Are you a Product Manager? Or a Project Manager in disguise?

The difference between product management and project management from my experiences in both roles.

I worked as a project manager for many years, and on many occasions recently, I’ve been asked what the transition to product management has been like. Why did I make the move? Would I consider going back to project management? This is what this story is about.

What is a product manager?

Literature tells us that as product managers, we need to feel comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. We need to fill the gaps in our specialised teams and be obsessed with solving real customer problems to achieve positive outcomes for the product.

Although the literature doesn’t tend to focus on it, Project Management is an essential skill to master to be a successful product manager. I’ve not transitioned away from project management at all, half of my work relies heavily on the skills and tools I mastered during my previous career.

Because I have a background in project management and feel confident in delivery, I have the head space to focus on the bigger picture. The delivery details are time-consuming, but they’re not hard. The much more difficult and interesting challenge is understanding the problem space. Making bets, running experiments, monitoring outcomes and learning.

It is incredibly rewarding seeing something pan out the way you hoped, equally having your mind…