Product management seems to be centered around relationships and people- it seems like much of the goals they have to achieve hinge on knowing how to persuade others and mediate compromises. Thus, it would make sense that PMs could come from so many fields- while it is high-level in that you are interacting with teams, you also need to be able to likely do any team’s ‘dirty work’ due to your responsibility to ship a product. It seems to be all about flexibility, being able to take and handle responsibility, and being able to build and maintain relationships over time.
While the article did address how one might navigate this ambiguity, I am regardless still curious about the mental process one has to go through in order to break down this ambiguity on a day to day basis. What does one’s thought process look like when given additional information? How do you prep for a meeting- especially when it comes to different types of meetings with different people? How much prep- and what kind of prep are you doing if you are at all? And what are the biggest hidden aspects of your work that no one thinks about- especially when it comes to relationship maintenance.
I would also be super curious on the main questions an experienced product manager would ask a group if they were new- as in- how do you most quickly decipher and win over a company dynamic? I’d imagine that would mean a lot of soft skills that are not often taught in academic settings, so I’m curious about how one would prep for a job like this, especially if every role in every company is so individualized.
