Are product and project managers invariable at odds? Originally a question on whether a product manager can also function as a SCRUM master, the ensuing debate has brought a number of important points on the responsibilities of product and project managers in general.

I am going to re-position the debate in this way: can a product manager be so distanced from reality as to actually not be involved in the implementation at all? Commenter Jonathan puts it thusly:

I, personally, do not care about the software development process nor do I ask my product managers to. I expect my product team to focus entirely on value creation and when developing software is necessary to create value, others with that expertise can step in.

Specifically, Product Managers should focus on customer value, customer experience and where appropriate, assets collected as a result of product activity.

There’s definitely a lot of merit for this argument – if the product manager was “hands-on” involved in the technical aspects of the product creation, which he’ll never be as competent in as his software people, he would spend less time on actually envisioning and designing the product and making sure it fits market needs.

But, if the product is a piece of software, I believe that the product owner / manager cannot just draw it on a piece of paper without having a very intimate knowledge of how it’ll translate into an app or website code. And the role where he can oversee the development of his product could be the project manager role.

Of course, project managers are tactical beasts and their primary goal isn’t bringing a great product to market but rather bringing whatever was agreed on to market on time and budget, which can and often does mean haggling with product people over cutting features if one of these conditions, time or money, cannot be met.

Product managers hate cutting features. Hence it would seem impossible for one person to perform both roles with excellence without developing a serious mental disorder.

Then again, cutting features is as important as creating them, if not more, as the success of stripped-down web apps from Basecamp on has proved. The reality of software implementation and its constraints can be a strong motivator for prioritizing features and perfecting your specs to deliver those with the highest value while leaving the rest out.

In summary, I believe that product managers should try out the project manager role at least once to see what it really is like to bring something (web app, software, whatnot) out of nothing (specs and lots of sweat).