There is a hierarchy within businesses that contain many positions which have their own tasks. Near the top are 3 very important positions whose tasks often could seem similar—product managers, CTOs, and CEOs.
To clarify what each member of a business does, let’s look at their individual tasks and purposes within the company.
Product Managers
As the name suggests, product managers supervise product development, communicate the importance of that development, and meet goals the CEO sets for the product. Not only are they knowledgeable about the product they are in charge of, but they’re also aware of the potential customers and market the product will go to. A product manager’s primary job is to provide a Complete Product Experience (CPE) for customers.
Product managers don’t always monitor certain people during the CPE. They often work across different divisions of the company in order to ensure products fulfill that CPE. Divisions of marketing, sales, support, and engineering are the primary places product managers communicate with. Tracking metrics for the products in these areas is another task of product managers.
CTOs
CTO stands for Chief Technology Officer and these people focus directly on the technical aspects of a business. They are concerned with improving products and figuring out shortcuts that don’t sacrifice quality. The general goals of a CTO should fall into the business’s goals. CTOs know about the technology stack the business uses as well as the IT side of things within a company. They work alongside different smaller groups inside the company that specialize in a technical aspect of production. Additionally, the CEO is the superior of CTOs, who report to them.
Product performance is an important part of a CTO’s job. They’re focused on making the development of products faster, high quality, cost-effective, and more for the better of the company.
CEOs
This is a position similar to a CTO, though higher in the business hierarchy. CEO means Chief Executive Officer and they are the top person who oversees the business. Specifically, CEOs know the business’s goals on top of understanding how to reach them. They make tough decisions on behalf of the company. At the forefront of the business, CEOs oversee the entire company, though through other members at the top of the business hierarchy. This includes other executive positions or any vice presidents. Data gathered that’s relayed to the CEO gives them a look into how the company is doing. Thus, they are vital tools for CEOs.
While CEOs are at the top of the hierarchy, they look at information collected by product managers. Some of this information includes financial losses, trends of hiring, any kind of growth or loss data, and so on. CEOs must heavily rely on accurate data from lower positions within the company to keep it on track with its goals.
Conclusion
Each of these positions plays a crucial role in the business hierarchy for any company. Depending on the size of the company, these positions may look slightly different. Small businesses, for example, may not have product managers or CTOs. On the other hand, understanding each position, their tasks, and why they are needed could help hire for such positions or identify a need for them.
