What is a product manager’s role?
I see a product manager’s main responsibility as acting as the “translator” across different stakeholders to make sure the whole team is aligned, understand the purpose behind key decisions and next steps, and to resolve any conflicts. I was a product manager intern for the past three summers, and much of my responsibility was on being the “middle man” between designers, engineers, researchers, and other stakeholders. For example, at Atlassian, when designers wanted to add a complex UI component, the engineers thought this wouldn’t be technically feasible to implement given our timeline—my job was to understand the technical limitations, communicate this in non-technical language to the designers, and align both stakeholders to come up with an alternative solution.
Besides being a “translator,” I agree with the author that there’s no single definition of a product manager—rather descriptions of product managers that are ever-evolving and depend largely on the type of organization, evolving organizational needs, and various responsibilities between other ADPRs (product owner, program manager, project manager etc). For example, when I worked at a startup as a product manager intern, I wore many hats—from working with sales, prototyping with Figma, and conducting market research; however, my responsibilities differed significantly when I worked at a larger company like Intuitive Surgical where instead of doing a bit of everything, I was more focused on learning customer insights and tying them to business opportunities and outcomes.
Lastly, I resonate with the author on how product managers aren’t really told what they should do—I think this was one of the most difficult challenges for me to overcome. During my first product manager internship, I didn’t realize I could proactively request meetings or reach out beyond my immediate team for information—epsecially as an intern with no experience. Over time, I’ve learned that initiative is essential, even if it means going beyond standard processes: building quick prototypes myself, running informal discovery calls with customers, or pulling in perspectives from adjacent teams.
Questions for the author
- How do you avoid conflict between stakeholders with overlapping responsibilities? For example, during user research, who takes lead—the product manager, user researcher, or design?
- How do you balance considering stakeholder opinions with making quick decisions—without being too indecisive or simply agreeing with the loudest voice?
- How do you build credibility within your team as a product manager who has a large responsibility but no authority?
