The difference between Product, Program and Project Management

What's the difference between Product, Program, Project, Technical Program Management? These titles are super confusing and way too similar. This video breaks down each role and helps to align your goals with the right title.
Table of Contents:
0:00 - Intro
0:17 - What different questions do they each ask?
0:40 - More about Program & Project Managers
2:00 - More about Product managers
3:30 - Who does what?
4:15 - Where do you fit based on your career goals?
7:10 - Jenny's Kitchen Analogy
8:10 - Thank you for watching
Slides: docs.google.com/presentation/...
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Please share, subscribe and whatever you can do so people stop paying for expensive courses online.

[@liambolling]

Let's keep PM resources are free! Thank you all for the support

[@amitse]

Thanks for sharing the slides. Could you please cover on how to move between roles eg I see people from software engineering background moving to pm roles. If you know anyone who has done this, knowing their perspective and insights would be amazing.

[@liambolling]

@@amitse have a video addressing that within the next week :)

[@scrollingames2298]

I am a marketing person and don't have any formal technical education in coding, but currently handling (Project, program, and product management) of both digital and physical products for a corporate for the past 4 years for less than 500$ per month. I don't know if that is the worth of my services also I don't really know how to move ahead in my career with a combination of non-tech education and this kind of work experience. If you are reading this, can you help me with some of your advice?

[@raiden7378]

Thank you Liam! - Love your style bud ... appreciate your time and effort. I think you are doing a great job, explaining and educating, your style of explaining and educating strikes the right balance between education while keeping in audience engaging in a fun and interested way. Hope your channel goes viral!

[@pranavpurankar]

Excellent liam, you covered everything in one video. Thank you for the efforts.

[@polares01]

I've watched two videos so far and it's helping me get a lot of perspectives on why and how to get to Product Management, thanks man :)

[@cmelanin3473]

This was great description of each one. Great job!!

[@michellezhou2298]

Thank you for making these videos on product management, they’re very informative . I’ve learned a lot from your videos and posts on your website. I can’t wait to watch this!

[@liambolling]

Thank you so much for the support! Be sure to share with other PMs :)

[@nainafavs]

Love the kitchen analogy! THANK YOU ❤️ after watching soooo many videos on YT, I finally understood the difference between all 3 PMs. Helps me a ton! Subscribed ☺️

[@liambolling]

Thank you so much! Means a lot :)

[@jessicaumali]

Amazing video - this made me a new subscriber to you! I love how you broke it down in concrete examples and easier for us to understand. I hope to be a PgM one day, and your content helps - thank you!

[@victorelizondo5981]

Hi Liam, I just want to thank you for clear and helpful video!!

[@Gauravkumar-jm4ve]

Excellent vlog and presentation 👏 Thank you so much, that helps a lot in taking right call

[@abdu1amir]

Thank you mate! You're doing really great job, very helpful!

[@shaquannaanthony9894]

Thank you so much for providing this information.

[@aniketpandey5725]

Hey Liam, Really great content The way you've covered each points It's quite easy to understand for anyone. I really appreciate!

[@liambolling]

Thank you so much 🙂 Please share with anyone who’s interested in Product

[@tashan777]

Clearly articulated! In my personal eperience, I have also found that sometimes the lines blur. Depending on specific org practices and resourcing in place, Product Managers may be juggling both long-term strategies and tactical (i.e program-esque) tasks.

[@liambolling]

Totally agree! I should add in here that these roles often mesh into each other

[@sophiabrar1811]

Extremely useful!!thanks for sharing Liam

[@MelodiousFrequency]

Thank you, Liam, this was super helpful.

[@kudabeen]

I have been resistent to Project Management and now finding more and more what I enjoy doing and have been doing fits more in Product Management...this was very helpful as I think about making a change. Very good explanation visuals.

[@liambolling]

Glad it was helpful! Thank you so much for the support and be sure to send it to anyone with the same question

[@jayk8940]

Can always count on you for more quality content @Liam! Can’t wait for more nuggets of knowledge and sharing from you!

[@liambolling]

Thank you so much!! Hope it helps people

[@pedroluchsinger]

Great Vid! I'm currently doing a Google Project management certificate. I've seen a couple of videos like this, to clear my doubts. It seems that my path would be product manager (until proven otherwise). Thanks Liam! You got a new sub, I will scout your channel now haha!

[@bobbrown83]

Liam, I really thank you for that great video.

[@xeniazeger4099]

Got the answer within the first 30 seconds. Thank you:)

[@mohamadhaziqmohamadroslan7072]

Really enjoying the content so far ! Always recommend !

[@liambolling]

Thank you so much and glad to hear!

[@digantchadha]

Amazing video. Thanks mate

[@ArulSelvanb]

thanks for sharing, great explanation !👌👍

[@shrayanshfaria8325]

Thank you so much for the knowledge and help. Recommending and subscribing !!

[@kendallchristian5564]

I’m new to your channel, but I just lost want to say thank you for all of this information!!

[@liambolling]

Thank you so much for checking it out!

[@bissangk]

Brilliant analogy!

[@blondieee888]

I have been in sales for 9 years and always felt that something was missing in my role. Simply focusing on being a hunter & gatherer of leads and deals and working alone most of the time absolutely destroyed my happiness and fulfillment. Thank you so much Liam for outlining the differences and really pinpointing 'what is your ideal role based on the stuff you like to DO'. My question is, given my sales experience, what is the best way to transition into Product Management? I think I would do very well in this role. Second question: how do you choose which product to get into? Thank you very much for this video and in advance for any additional support/response to my questions.

[@Thomas-cr2pt]

You have to like to fix problems. The best way to get into it is be in a company that does a lot of software and pick up projects. Its much harder to get into it from the outside. It doesnt matter what Product. It boils down to the same work. Bridging between upper management and engineering team. You need to have a logical mind to work with the engineering team, and enough understanding of politics and saying no to upper management.

[@palashsharma3686]

Thanks a lot Liam for this super informative content.

[@liambolling]

Thank you so much! Please share this with any friends interested in Product

[@huaharryli]

Great video! Thanks Liam. Any Certifications recommended for a product manager? You mentioned "Usually have backgrounds in Scrum, PMP, Agile Certifications for Program & Project Management."

[@luisaamarante5844]

great didactic content, thank you ;)

[@liewsterr]

Thanks alot Liam! Very insightful

[@liambolling]

thank you for watching and supporting me!

[@jisupark3149]

Great content! Very organized and thorough

[@liambolling]

Thank you so much! 🙂

[@anythingyouneed1851]

Thanks a lot man great video

[@RahulSinha15]

This was good, thanks for the video 🙂

[@yudhistiraadinugrahahutaba6797]

Love it man !!!

[@TheTurnerBot]

Thank you for this!

[@somesome23231]

Great video.

[@mcbreezzy]

Super helpful!

[@atliphatudi]

Great video!

[@ZeeshanM-vx4wq]

Love this

[@at9361]

Very helpful video

[@samli369]

Awesome content! Super easy to understand. For a person who is interested in product, problem solving and hands-on work, what's your suggestion? Like product manager specialised in analytics?

[@chialukaanele5306]

I really needed this!

[@liambolling]

So glad I could help!!

[@adityak8945]

Hey Liam, how was your experience working as a Program Manager at MSFT and Product Manager at Google. I feel that these roles are so company specific and I have seen myself always doing product management/keeping product senses active when deciding what to build and why AND once that's aligned doing a lot of Program Management during execution of the idea against the roadmap and timeline, tracking metrics and again forming hypothesis to validate/invalidate and starting the cycle all over. Would love to know how was your experience with these two roles. PS: Many thanks for this great initiative. You are solving a great problem in getting more people familiar with this field. Appreciate it!

[@liambolling]

Microsoft was a bit more hybrid of program and product (since the roles are combined into a single title) while Google separates the two functions into two roles

[@cocoarecords]

Probably the best video explaining the differences on the whole web

[@kalel1515]

Love it !

[@varshilanavadia]

"Balancing things on fire" 💯

[@liambolling]

Pretty much bring a PM 🙂

[@StanleyLam]

Thank you!! This helped clarify Pm's so much. So as a fresh graduate (business mis) junior project manager is better than business analyst as a first job? I want to be a project manager

[@patrickarmah6646]

Hey Liam..thanks for this content, pls the link for your pm slack community

[@ruyperez8276]

Thank you Liam !

[@liambolling]

Thank you for checking out the video! Hope it helps

[@ruyperez8276]

@@liambolling it does. Following your content on Ln too. 👍🏻

[@sudeepamitra]

Ohh wow very very Nice

[@jodolski]

Great video. Can you add one more position that is a bit less represented? Product Owner. They seem to focus more on the tactical and technical than strategic and seems to be fulfilling for those who enjoy working closely with engineers. How and where do you see product ownership among the other Product/Program/Project roles?

[@liambolling]

Great question! I haven’t seen a ton of Product Owners at the companies I’ve worked at but I’m assuming PO is very similar to a Product Lead which is a PM that leads a product without necessarily having direct reports.

[@Tatanajafi]

Thank you

[@shrey549]

Can you tell me who designs the project? Is there a specific job position for that? Like who decides this is the product we gonna launch,and these are the other campaigns and events we gonna launch to promote our brand. This is what I like to do I see a company (like fashion,cosmetic,music record company) and feel like "they should probably start a cosmetic line, or design this product this particular way,or make animations like this,launch apps and events like this etc" to attract more customers and promote their brand, could you please help me find out what profession matches with my interest? I have been super confused lately

[@azunae1166]

Thanks dude

[@DavidAkujuobi]

What global recognized certifications can I take for product management ?

[@albertnameirakpam6270]

Please post regular videos !

[@heir8095]

Point of clarification: In the analogy at the end. There would be a project manager for each unit in the kitchen (one for the table, one for the countertop one for the chairs, etc). The program manager is responsible for all the project managers and ensuring the kitchen as a product gets shipped on time.

[@seabreezed]

“I love balancing things on fire” I am dying 😂

[@nikitajoshi5890]

Soooo helpful! How do you shift from corporate finance ( :( lol) to UX/UXR? (From your chart toward the end)

[@liambolling]

Oof I know it's possible but admittedly I might not have the right background to help out with that one

[@ireneswackyjournals8810]

Depending on your organization, head into financial tech and then cross the bridge!

[@showbikshowmma3520]

Hey, Liam, I want to know for example I am in Italy But I wanna work for google in a PM position can i do an internship/interview from, Italy?? So if I pass it I will move into the US? is there any possibility? Plz answer this

[@liambolling]

I don't see why not. Apply online and Google has a few offices in Europe + Italy

[@jatinganwani8898]

I got 3+ years of experience in Amazon India. Currently working in Workforce Management as Analyst I and previously also worked in Microsites Team handling process level projects. Ambitious to peruse higher studied abroad (Ireland/Germany/UK). Could you advise what could fit in here basis my experience and could really help me flourish in professional career with good salaries. Thank you in advance, your video contains organized information.

[@jatinganwani8898]

UXR looks interesting in the love chart u explained. Would you wanna recommend some course around this or anything else basis my experience please

[@rainbow7548]

Many things explained based on personal eperiences and appearently it is restricted to specific industries.

[@alexiuhbram]

i looove balancing things on fire 😂

[@priscilalima8411]

I do not believe that this cute guy just has 300 likes. He made an amazing work haha

[@liambolling]

I’m glad you found it useful!

[@bhaskyOld]

I am confused 😕

[@liambolling]

Oh no, what was confusing? How can I help?

[@kyleloughlin1995]

Hey, My name is Kyle Loughlin. Just wanted to share some feedback in the comments. I like birthday cakes. They are delicious! As a Product Manager, you can expect to evaluate the density of various birthday cakes. It is important to understand that it has to be birthday cake specific. Not budt cakes, lemon cakes, portillos chocolate cake shakes, etc... BIRTHDAY CAKES... I love turtles.. Who is with me? Program Management baby.

[@Surayahti]

Nice hair

[@slayden633]

Product management and program management are not the same. Pay alone product managent is the highest paid. more than engineer for sure.

[@BiswaRanjanNanda]

+1 subscriber, And I hope I can get an referral from you for google :) I am trying to transit from SDE2 to Product Manager.

[@liambolling]

For sure! Reach out and I can give you a referral

[@igorg4129]

nice but why do you uptalk all the time? Are you not sure in what you are saying?

[@annanabil73]

Subscribed! This is only my 2nd video of yours that I've watched, and your delivery and genuine approach solidified it for me. I see myself (in a UX role) with potential advancement into Principal Designer and then UX Architect. I also believe that educational resources should be free and whenever I start my youtube channel, it would be ad-free and include free mentorship as well. In fact, the most UX-Mature companies will often provide free mentorship in-house, so why wouldn't we spread the wealth outside of our workplace? If I want UXD field to remain user-focused, then it only makes sense that I work in service of them and our industry. Lately, I fear it's becoming too business-focused, since new UX designers are afraid of stepping on too many toes, rather than promoting user advocacy. It seems that the online UX community has been hijacked by bandwagoners who've poisoned the well. There's a lot of misleading info out there, so it's refreshing to have some advocates like yourself who embody best practices. I see so many YT channels exploiting UX's recent popularity, even though they are PMs or UI-Designers. They give a romanticized version of the job role, simply because it ensures more clicks and subscribers, and that only gets a lot of hopes up for newbies entering the field. The internet was always originally intended to be a safe space that was free and available to us all, while tv and radio were commodified with ads and marketing. Then pop-up ads came along, and then spam/malware, and eventually data-collection followed that. Suddenly the internet no longer belonged to the people but was controlled by those with the most capital. YT also used to be free, with creators who uploaded videos for fun, before adpocalypse, affiliates, sponsors, and patreon saturated our screens. I digress, but I'm just saying it's best to support creators with buymeacoffee, venmo, zelle, ko-fi, mintme, tipeee, or coindrop. You should definitely leave us a link to tip you in some way, since your insights are invaluable!

[@liambolling]

Thank you so much Anna! I agree with everything you’re saying. It’s important to give back to the community and pass knowledge to the next generation of PMs, designers, engineers, etc.

[@liambolling]

I’ve been reluctant to add monetization outside of a banner ad once and a while but I’ll consider a tip jar type thing!

[@Whhhpssh]

How can we get to this community's Slack channel? You reference it in a few of your videos but I don't see a link or channel name. Thank you for this content! Very appreciated

[@ahsanmohammed1]

Thank you