How I see a product manager’s job
Based on the reading, I see a product manager’s job as a very complex and ambiguous one. It all depends on the needs of the company, the culture of the team, and the stage the product is at currently. The job is not clear cut, even though there are many guides on the different processes to follow. In practice, these may not play out and you must adapt to what is needed. Sometimes you may be oppressed by the team, or lack clear vision of what’s next, so being a product manager means having agency and being proactive to do what is needed in the moment. It also seems you have to have a lot of endurance and tolerance, because you need to be able to roll with the punches of managing such diverse teams and expectations. Sometimes these teams have different needs and timeframes that you have to learn to juggle. I think being a product manager’s most important skill is their ability to adapt.
Questions
- How can you best prepare for a role in product management when a lot of the traditional preparation is not relevant in practice?
- What can other roles be mindful about to make sure they are not overburdening the manager?
- Are there bad aspects of being a product manager that don’t improve with experience?
