Front page / By role / Product and project

1. Product manager

   Step by step guide

   Decides what to build and why, then sees it through launch and measures what it did.

   Also called PM, product lead, head of product

   The work

   1. 1Understand customers and the market
   2. 2Decide what to build
   3. 3Define it with the team
   4. 4Work across teams
   5. 5Ship and measure

   See the work and its tools

   • Technical product manager

     Owns technical products such as platforms, APIs and infrastructure, and works closer to engineering.

   • Product owner

     The Scrum role that owns the backlog and the product goal; on many teams the product manager holds it.

   • Product operations

     Runs the data, tools and planning process product managers work with, so they can spend their time on decisions.

2. Project manager

   Gets an agreed piece of work delivered on time and on budget: scope, schedule, risks and status.

   Also called PMP, delivery manager, project lead

   The work

   1. 1Start the project
   2. 2Plan the work
   3. 3Run the work
   4. 4Keep people informed
   5. 5Deliver and close

   See the work and its tools

   • Program manager

     Runs several related projects as one program, with a shared plan, budget and governance.

   • Scrum master or agile coach

     Keeps a Scrum team delivering in short cycles: runs its events, removes blockers and coaches how it works.