In Her Words: Farah A. Rana
Farah A. Rana has worked in product for more than a decade. Currently, she’s the National Director of Product Management and Development at Kaiser Permanente, or, in other words, a Big Freaking Deal, and is responsible for developing funding and infrastructure for companies who want to reduce costs while still providing excellent healthcare for their employees.
Throughout her career, Farah has held roles in technology and business solutions — ways that make customer’s lives easier.
Below, we talk about the Big Question: What’s the difference between product management and project management?
What is the primary difference between product management and project management?
I would say that these roles are easily confused. In short, a product manager brings the product strategy and vision, and the project manager helps us bring it to life.
As a product manager, we are tasked with finding the apex between the business’ goals and the customers’ needs. To do this, keeping a continuous understanding of the market landscape and how it’s evolving is key. In addition to this market research, we set the product vision; communicate and get buy-in from sponsors and stakeholders; develop a strategic go-to-market plan; and, finally, tie it all back to the roadmap.
The project manager has an important role of taking our vision and breaking it down into tasks in a project plan, building out the schedules and getting the resources assigned; but most importantly I appreciate their role in highlighting risks that might derail a product launch. It allows us product managers to pivot as needed.
Both roles are really important if your organization is going to support a launch culture, but wearing both hats can negatively impact the progress and quality of the product. Unfortunately, a product manager carrying the responsibility of project managers can happen. As a product leader, it’s our onus to reiterate the ROI of keeping these roles separate.
“As a product leader, it’s our onus to reiterate the ROI of keeping these roles separate.”
What is one of the best product management lessons you’ve learned in the field?
I know you asked for one, but I’ve got to share two…I’ve learned the importance of data capabilities and relationship management:
- Having well-defined key performance indicators and product goals on the front end is important; it will add framework to the data you’re collecting and help you tell the product story.
- A friendly reminder, products and projects come and go but the rapport and the relationships we build with our peers and customers is lasting. If during the development process a peer or team doesn’t hop on board, investigate to find out why — you’ll usually find a reason that will only make your product better. Also, if you can, take a pulse check with your customer/end-user during the development process to confirm that product features will add value for them.
“If during the development process a peer or team doesn’t hop on board, investigate to find out why — you’ll usually find a reason that will only make your product better.”
