Product Owner vs Product Manager: Choose the right hat for you

I’m currently studying about Product Owner and Product Manager.
One of my searches was the difference between a Product Owner and a Product Manager.
Well, I need to admit that there are a lot of articles and arguments about the responsibility of each one. It can vary between companies (especially their size), company hierarchy structure, methodologies and their own responsibilities.
After reading a dozen of articles about this question, those were my findings.
Product Owner is a role you play on a Scrum team.
The Product Owner is just a role in Scrum team and according to Scrum Guide:
- The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product and the work of the Development Team. How this is done may vary widely across organizations, Scrum Teams, and individuals.
- The Product Owner is the sole person responsible for managing the Product Backlog.
- The Product Owner is one person, not a committee. The Product Owner may represent the desires of a committee in the Product Backlog, but those wanting to change a Product Backlog item’s priority must address the Product Owner.
It could be a little bit more confused if you check CSPO Learning Objectives, the Product Owner certification held by Scrum Alliance:
- Teach that the Product Owner is responsible for establishing the high-level vision and goals…in other words, what the project will create, for whom, and why.
- Teach that the Product Owner is responsible for obtaining the budget necessary for the work of the team (aka development work) to occur.
To have a good and successful Scrum Team, the Product Owner must be available and empowered to make decisions without having to ask for permission. The Product Owner is the customer’s voice in the Scrum team.
- How can a Product Owner manage the entire product backlog and still be the customer’s voice in the team? Being close enough with the customers.
- How can a Product Owner still have the product vision and goal during the entire product life cycle? Being updated about the industry.
Too many tasks for Product Owner, don’t you think?
In SAFe framework:
- The Product Owner serves as the customer proxy and is responsible for working with Product Management and other stakeholders.
According to that, the Product Manager is in charge to talk with the customer.
The Product Manager should deal with external tasks, meanwhile the Product Owner will be dealing with internal tasks. This could work very well.

If you want to build products that create value for your businesses and customers, you need good Product Management foundations. Product Owners need to think (and to be) like a Product Manager to validate that the company is building the right product.

Your feedback is always welcome, feel free to do this. I’m sorry for any misspellings, let me know if you found one.
In case you want, add me to your LinkedIn network.
Thank you.
