Understanding the role of the species known as "PM",

Question

As a professional programmer, I work daily with a view known as "PM." Although they usually adhere to this common abbreviation, it seems that in fact there are several discrete varieties: product managers, project managers, and program managers. There may be other species that have not yet been discovered. After years of careful observation and study of the subtleties of their differentiation, they elude me. I could only determine their common responsibility: to communicate with me, the programmer, in the most uncertain conditions, what they think, what they want to build. Then I will tell them in the most vague terms when I think it will be delivered and they will leave.

So my question on how to overload juggernaut stackoverflow is: explain the differences between product managers, project managers, and program managers. Please do this without waving your arms, as I do not see them, and this still will not help.

Answer 1

I will try to explain them as I worked with them. Please understand that definitions may be muddy and vary from organization to organization.

Project Manager: Responsible for coordinating the project schedule within the design framework. This should be the only person with whom management can be guided in order to find out the current status of the perfect work for this issue. This person, as a rule, runs deep in tables, Gantt charts and status meetings.

Product Manager: Responsible for deciding which user-visible functions will be on the tablet for review in this release. This person should be well versed in the fact that the client is trying to use the software and can act as a developer’s resource to understand what should be built in terms of functionality.

Program Manager: In essence, the project manager is responsible for coordinating the release of various disciplines in the company. This is one who is sure that marketing has a press release, ready at the same time that the engineer is ready to ship and that the sales are trained on the product.

This is how the last couple of companies that I worked on work, defined roles, but you will surely see many options.

Answer 2

The project manager is the person responsible for managing the project, in particular its volume, quality of results, timelines, time spent and budget. PM is responsible for all project results. See My other answer for details of PM responsibilities. In small projects, PM wears out several hats, but during large enterprises there may be others to help her (or him), such auxiliary tasks may have names:

• A project coordinator is someone who coordinates project work between various stakeholders and individual stakeholders.

• The project administrator constantly updates reports, including project status, and performs all kinds of other administrative tasks.

• Project Expeditor does exactly what the title says: pursues everyone, removes obstacles to the project teams and ensures continuous progress.

The product manager is responsible for the product and the entire product life cycle . Products are usually created and developed through a series of projects. The relationship between products and projects is many-to-many. One project can contribute to the development of many products, and one product requires several projects to carry it from one stage of the life cycle to another. It is also important that the product life cycle comprise a series of conditions (such as “shipping the product” or “product support”) that are typically executed as processes and state changes made as projects. Read the difference between a project and a process .

The program manager manages a series of interdependent projects aimed at achieving a common goal. Some of the projects are carried out in parallel, some sequentially. Program management is quite similar to project management, where individual tasks are replaced by entire projects. Think of a space exploration program.

Obviously, these names are not given in stone, and companies often ascribe a slightly different meaning or completely redefine them. Ive definitions are generally accepted in the management community.

Answer 3

Instead of focusing on the subjective definitions of each of these roles (yes, they are subjective, and you get 10 different answers from 10 different people), I would focus more on the tasks of individuals. The tool that will help you with this is the RACI matrix (also called the matrix of distribution of responsibilities), which makes it clear who is responsible and responsible for the actions.

This industry will continue to create new “management” names forever and daily. As for Im, just tell me what they actually do in the project, then refer well to it when there is ambiguity.

Answer 4

I read in a book (the name eludes me, but it has “Anti-Patterns management” somewhere in it) that PM, as a rule, developers increase the role of a manager, but who does not know how to manage. Nevertheless, developers want this role because it is one step up the hierarchy (and a higher paid bracket).

A good developer is not needed, which means a good manager, and as soon as you become a manager, you get pressure from your peers and from above, and some can not cope with it. Some companies are enlightened enough to develop a separate career path for developers, and their payment meets the requirements of managers.

I am sure that you have come across one of the more introverted views of PM. The last time I was in the PM style (this is a software development module that we have to do with documents, like SCRUM), I harassed my team members for updates every week and did code reviews. So there is one perspective for you.