Program Managers vs. Project Managers.

The image above makes it pretty self explanatory how Program Managers and Project Managers are different, but I wanted to make this post because they’re different types of PM’s that aren’t Product Managers.

As side mentioned other PM’s include Project Managers and Program Managers.

Here are summaries for the images above for how both project managers and program managers are different from each other.

Project Managers are focused on keeping the project on schedule. They make sure everyone is doing their job on time so the product can shipped and later released on time.

Program Managers are more focused on the manufactoring of the product. They would be more hands on with a hardware good for example. Let’s say the Apple Watch for example, the program manager would be responsible for keeping in touch with vendors that manufactor the physical watch for Apple to integrate their software into the physical watch.

Later on we’ll talk about other “PM” roles, that are more specific like Growth Product Manager and Product Marketing Manager, “PMM”. You’ll find that Product Manager can be broken down into separate roles, and separate focuses overall.

This is not a one size fits all position, like other roles. The PM position is a much broader term depending on what you want to focus on and where your strengths lie.