Our answer is yes. Both specialists have management skills and can handle a project at different levels, from strategic planning to practical implementation. 

However, it is important to understand that it works only in the early stages of a company’s development. As your business grows and the volume of work increases, it will be difficult for one person to handle all the tasks. It can lead to performance decreases and gaps in the work of the manager and the teams without sufficient support and quality communication. In this case, we recommend staff augmentation to get reliable developers to implement your ideas. 

FAQ

Is the product owner higher than the product manager?

In the traditional hierarchy, a PM is a more senior position. The specialist draws up the vision and goals of the project, communicates with stakeholders, and gives the strategy for implementation to the PO. 

Who gets paid more product owner vs product manager?

Since the PM is more senior in the hierarchy, he receives a higher salary. However, the PO is also an important professional in the company, so his compensation is also decent.

Project manager vs product owner: who has a technical role?

In fact, both positions are more about management, creative thinking, and other soft skills. From our point of view, the PO role is more technical. It requires communication with different teams and a basic understanding of technology to control the execution of tasks.

Final Words

To sum up the comparison of product owner vs product manager, we conclude that specialists work at different levels of development, strategic and tactical. Their jobs, although distinct, depend on each other. That’s why experts should work in harmony and mutual understanding. It allows you to ensure the best development of your business. 

If you are looking for opportunities to complete your team with reliable specialists using the outsourcing model, don’t hesitate to contact us. We have an extensive database of experts worldwide and are ready to find the best match for you.