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The difference between PM, PO and Project Manager
www.andrealbuquerque.com

The difference between PM, PO and Project Manager

Andre Albuquerque
Jan 10
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The difference between PM, PO and Project Manager
www.andrealbuquerque.com
The different product roles - www.andrealbuquerque.com
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Search for โ€œProduct Managerโ€ roles on Linkedin and youโ€™ll find infinite variations: PM, PO, Program Managers, Project Managers, etc. But are they all the same? I picked 3 typical roles and tried to define what each one mean:

For this I am using 4 variables:

1๏ธโƒฃ What each role owns, i.e. youโ€™re truly accountable for
2๏ธโƒฃ What each role uses for planning, i.e. what will you be working with every single day or week
3๏ธโƒฃ Who each role deals with on the day-to-day, i.e. which relationships will influence success in your job
4๏ธโƒฃ What success looks like for each role, i.e. how you can deliver and grow within the roleโ€™s career pathย 

Letโ€™s dive in:

1๏ธโƒฃ Ownership:

- ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐ž๐œ๐ญ ๐Œ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ own a project with a beginning and end, which when delivered should be done.
- ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ ๐Ž๐ฐ๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ own a set of feature requirements and the delivery of epics, increasing the productโ€™s capacity to add value.
- ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ ๐Œ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ own the product, the value delivered to users, and ultimately the P&L of that product for the company.

2๏ธโƒฃ Planning:

- ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐ž๐œ๐ญ ๐Œ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ use a Gantt chart project plan, including dependencies, critical path and tasks associated with delivering a project.
- ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ ๐Ž๐ฐ๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ use a backlog of issues, stories and tasks, normally created by a PM or by the team, that compose the Roadmap.
- ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ ๐Œ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ use a Product Roadmap, outlining the narrative, opportunities and solutions that more likely get the product to its goals.

3๏ธโƒฃ Relationships:

- ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐ž๐œ๐ญ ๐Œ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ deal with every stakeholder assigned to the project. If youโ€™re not contributing, youโ€™re out of their scope.ย 
- ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ ๐Ž๐ฐ๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ deal with engineering, design and product managers responsible with executing on the product
- ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ ๐Œ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ deal with stakeholders, customers, and everyone building product, guaranteeing alignment between the decisions and value

4๏ธโƒฃ Success:

- ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐ž๐œ๐ญ ๐Œ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ succeed when they deliver the shortest critical path and the project on time
- ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ ๐Ž๐ฐ๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ succeed when they have properly defined requirements, and a smooth path of features to production
- ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ ๐Œ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ succeed when they progress towards Product-Market-Fit, delivering retained, happy customers to the company

Hopefully this helps differentiate the roles and expectations. Even though I don't believe in the PO role, I respect that companies have their own cultures, but let's not make someone a PO and expect them to do the PM work.

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