Is a Product Owner the same as a Product Manager?

In short... No.

While often times the Product Manager (PM) takes on the role of Product Owner (PO) in an Agile development environment, there are very distinct yet subtle differences. Based on my personal experiences transitioning from Development Manager to Product Manager of an Agile team, I will attempt to outline those differences and provide some thoughts and guidance.

In June of 2006, I was asked to take on the Product Owner role. Our team had been (very successfully) practicing Scrum since its inception about 6 months prior. By then, I had a fairly good understanding of what was required of a PO and was fairly adept at defining and prioritizing requirements. At the time, as is often the case with startups, we did not have a Product Manager. So, as I soon realized, I was really being asked to do both. However, I had no experience with Product Management and didn't quite understand the difference.

Therefore, as I usually do, I looked for opportunities to learn as much as possible through books, websites, courses, etc. However, at the time, there was a mass of information about each, but little-to-nothing about both. Product Management courses/certifications were common and Product Owner certifications were gaining in popularity, but I found nothing that combined the two. Therefore, I was forced to figure it out on my own. Luckily, more and more information is starting to emerge to help with those currently faced with this challenge. In fact, here are just few a recent blogs on the topic:

• Product Manager VS. Scrum Product Owner
• Enterprise Product Manager=Agile Product Owner…I don’t think so…
• The role of the Product Manager in Scrum
• Agile Product Owner and Agile Product Manager in the Enterprise

Furthermore, companies like Enthiosys and Pragmatic Marketing, are now offering courses, consulting, and other resources on an Agile Product Management (Wow! I wish all that had been available when I was getting started!). So, rather than recant what you can read in each of these blogs and articles, I will offer my own perspective based on my personal experiences.

It is clear to me now that a Product Owner is not the same as Product Manager. Both roles can be played by one individual, which can be more effective because you do not introduce an additional line of communication (and potential breakdown). However, as I can certainly attest, even with only 2 markets, 1 product, and 1 team, doing so can be extremely overwhelming. However, every environment is different and many factors are at play, so I won't make any recommendation either way. Furthermore, I don't even believe that it is very relevant, as long as everyone is acutely aware of their role and responsibilities.

As an aside and only because it's the start of the NFL season, I'll make a sports analogy... Some team owners hire a separate General Manager to run the "football" aspects while the owners run the "business" operations. And others (like the Cowboys' Jerry Jones) are the GM and do both. You can argue one way or the other, but the simple fact is both strategies have won a Super Bowl. The point is, as long as everybody knows and excepts their role on the team (root cause of the Jerry/Jimmy feud), then the foundation for success has been laid.

So given that, let's define the roles of a Product Manager and a Product Owner. It's actually quite simple... Product Managers are market-focused and Product Owners are team-focused.

PM's Responsibilities Release Planning Product Roadmap Buyer Personas Market Requirements Pricing, sales/marketing collateral, launch plan, etc.

PO's Responsibilities Iteration Planning Product Backlog User Personas User Stories Product specs, bills of materials, user guides, etc.

Product Managers don't have to be, but generally come from the Marketing department. And, Product Owners are generally in the Development organization (again, dependent upon environment and probably irrelevant). The PO can be the Dev Manager, but I personally think there is a conflict of interest (I recommended to my senior management that I give up management responsibilities when I took on the PO role). It's ideal to have a dedicated PO, but if you have limited resources, I can see an argument being made for the Product Manager, Scrum Master, or even one of the team members to take on the role. However, it can easily become a full-time job, .

But, regardless of how the team is structure, I believe it is crucially important for everyone to understand the differences in the roles and responsibility between the Product Manager and the Product Owner. Hopefully I have provided enough information (and resources) to get you started.