Project Manager vs Product ManagerOne of the key challenges that we hear when we talk to PRODUCT Managers is that they are often expected to

perform the role of PROJECT Manager for some or all of the delivery of their product to the marketplace.

On the “Brainmates – Product Management People” LinkedIn group, Tom Adler posted the following question to find

out the difference:

“I know that Product Managers are often asked to be Project Managers. Are Project Managers often asked to be Product Managers?”.This generated a lot of reactions, mostly questioning whether one person can effectively fulfil both roles at the same

time.

Here hare a few of the comments posted:

Scot Sehlhorst:“For me, the difference is simple. Project management has the following area of focus: “when”. Product

management has the following area of focus: “why” Can one person be held accountable for both? Sure.”

Irene Liakos:“A project manager’s role is very different from a product manager. Using the same person as product and project

manager does justice to neither role.”

Chris Dahl:“It also depends on the person, and the size of the business. In startup/DMB environment I’m sure there are

situations where both roles are performed by the one person, and to an acceptable level. Agree the ideal situation is

to break it out into two different roles, but it can work when still small”

At Brainmates we treat these two roles as fundamentally different, yet interrelated roles. As a reaction to this

discussion we wanted to elaborate more on the interaction of these roles and sat down with Damian Haslam, Project

Manager at Vodafone.

Product Manager vs Project Manager: The Brainmates perspectiveThe first challenge in differentiating the role of Project Manager or a Product Manager is that they sound a lot alike.

While it is a trivial semantic issue it often leads to confusion about the 2 roles. It’s important to begin with the definition

of the words Product and Project.

PROJECT: A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result [1].

PRODUCT: A product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or a need [2]. A product

has a life cycle. It’s conceived, developed, introduced and managed in the market, and retired when the need for a

product diminishes.  A product developed within context of a project is needed to create a product. During the life

cycle of a product sometimes multiple projects can occur.

As a result of these definitions we can see that a Project Manager’s focus is internal and tactical whereas a Product Manger’s focus is external on the customers’ need and on the resulting product strategy.

Project ManagementA Project Manager is ultimately responsible for a predefined outcome which will be described as the projects

objective. They will manage the development of the product, service or result through the application of available

resources (including a project team).

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Project Management as a discipline provides the tools and techniques for the team to organise and prioritise the

various tasks that need to be completed, as well as work within any applicable constraints (including time, cost, and

quality). The tools and techniques Project Managers usually employ can be roughly divided into 3 main areas:

Risk and issue management is an important aspect of Project Management and serves to highlight and then

manage any risks to the project completing successfully, as well as minimising the impact of any issues that are

identified.

Resource management involves ensuring the project team have what they need, when they need it. That includes

such simple things as task lists, materials, infrastructure, reporting and even extra people

Scope management is usually the most difficult activity a Project Manager is involved in and involves limiting the

extent (scope) of the endeavour within acceptable allowances, usually engaging in a balancing act between the

three critical aspects of time, cost and quality. For instance, if the time to deliver the project is reduced then either

cost must be increased, or scope reduced to maintain  quality.

Project management is a tactical, time limited activity that is defined by the businesses strategic objectives.

Product ManagerA  Product Managers is responsible for the ongoing satisfaction of unmet needs of customers so it will contribute to

the following:

More value than the competition

Build a sustainable competitive advantage

Financial benefit for a business

This includes but also extends beyond the lifecycle of any one product. Managing the product throughout the product

lifecycle ensuring that it continues to satisfy market needs includes:

Gathering and prioritising product and customer requirements,

Defining the product vision,

Working closely with engineering,

Working with sales, marketing and support to ensure revenue and customer satisfaction goals are met.

The Product Manager’s job also includes ensuring that the product and marketing efforts support the company’s

overall strategy and goals. A Product Manager tries to find out the customers’ needs and develop a product to satisfy

them.

Product Management DEFINES the strategic business objectives that initiate discrete projects.

Role OverlapIt’s evident that the roles of a Project Manager and a Product Manager are very different but these roles have a similar

skill set.

Excellent organisational and interpersonal skills

Leadership qualities

Time management

So it is not uncommon for organisations to ask Product Managers to take on Project Management responsibility and

vice versa.

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Resulting ProblemsWe see that doing both jobs can compromise the successful delivery of a project

If a Product Manager is also running a project his/her time and attention for the customer strategy gets diverted to

chasing people, reporting etc.

You do not have the sufficient skill set to perform well on all points. A Project Manager excels at managing to

datelines and a Product Manager knows what the customer wants and keeps that in mind.

Wearing both hats with different objectives sometimes results in a conflict of interest.

How Can We Manage These Problems?In some situations it may still be feasible to have the Product Manager also undertake the Project Management role.

However it is always ideal to have these two roles done by two individuals. Depending on the following factors, it is

good to recommend that both Project Manger and Product Manager roles will be carried out by two individuals to

successfully complete a project and launch a good product:

Large size project

Multiple involved departments and stakeholders

Longer delivery time line

Multiple geographic  locations

Big team (i.e. 5+ people to co-ordinate)

“Project Manager vs Product Manager Detector”Brainmates has developed  a simple tool to identify if you are doing the job of a Product Manager or a Project

Manager.  The tool contains a set of questions and a results presentation grid. The grid provides a visual overview to

help you determine if you are doing the job of a Product Manager or Project Manager. Your questionnaire scores will

determine the colours displayed on the presentation grid.  for example, if an activity displays the colour PINK it means

that you are doing a task that is not part of the core focus of your role.

In the example below the Product Manager has been doing a couple of the Project Manager’s tasks. The Product

Manager’s tasks are shown on the left side of the grid. The right side of the grid shows the Project Mangers tasks. On

the grid below a couple of tasks are coloured PINK. This indicates that the Product Manager has fulfilled tasks that

he/she ideally should not be doing. We can also see that some Product Managers tasks are PURPLE. This indicates

that the Product Manager is not able to complete his/her own required tasks.

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The tool can be downloaded here and we would love to get your feedback and ideas on how to improve it.

SummaryHaving both a Project Manager and a Product Manager will contribute to the successful launch of a product in a

positive way.  Derek Morrison provides the perfect metaphor:

“A Project Manager is like a mid wife- he/she delivers the baby, hands it over to the mother and moves on. The baby being the product and the mother being the Product Manager”It is not a question of one or the other. Both the Product Manager and the Project Manager roles are required for long term business success.

References: [1] Project Management Institute (2004). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge:

PMBOK Guide. 3rd Edition. Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, Project Management Institute, p. 5. [2] Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Brown, L., and Adam, S. (2006) Marketing, 7th Ed. Pearson Education

Australia/Prentice Hall.Tags : product management, Project ManagementPlease add your feedback in the comments below.

Steve Johnson  says:Good definitions. For me, a proDUCT manager works with the product throughout its lifecycle; a proJECT manager works with a project through a single development cycle or cycles. And I agree with Scott: proJECT is about WHEN.

For my take on titles, see “Managers as Experts” at http://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/publications/topics/06/0603sj

Steve Johnson  says:And to revise Derek’s point:proJECT manager = midwife;proDUCT manager = father;Development manager = mother.

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I think most of us would agree that the dev team and the mother both create the product, while the product manager and father are involved in planning and nurturing.

Adrienne  says:In this case Steve, there are 2 Product Managers, the Mother and the Father!

Yossi says:I’d like to modify the above “WH questions” definitions:– Product Manager – Functionality wise (Customer/Application domain):What the market needs, What should the system do & When (window of opportunity), When ready (due to his colleague – the Project Manager) – What is to be done for proper product introduction, sales & customer training/support– Product Manager – Technologically wise (R&D/Manufacturing/tech support domain):How will the system look like, Who will do what, How much $$$ is to be spent, When it will be ready (time to market) and in What level of maturity

Emma says:Great definitions and clarifications.

I’d like to add another question into the mix, assuming the roles as they have been described above.

Who is ultimately reponsible for the product? Is the Product Manager answerable to the Project Manager or vice versa?

Who is the one source of truth for all information during the development of the product?

Yossi says:AS of my experience: The proJECT mngr takes care for the product until its “death” (even in mid organizations that havea Production-Engineering dep.)/ It includes modifications & SW releases.

I’d like to modify the above “WH questions” definitions:– ProDUCT Manager – Functionality wise (Customer/Application domain):What the market needs, What should the system do & When (window of opportunity), When ready (due to his colleague – the Project Manager) – What is to be done for proper product introduction, sales & customer training/support– ProJECT Manager – Technologically wise (R&D/Manufacturing/tech support domain):How will the system look like, Who will do what, How much $$$ is to be spent, When it will be ready (time to market) and in What level of maturity

Project Minder  says:This happens all too often, and can become quite overwhelming for a product manager asked to become a temporary project manager! – A more likely role would be that of a project minder, with a dedicated manager in charge.

Andrew Freedman  says:Emma – From my experience (as a product manager), the Product Manager is ultimately responsible for the product, just as a parent is ultimately responsible for the child (borrowing from above analogies).

The product manager also has ultimate say on “truth” (if you mean what I think you mean). It is the Product Manager’s job to know the priorities and benefits of marketing this product in the first place. Or from a different angle, If the proDUCT manager decides that there are no longer any business reasons to release a product in development, the proJECT manager can not overrule and insist they finish the project anyway.

Subrat says:Hi all,Thnkzz for the wonderful info.

Subrat says:Hi All,I am working as an Associate S/W Engg. in a MNC from approx. to be 1yr and i aspire to be a good Project Manager.

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Really this blog in a short-time helped me a lot to understand, behind the scenes of management.I am a completely new seed to this area but with all my will, interest and power is ready to jump into this.Was wandering if i can get any personal email address to have advices from the real-time project managers who can guide me as a mentor and let me get loaded to have a blast as a Project Manager.Please help me if possible to get hold and relish my dreams.

Nico says:Thanks for the post and for the tool.Has been very useful to understand the connections and/or gaps between these 2. I am a Project manager to whom has been offered a Product Portfolio Manager position.

Jatin Kathuria says:Clear, Crisp and very enlightening. thanks.

Webniche  says:As some one mentioned above smaller companies cannot always afford the expense of both a Product Manager and a Project Manager. I believe if you have passion for the product it is very easy for the project manager to fulfill both roles

Dimitris says:I completely agree. Product management is broader than project management as far as the job requirements is concerned. Product management is horizontal including sale of the product, technology, legal, business model, positioning, branding, and marketing of the product etc. whereas project management is vertical including scoping, developing, monitoring and delivering.

hatem salih says:Due to the nature of product management processes, I do not think a project manager can be a product manager for:-– project management processes, tools and techniques are the same for all projects. While product management processes are product- specific. a software project implements the same processes of building a bridge. while developing a software processes (pmbok project life cycles) widely differs from building that bridge.– building product process is different and uses different T&Ts that applys only for building the same project.– both use quality assurance and quality control but in both cases (QA&QC) targets the product QA and the processes that results in it QC.– managing product needs product- specifi skills. it is not necessary that product manager have project management skills. someone else may help him but not anyone can rake over from him unless has the same skilles. this isn’ t the case in project management. any person with general project management skills can take over. hope these personal assumptions helps.

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The Product Manager vs. Project ManagerIt was a big day. I was presenting a new product idea to the executive team. After speaking with dozens of customers, the product team knew that we had touched a nerve. This idea would be an excellent way to increase our market share against our competition.

I walked into the conference room ready to go. I confidently shared our strategic vision for why we needed the new product,

and offered quantifiable goals to measure our success. I also discussed what each new feature would do, and the benefits

that our customers would gain.

As we were finishing the presentation, our CFO was convinced that this was the right move. He wanted to jump right into the

financial details — and for a moment, I was tripped up. I had been so focused on looking out at the big picture. I did not

know the specifics of what each phase would cost — and was unprepared to answer his questions.

Luckily, our project manager was in the room with me. I glanced over at her with the look of help in my eyes. She jumped

right in and explained how the team would get it done on time and under budget. Thanks to her knowledge and readiness,

that big day turned out to be even bigger than I had ever imagined.

Why did my presentation go off without a hitch? I understood my role as the product manager and my colleague’s role as the project manager.

But this is not always the case. These roles often cause confusion, even in savvy tech companies. It is understandable —

the words are separated by only two letters. And in most organizations, the responsibilities overlap in more ways than any

other roles. In some cases, the same person is the product manager and the project manager.

I’ve worked with countless project managers in my 15 years as a product manager. I have even played the dual role on

occasion which works just as well as splitting it up.

So, what is the first step towards a successful working relationship if you are working on a team with product and project managers?

The key is having clear boundaries (and crossing them when needed with intent and clear communication). When you

internalize what each of you are accountable for, you will better understand your responsibilities and points of intersection.

That is how you collaborate and build great products.

DefinitionIt helps to begin by describing how we think about a product and a project.

A product is what you are providing to a group of users. It can be anything: a physical product that you hold in your

hands, a software application, or a service that you are delivering.

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In contrast, a project is a plan with a series of activities that has a defined outcome and a fixed start and end date.

The project is completed when that outcome is accomplished.

So, let’s assume that your product is a new mobile application. It might contain many projects before it is ready to be

launched. These projects all have their own unique starting and ending points. The mobile application, however, is a product

which will continue to be improved as long as it is being sold to customers.

RoleWhat is a product manager? Product managers are often described as the CEOs of their products. They set the strategy,

prioritize releases, talk to customers, and clearly define features. Their efforts are ongoing and involve managing the entire

lifecycle of the product. A product manager’s goal is to deliver a product that customers love.

What is a project manager? Project managers oversee a fixed project from beginning to end. It can be a single project or a

group of projects. Their job is to execute the strategy set by the product manager or leadership team. A project manager’s

goal is to work with a broader team with a diverse set of skills and to complete a project on time and under budget.

Each role performs unique functions to achieve specific goals. So, the next step is to break out the details of who does what,

because this is where uncertainty and conflict often arise.

ResponsibilityThe product manager is responsible for setting the product strategy. By having a “goal first” approach to managing and

building the product, great product managers can create initiatives to help reach those goals. This approach helps determine

which features should be built to achieve those goals. Product managers must answer these questions: “What problem does

this solve?” And, “What are you building?” And, “What will the benefits be?”

Product managers own:

Strategy

Releases

Ideation

Features

Go-to-Market

Organizational training

Profit and Loss

The project manager is often less concerned with specific product goals. They are more focused on the project itself. A

project manager takes product initiatives and features to develop a timeline based on any potential constraints related to

resources, risks, or scope. Project managers must answer the questions, “What resources are needed?” And, “When will the

project get delivered?” And, “Who is going to do what?”

Project managers own:

Budget

Delivery

Resources

Capacity

Cross-team organization

Problem resolution

Status updates

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Collaboration

Product managers and project managers work closely together in high-performance organizations. And both work with the

broader product team and executive leaders.

The product manager collaborates daily with cross-functional teams regarding the future of the product: Engineering,Sales

and Marketing, Customer Success, etc. And since the product manager is responsible for the product throughout its

lifecycle, she will naturally be involved with any project that concerns the product. So, it is the product manager’s job to

define the scope of each specific project. She explains why these projects will achieve high level goals for her product and

business.

The project manager also works with the broader team, but is focused on bringing plans to life. And his work is more time-

fixed. He manages one effort and once that project is complete, he moves on to organizing other tasks. For example, a

project team might be assembled to tackle a UX redesign with a target date that is six months away. The project manager

will be concerned with that project’s budget, resources, deadline, and quality. He will understand the many details of each

project.Product and project managers each perform unique functions. When aligned properly, they both can shine.

Product and project managers see the same work through different lenses. And that’s a good thing when you are trying to

achieve something special like bringing a new product to market as I was. But they both work for the same team. And when

they join forces to collaborate, everyone benefits and the company wins.

Have you seen product managers and project managers work well together?

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Product managementProduct management is an organizational lifecycle function within a company dealing with the planning, forecasting, and production, or marketing of a product or products at all stages of the product lifecycle. Similarly, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)[1] integrates people, data, processes and business systems. It provides product information for companies and their extended supply chain enterprise.

The role may consist of product development and product marketing, which are different (yet complementary) efforts, with the objective of maximizing sales revenues, market share, and profit margins. Product management also involves elimination decisions. Product elimination begins with identification of elimination candidates, proceeds with the consideration of remedial actions, continues with a projection of the impact on the business as a whole if a candidate product is eventually eliminated, and concludes with the implementation stage, where management determines the elimination strategy for an item.[2] The product manager is often responsible for analyzing market conditions and defining features or functions of a product. The role of product management spans many activities from strategic to tactical and varies based on the organizational structure of the company. To maximize the impact and benefits to an organization, Product management must be an independent function separate on its own.

While involved with the entire product lifecycle, the product management's main focus is on driving new product development. According to the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), superior and differentiated new products — ones that deliver unique benefits and superior value to the customer — are the number one driver of success and product profitability.[3]

Depending on the company size and history, product management has a variety of functions and roles. Sometimes there is a product manager, and sometimes the role of product manager is shared by other roles. Frequently there is Profit and Loss (P&L) responsibility as a key metric for evaluating product manager performance. In some companies, the product management function is the hub of many other activities around the product. In others, it is one of many things that need to happen to bring a product to market and actively monitor and manage it in-market. In very large companies, the product manager may have effective control over shipment decisions to customers, when system specifications are not being met.

Product management often serves an inter-disciplinary role, bridging gaps within the company between teams of different expertise, most notably between engineering-oriented teams and commercially oriented teams. For example, product managers often translate business objectives set for a product by Marketing or Sales into engineering requirements (sometimes called a Technical Specification). Conversely they may work to explain the capabilities and limitations of the finished product back to Marketing and Sales (sometimes called a Commercial Specification). Product Managers may also have one or more direct reports who manage operational tasks and/or a Change Manager who can oversee new initiatives. Manufacturing is separate from the research function, the product manager has the responsibility to bridge the gaps if any exist.

In most technology companies, most Product Managers possess knowledge in the following areas: computer science, business, and user experience.

Product Marketing[edit]

Product Life Cycle  considerations

Product differentiation

Product naming and branding

Product positioning and outbound messaging

Promoting the product externally with press, customers and partners

Conducting customer feedback and enabling (pre-production, beta software)

Launching new products to market10

Monitoring the competition

Product Development[edit]

Testing

Identifying new product candidates

Considering new candidates

Gathering the voice of customers

Defining product requirements

Determining business-case and feasibility

Scoping and defining new products at high level

Evangelizing new products within the company

Building product road-maps, particularly technology road-maps

Developing all products on schedule, working to a critical path

Ensuring products are within optimal price margins and up to specifications

Ensuring products are manufacturable, and optimizing cost of components and procedures.

Inbound and Outbound Product Management[edit]

Many refer to inbound (product development) and outbound (product marketing) functions. [4]

Inbound product management (aka inbound marketing) is the "radar" of the organization and involves absorbing information like customer research, competitive intelligence, industry analysis, trends, economic signals and competitive activity [5] as well as documenting requirements and setting product strategy.[6]

In comparison, outbound activities are focused on distributing or pushing messages, training sales people, go to market strategies and communicating messages through channels like advertising, PR and events. [5][6]

In many organizations the inbound and outbound functions are performed by the same person. [7]

As these terms are under discussion, another way of looking at these activities is upstream and downstream product management, where 'upstream' is referring to any activity that helps to define, create, or improve the product, whilst 'downstream' refers to any activity that promotes the product. This avoids the confusion with the term "inbound marketing" which nowadays clearly refers to a way of doing downstream product management, referring to 'making the product accessible', i.e. it can be found by suspects and prospects (compared to 'outbound marketing', where the product is 'pushed' in front of the suspect or prospect). The confusion stems mainly from the mix up between the term "Marketing" as a discipline, comprising Product Management, MarCom, etc. and using the same term 'Marketing' as a synonym for 'Promotion' or 'advertising', i.e. taking a product to the market (i.e. 'downstream').

It comes as a surprise that this confusion and ambiguity is hard to understand- because if you name the main (value creating) departments in todays organizations, you can clearly assign to Sales, R&D, Operations, and Marketing their repective core funtions and areas of responsibility. The core function of Marketing, that differentiates it from Sales, Operations, and R&D is the ownership of the Marketing Mix (= 4 P: Product, Place, Price, Promotion). Still, many organizations put under 'Marketing' only Market Communications (MarCom), which is just the operational end of marketing and only a subset of what 'Promotion' comprises. From a Product Managment perspective, MarCom is a supporting function (like IT, HR, Controlling etc.). In organozations, where the Product Management is weak or not existent, it's task are taken over by the other departments (i.e. sales defines the distribution ('Place'), operations defines the prices, R&D defines the product, MarCom decides on the promotion.

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Jeremy Justice, 10 Years of Product Management Experience at companies such as Intel and Nokia.14.9k Views

My experience at Nokia:

Program Manager:At Nokia, the role of the a Program Manager goes beyond that of the typical Project Manager. While they are held accountable for schedules and ship dates, their day-to-day job involves coordinating across all the functional areas that report into them. For the launch of mobile phones, this would include representatives from (generically speaking): Product Management, Hardware, Software, Testing, Quality, After-Market Support, etc. 

The Program Manager also acts as a management level to help clear through disagreements and open issues. Typically, there are problems that require high-level management support or even just the support of resource streams. The Program Manager must then work through these problems to make sure they are appropriately staffed and that open issues and roadblocks are quickly resolved. 

Product Manager:If the Program Manager is the Captain of the ship, the Product Manager is the Navigator. In typical fashion, the PM acts as the interface between sales/marketing and internal development teams. He/She is also a member of the Program Manager's team. 

Typical responsibilities involve defining and clarifying requirements, working to fine-tune design intent, managing product launch expectations of regional teams, and developing base-line content to be used for localization. As much as possible, they are expected to be experts on their customers: end-consumers and operators. As such, they should be heavily involved in driving these consumers wants/needs into the upcoming products. The PM also owns the development of the business case, so in making product modifications and dealing with schedule changes, they must also account for this in their financial projections. 

Product Planner:This wasn't asked for in the original question, but it needs to be pointed out. The Planner role is similar to a Product Manager, except their job is to focus solely on the creation of new product concepts. This includes market targetting, design, pricing, business case creation, etc. The Planner does not take the product fully to launch though, as they typically will hand over the concept to a Product Manager for completion. 

Project ManagerIn my tenure, it was rare to see someone with the title "Project Manager". This is primarily due to the fact that everyone's role in a product development team was in some sense a project manager. They each had schedules and resources to manage. I suspect other big companies are like this as well, especially ones that have distributed resources. This forces each primary member to get involved more heavily with traditional Project Mgr responsibilities.

Jason Silverstein, Technology & product development.11.7k Views • Upvoted by Steven Walling, Product manager, 5 years and counting

These are some very good answers. I will take a simple approach given my time at Yahoo! & my own company from 1998-2007. 

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Projects have a beginning and an end. They are distinct efforts. 

Programs are collections of projects and possibly partial products that collectively result in a unique management need of timing and priority. 

Product is the strategic relationship between company and customer that is the reason you have projects and programs. You must have a business and a leader to know what's important and to manage all the people who will try to help or veer the product.

Scotty Bevill, Serenity isn't freedom from the storm; it's the peace within the storm... As ...6.9k Views

SUMMARY OF AUTHORScotty Bevill is the Founder & CEO of Bevill Edge, specializing in organization tranformation, PMO deployment, professional training, and a Project Management Institute Registered Education Provider.

PRODUCT MANAGEMENTDue to the agile movement in technology, we have to break product management into two categories.  The question asks about technology companies and thus indicates an interest in software product versus a "finished goods" scenario.  I'll briefly describe the three and try to keep it simple enough to make the point.  I am specifically going to avoid linking to wikipedia and provide context here.

Product Management is the lifecycle and business management of 'what' products get done.  The finished good of a technology company (e.g. COTS (Commercial Off-the-shelf)).  This product type is a consumable by all definitions.  It's often iteratively developed and released with versions, support, and/or maintenance. Another type of product is the non-software finished good that could be electronics, rugs, cups, pans, cars, or just about any other consumable, repair part, or repairable you can imagine.)  Still the process is the same for gathering metrics, planning the product, and managing the product.    When these products are assessed for a "cradle-2-grave" they are put through an NPD

process involving cross-fuctional teams from supply chain, IT, engineering, marketing, and lately, the targeted audiicne.  These products are determined and costed for profitability.  This process handles the sourcing of material, determines costs and breaks the product into it's components for the purpose of determining (make v. buy scenarios)

Once given a green light for production and management, the product enters the process called the PLM or Product Lifecycle Management Process.  This process can be thought of as the 'big picture' process of a product's shelf-life.  Here Risk is managed, change orders (engineering, design, etc...) are implemented and determined.  Customer feedback loops are engaged in large ERP systems or product management systems and used to weigh the cost/benefit of product modification, recall information, and defect management.  You will find in this process, the cost of quality and governance as it pertains to the management of a product.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENTProgram Management is the governance and 'how' work can get done. Unfortunately it's often referred to as the 'police' of projects, but again this is just a circumstance.  We must once again take into consideration the question refers to large technology companies.  In non-tech companies, the program management office can mean many things dependent on it's industry so here, I'll discuss what has come to be known as the Program Management Process/Office or (PMO) PMO is responsible for standardization.  Understanding deliverables as required,

conditionally required, discretionary, etc...  This ensure that all work in the business is

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adhering to the mission, the strategy, the policy, the governance, and producing the necessary document history for the business and the work it performs.

In technology specically you will find lower level governing bodies such as the Project Office, or still adequately named the Program Office.  Each of these offices serve similar functions and you'll find they operate in tandem of one another as the business rolls up from the work on the bottom to the ideals at the top.  Thus ensuring consistency in message, approach, etc...  I'll discuss more about this and it's relationships in Project Management below

Program Management is about coordination of multiple groups as they align to a greater whole.  For example.  If we were a major digital services provider with hardware and software running on a platform, say a cell phone, it would be the program office or embedded project offices that manage how that work comes together.  One project office would manage how the hardware gets manufactured (made) or acquired (buy) see product management above.  Another project office would be managing the software development, operating systems release schedule, bug fixes, component development, and applications (if they weren't open source development SDKs and more complex sales and development models)

So Program and Project Offices bring all things together in very large scale implementations that would otherwise be to difficult to implement and provide the "means" to which the work gets done by governance and policy.

PROJECT MANAGEMENTProject Management is the action of getting the work done.  This work is the most familiar of the three and has more professionals engaged in this work.  Some working on project aren't even aware of their impact to the project as are just tasked with work, but are none-the-less valuable to it's success. Project Management is the process by which the work gets broken down and then put in to

the actionable work packages.  Projects have their own Management Plans internally that outline the requirements from the Program/Project Offices and are used to determine some of the following (not limited to them):

How to purchase hardware, resources (people), materials, etc... Change Control Measures (How, How Long, Process, etc...) Budgets, Approaches, Measures of success Schedules, Phases, Deadlines, and Deliverables Individual teams are organized, planned, and the work is broken down, approved and set in

motion with timelines, committment, release dates, etc...Projects can deliver a whole product, part of a product, or simply develop the code for a software product.  These teams are the actual work getting done and delivered, whether it's an "agile" project or a "traditional" project.

Aravind Gopalakrishnan, part-time philosopher, full-time slacker.3k Views

It depends very much on the company and division you work in. However, in general if we were to consider a tech/product company:

A product manager makes sure that the right product is being built.

A project manager makes sure that the work is being built efficiently.

A program manager makes sure that the product creation aligns with the company's long-term strategies and oversees several projects.

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Shannon Lewis, 15+ years of experience as a software product manager.3.9k Views

Interesting that Microsoft classifies what I would consider to be a Product Marketing Manager as a Product Manager.  I think of Product Managers as a more classic role like you have defined at Amazon.  I think of a Product Manager as the General Manager for their product.  

I have done both Product Management, Project Management and Program Management in my career.  Here's how each role was defined for me.

Product Management - I consider the Product Manager as the General Manager of his/her product. He/she is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the product including: features, pricing, product life cycle, P&L etc. He/she should be the voice of the customer. Works with development to build the right product. Works with sales to help educate them on selling the product, supports them as needed. Works with Marketing on product messaging. Works with finance on P&L and any financials related to the product.  Basically wears multiple hats.

Project Manager - manages the delivery of a project (technical or non-technical) .  Worries about schedule, budget etc. For example: the delivery of product X v2.1. 

Program Manager - has more cross functional responsibilities than a project manager. More of a "global role".  Worries about the big picture. Product delivery, marketing campaign to go with the launch, making sure sales is educated, all parties that need to be updated are (system updates (maybe part numbers, pricing etc).  

I do realize that the roles of these positions vary depending on the company. But this is how it was broken out at the companies I have worked at.

Lakshmi Peri, Entrepreneurial Program Manager, Strategic execution expert, Coach and Author2.9k Views

In my experience and knowledge the roles are as below

Product Manager - Responsible for the product vision, requirements, market needs,  business goals and ROI

Program Manager - Responsible for - Executing to the product vision and strategy end to end- Stakeholder management- Gap analysis- Risk Management- Program Communications- Building highly productive teams

Project ManagerResponsible for - Time boxed initiative execution- Project communications

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- Schedule- Deliverables- Surfacing the issues and mitigation plan

Pamela Almoustine Magee Bradford4.7k Views

A Project Manager manages projects vertically with a tactical precision that focuses on the nuts and bolts of a particular project always with the end in sight, meeting specs and completing tasks.

A Program Manager manages horizontally across many projects, with a strategic goal in mind, focusing on the bigger picture. In essence the projects themselves are the tasks to be managed.

Venkata Rahul, Extensive experience in Enterprise Planning products1.4k Views

A very concise answer.

Project managers handle individual projects (definition of projects et al are already mentioned in the other answers herein).

Programs are at a higher level than projects. Projects may be at the team level or department level within an organization while programs are much larger (in a sense, groups of projects). The Program management oversees all the current projects of the organization and ensures their alignment to the business goals.

Product management is completely different from both. It is mainly about what your company offers to sell, how these offers fit into the market, evolution of the products (and hand-holding them through the life cycle), competitor analysis, gap management(feature gap), product pricing, new product innovation and management. In a sense, for product divisions, Product Management teams are the interface of the development teams with the consumers of the products.

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