Based on the reading, I see the product manager’s job as ever-changing. The book provided different product managers and said that a great PM shouldn’t fit into any rigid framework. I also see the product manager as a team player who needs to trust and believe in their team. This is something I believe in since in all the work environments I’ve been in, great PMs I’ve worked with have shown that they are people who put trust in their teams and that their teams also like and respect, and I think that is something that I think should be more emphasized in the book. I think great PMs also have great interpersonal skills and know how to work with a diverse set of people—a connector and a communicator. A key quality a PM also needs to have is flexibility, which I also found to be extremely important. An example the reading offered was at a small start-up, for example, a PM can also be a UX designer, a developer, an office manager, etc, and for a PM, one thing you can’t say is “That’s not my job”. I worked at a small start-up for this summer and I find this to be very true. You have to be very adaptable and also have a genuine interest in all phases of the product lifecycle.
Some questions I would like to ask the author are:
- What strategies do you recommend for new product managers who are working in an organization where we have to wear many hats and balance different responsibilities?
- How do I bring in some of my experiences not in PM to a PM role?
- How can I establish good team dynamics and ensure my team meets our goals without having direct authority?
