In product management, it's simple and straight forward. There are two distinct roles: a product manager (PM) and a product owner (PO). A product manager is not a product owner. They are both instrumental roles in nearly any organization, but there are some significant distinctions. Let's end the confusion involving these two titles by learning the story of coworkers, Bob and Janet.

The Product Manager (PM)

Bob is a product manager at the Johnson’s Shoe Company in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He’s worked for the company for 20 years and he knows his way around the ladies shoe industry. He’s also responsible for 27 different products in the company’s flagship line. Here’s what Bob does in his role:

Meets with and learns from customers (retailers, wholesalers, distributors). This may require flying all over the world, if need be.

Does lots of research about the shoe and hosiery industry. What’s hot? What’s not?

Runs product testing by deploying groups of testers, samplers, and/or agencies.

Goes to conventions, trade talks, and workshops for ladies shoes.

Draws, visualizes, wireframes, folds napkins into shapes of shoes.

Chats with the sales and marketing departments to see what’s working and what’s not.

Subscribes to a lot of magazines and looks for insight about competitors, next year’s fashions, technology-forward materials, and opportunities.

Determines product costing, with help from Janet.

Sets product pricing and pricing campaigns for wholesalers and distributors.

Wines and dines market influencers and potential big customers.

Meets with advertising and marketing people to build product branding and identities.

Meets with sales people to help best position his 27 products in the market.

Meets again with sales to determine the regional, national, and global success of his various products.

Creates industry and product reports, charts, and graphs so that trends and pitfalls can be easily spotted.

Regularly meets with Johnson’s Shoes executives to explain product decisions, successes, opportunities, and any significant movement in the market.

The Product Owner (PO)

At the shoe company, Bob has a counterpart. Her name is Janet and she’s been with the company for ten years. She’s a product owner (PO) for seven of the products in Bob’s line. She was previously a shoe designer, but her knowledge and level headed demeanor made her perfect for the PO position. Here’s what Janet does in her role:

Speaks often with Bob and helps develop the line where possible.

Estimates lead times and needed production schedules.

Sometimes joins Bob at customer meetings to help understand more about each customer and product.

Attends daily and weekly production meetings.

Helps to list needed product designs, sizes, and develops a board of customer stories with Bob.

Meets with designers and conveys customer stories and helps designers prioritize.

Helps designers create prototypes and gets them ready for customer demonstrations.

Works as the point person for all the designers and answers any questions.

Controls each product’s backlog and determines urgency.

Helps work on costing with Bob.

Documents each item’s features and helps write usage instructions.

In a perfect world, each product manager would have one or more product owners, in order to lesson his or her daily stresses and requirements. Bob is lucky. He’s got Janet and together they create one hell of a comfortable shoe.

The Lone Product Manager

When a PM has no PO to work with, simply take the two lists above and combine them to make the PM’s job responsibilities. Yep! They’re forced to do it all. None of it will get done magically on its own.

Now, that may sound a little daunting, but remember that not all product managers have 27 products to manage. Not every PM manages products with so many features. Everything depends on the products, their details, technical attributes, and requirements.

Some PMs only manage one or a few products, but they still must be very good at managing their time and schedule. An example would be documenting features. The lone PM doesn’t have a counterpart to help with that task and it’s often the most time consuming and important function of the job.

Sometimes, with a great PO as a counterpart on the team, a product can return exponentially more profit…

Many times, PMs don’t know when or how to ask for help from their leadership. There have been times in my career when I’ve been guilty of that. I get so wrapped up with so many products and tasks that I don’t take a moment to analyze my own effectiveness. Sometimes, with a great PO as a counterpart on the team, a product can return exponentially more profit, faster, with better quality, and without all the stress. More time can also be spent in front of the customer, refining details and opportunities.

The Lone Product Owner

This is one scenario that I have little experience with, but which I know a bit about. Much of my career has been in the software, technology, and lighting industries. For PMs, like me, deploying a product owner without the vision of a product manager, is a bit scary, but not unheard of.

Product owners do exist in lone situations. It’s usually when a product is well defined by the customer. For example; Johnson’s Shoe Company also does contract work for Magic Heels in Chicago. In this case, Janet would communicate with Rachel, who is the marketing manager and basically acting as the PM at Magic Heels.

Usually product owners do not visit with customers in nearly as many scenarios as they do with stakeholders. In Janet’s case above, the stakeholders may be the account manager at Johnson’s Shoes and Rachel, the marketing manager at Magic Heels.

Likewise, product owners are rarely the visionary of products. Because they don’t work nearly as much on the front lines of business, you’ll find them primarily focused on technologies and manufacturing strategies. They are the expert sheep herders, not the breeders.

The Program Manager (PM)

Now let’s throw a wrench into the spokes. At many companies in the software and other technology industries, a product manager may be named a “program manager.” The role is basically the same, as in manufacturing. Instead of attending shoe conventions, Bob may be attending CES, Apple’s WWDC, or Microsoft’s Ignite.

They bring more technical understanding…

While the role is primarily the same as any other industry, there could be a few differences. Some program managers are former developers and engineers (like me). They bring more technical understanding of the product’s manufacturing, engineering, software development, etc.. They can participate more with production, such as in scrum meetings, code reviews, and stand ups.

Program managers in the software industry are also vital in one very big respect. Like any other PM, they get a lot of customer face time. They hear all of a customer’s wishes and needs; things that are possible and many things which are not. A good PM, at a software company and with technical skills, has the ability to push back on feature creep and/or the potential for vaporware, without losing the customers’ faith.

Who Manages Who?

Bob manages 27 different products. In order for him to manage so many tasks, he works with multiple product owners, such as Janet. Each PO acts as the owner of one or more of Bob’s products. So, do these product owner’s report to Bob? Usually not.

It’s well known that PMs manage nobody. Doing so would often make for conflicts of interest. You see, a good PM is a great bridge between three units of business: sales and marketing, customers, and manufacturing. In the software industry, that would translate to: business, UX (user experience), and technology.

…a PM needs to be a great communicator.

In order to balance one unit’s needs with another, a PM needs to be a great communicator. It would not be in their interest to lead one unit and not the others. Instead, each department treats the PM as their customer. He or she has requirements (like an external customer) and they need to be fulfilled, in a timely manner.

The PM, in a sense, is speaking on behalf of the real customer, as it shall be. It’s what makes for a superior product and one that is market worthy. A good PM spends nearly 50% of his or her time communicating with customers. There would never be time for them to manage and oversee a staff of even one.

Often I hear a product manager being referred to as the “Product CEO.” Well, that’s just nonsense. A CEO manages others and a PM does not. A CEO’s first concern is to c-suite activity, such as corporate board meetings, finance, and shareholders. The CEO, sometimes via other leaders, leaves the PM(s) in charge of his or her product concerns.

In some manufacturing organizations, the PO may manage the production team.

The product owner is more tied to the actual product. They are the individuals who are constantly driving production, quotas, scheduling, and quality — the details people. In some manufacturing organizations, the PO may manage the production team. In some software firms, the PO may manage the entire development team for all or portions of an application.

Most often, the PO, like the PM, manages nobody. They, too, are a customer of a production manager, scrum master, lead software engineer, etc.. Their customer is the PM or the external client when no PM exists.

The Director of Product Management

A “director of product management” (sometimes called “director of product” or “product director”) is also a role at some larger companies. The director manages many products by means of multiple product managers in his or her department. This becomes necessary when products are so vast, critical, detailed, or technical that each requires its own PM.

Johnson’s Shoe Company also sells socks, nylons, and other accessories. There are product managers for each of those lines: Becky, Peter, and Meghan, respectively. Now, we’re getting a full picture. There are four product managers at Johnson’s, including Bob, and they all report to April, the director of product.

In Summary

I know a lot of this may seemed overly layered and confusing. Trust the process! Once you’re in either role, a PM or a PO, it’s all just automatic. We know our lanes well. We simply maintain the basic rules, as follows:

The PM manages nobody.

The PM is the spokesperson for the customer.

The PM drives the vision of the product.

The PM is a customer of various business units (sales, marketing, etc.).

The PO manages the final product being constructed.

The PO takes care of the product’s details.

The PM is a customer of the PO, if one exists.

The PO is a vendor to the PM, if one exists.

The PM and PO work in strict concert with each other.

A PM can exist without a PO and it’s common.

A PO can exist without a PM, but it’s not as common.

The PM typically works in the front office.

The PO typically works in the back office.

I hope this has helped clarify how product managers and product owners are utilized in various types of organizations. I’m hoping to write more articles like this in the near future, so follow me if you'd like to read more. Over and out!

About Me

I’ve been a product manager for many years. I’ve also been a lead software engineer, systems architect, product designer, director, and entrepreneur. I love technologies of all sorts and have helped develop, design, manage, and/or engineer some of the world’s most prolific software and websites. After my last firm’s acquisition, I took a much deserved sabbatical and did some traveling. I’m well rested and returning to work, writing, and getting back into what I like to do best: manage and develop products and solutions.