Project Management Plan: Fill & Download for Free

These roles often cause confusion, even in savvy tech companies. It is understandable — the words are separated by only two letters. And in most organizations, the responsibilities overlap in more ways than any other roles. In some cases, the same person is the product manager and the project manager.So, what is the first step towards a successful working relationship if you are working on a team with product and project managers?The key is having clear boundaries (and crossing them when needed with intent and clear communication). When you internalize what each of you are accountable for, you will better understand your responsibilities and points of intersection. That is how you collaborate and build great products.Definition: product manager vs project managerIt helps to begin by describing how we think about a product and a project.A product is what you are providing to a group of users. It can be anything: a physical product that you hold in your hands, a software application, or a service that you are delivering.In contrast, a project is a plan with a series of activities that has a defined outcome and a fixed start and end date. The project is completed when that outcome is accomplished.So, let’s assume that your product is a new mobile application. It might contain many projects before it is ready to be launched. These projects all have their own unique starting and ending points. The mobile application, however, is a product which will continue to be improved as long as it is being sold to customers.RoleWhat is a product manager? Product managers are often described as the CEOs of their products. They set the strategy, prioritize releases, talk to customers, and clearly define features. Their efforts are ongoing and involve managing the entire lifecycle of the product. A product manager’s goal is to deliver a product that customers love.What is a project manager? Project managers oversee a fixed project from beginning to end. It can be a single project or a group of projects. Their job is to execute the strategy set by the product manager or leadership team. A project manager’s goal is to work with a broader team with a diverse set of skills and to complete a project on time and under budget.Each role performs unique functions to achieve specific goals. So, the next step is to break out the details of who does what, because this is where uncertainty and conflict often arise.ResponsibilityThe product manager is responsible for setting the product strategy. By having a “goal-first” approach to managing and building the product, great product managers can create initiatives to help reach those goals.This approach helps determine which features should be built to achieve those goals. Product managers must answer these three questions:What problem does this solve?What are you building?What will the benefits be?Product managers own:StrategyReleasesIdeationFeaturesGo-to-MarketOrganizational trainingProfit and LossThe project manager is often less concerned with specific product goals. They are more focused on the project itself. A project manager takes product initiatives and features to develop a timeline based on any potential constraints related to resources, risks, or scope.Project managers must answer the questions:What resources are needed?When will the project get delivered?Who is going to do what?Project managers own:BudgetDeliveryResourcesCapacityCross-team organizationProblem resolutionStatus updatesCollaborationProduct managers and project managers work closely together and develop clear plans in high-performance organizations. And both work with the broader product team and executive leaders.The product manager collaborates daily with cross-functional teams regarding the future of the product: Engineering, Sales and Marketing, Customer Success, etc. And since the product manager is responsible for the product throughout its lifecycle, she will naturally be involved with any project that concerns the product. So, it is the product manager’s job to define the scope of each specific project. She explains why these projects will achieve high level goals for her product and business.The project manager also works with the broader team, but is focused on bringing plans to life. And his work is more time-fixed. He manages one effort and once that project is complete, he moves on to organizing other tasks. For example, a project team might be assembled to tackle a UX redesign with a target date that is six months away. The project manager will be concerned with that project’s budget, resources, deadline, and quality. He will understand the many details of each project.Product and project managers each perform unique functions. When aligned properly, they both can shine.Product and project managers see the same work through different lenses. And that’s a good thing when you are trying to achieve something special like bringing a new product to market as I was. But they both work for the same team. And when they join forces to collaborate, everyone benefits and the company wins.

I work at monday.com, so I’m a little bit biased, but I believe it is one of the best project management platforms out there. The platform was created to help teams plan and execute projects that deliver results on time, wherever they are (Cloud-based). It currently supports more than 100,000 organizations in managing large-scale projects, making it simple for them to track and complete each phase in one visual place.The biggest challenges our users face are a lack of insight into their team’s workload and the struggle to complete a daily series of tedious tasks that take up valuable time. These common challenges, which you can probably relate to, lead to unrealistic expectations, team demotivation, and missed deadlines.Our users have found simple solutions inside monday.com to optimize their large-scale project processes and achieve their goals with these main features:Dashboards & Views:Larger projects mean more complex processes to track. The Dashboards feature allows managers to see all aspects of their core business processes at a glance with a high-level overview of who’s working on what and where things stand at each stage.Like Dashboards, our Views feature enables users to see their information in a visual way. Many teammates appreciate the ability to see their due dates and milestones in a Timeline View and Calendar View, for example, so they always know where they stand against their deadlines.Automations:This feature is built to work for the teams in a way that’s intuitive and customizable to meet users' workflow needs. Automations significantly improve complex processes and eliminate a ton of unnecessary work so teams can focus on what really matters.They’ve set up really effective automations for their workflows, including:- Assigning teammates to new tasks- Pushing due date to match task status- Notifying teammates when tasks are marked as ‘Done.’- Moving completed tasks to ‘Archive’ groupIntegrations:There are several tools out there that are more complex than their company's core business processes, which pose a problem for some. Integrations, a feature that allows teams to sync with external tools, eliminates this problem. How? It allows the user to import their work to monday.com. Those who struggle with more complex tools can easily access and share information and processes with everyone, anytime and anywhere no matter how large the project.Get started with a free trial(Disclaimer: I work at monday.com)

Project management can be defined as the planning and organization of resources in order to move a specific task, event or duty toward completion. There are many different phases, stages, and approaches that can go into managing a project.In order to successfully manage your project to completion it’s important to have your project plan clearly defined. However, it is also important to constantly review, revise, and monitor the processes used to complete the project as obstacles can occur.Luckily, project management softwares have been created for this very reason. These tools help promote collaboration and organization with constant status updates. Project management softwares provide direction, help to prioritize and delegate tasks, and ultimately offer a big picture view on what needs to be accomplished in order to successfully complete your project.Often times there are multiple projects running simultaneously and it’s important that each project receives the same amount of attention. Here are some tips I recently read on how you can successfully manage multiple projects at once.