How do I see a product manager’s job? After reading about what is and is not product management and after going through the checklist at the end of the reading, I tried to come up with a good analogy for what it means to be a product manager. In a lot of ways, being a product manager seems to be quite similar to what contemporary society ask for an “independent” woman. I am not trying to cause any gender antagonism or reinforce any gender stereotype here. Rather, I’m speaking from personal experiences and perspectives alone (yet one similarity already with being a product manager — the experiences of being a product manager can be really different for different people, so does being an “independent” woman).
The connective and facilitative nature in the role of product managers collaborating, coordinating, communicating between teams and among people feels a lot like a working mom who need to balance her career and family at the same time. She need to leave her home everyday, making sure all her kids’ matter are taken care of so that she can be fully devoted to her job responsibility. She need to leave her work everyday, making sure she has fully fulfilled all her duties so that her boss will not pin her when she is cooking dinner; more importantly, so that her boss will not fire her and she can continue to support her family both financially and domestically. Even though one might think what is expected an “independent” woman should be more related to her economic and societal values, it is not the reality. If anything needs to get done, it’s going to be her job. Just like how “delivering products that provide real value to real people” is only a small (though most important and rewarding) part of a product manager’s job, possessing economic and societal values is simply the prerequisite of being an “independent” woman. And yes, she has so many responsibilities but no authority, just like a product manager.
One question I have for the speaker is, given the ambiguity in the job responsibilities of a product manager, what are some strategies you take to communicate with your colleagues or supervisors to understand what is expected of you (especially in early stage of your career)?
