I never had a clear idea of what a product manager was, and I would ask people who were interning as or used to be product managers only to get the same generic answer every time: a product manager coordinates with designers and engineers to create a product that satisfies customers’ needs. It sounded almost as if a product manager were a messenger telling their team what the need was and then keeping tabs and reporting the team’s successes with the project. But then, what was keeping product managers so busy all the time?
The preface and first chapter of this book are a lot more informative of what a product manager actually does: everything that needs to be done, as long as someone isn’t already doing it—and even then, the product manager is still responsible for that bit, too. From what I’ve read, it now seems to me that product managers are like the glue keeping communications tight, the product coherent and close to both business values and customer needs, and everyone as supported as they can be. This glue also fills holes along the way, and it touches everything.
That still isn’t the clearest answer because the responsibilities of product managers are so broad and variable. It makes me wonder how often someone goes into product management and immediately realizes that it is out of their expectations? What are the general motivations for someone to go into product management in the first place, and how do these motivations change over the course of their career? This is a question I would ask the author of this book. By no means do I expect a clear-cut answer, but I would really like to hear their thoughts on people’s reasons for choosing to do (and continue to do) product management.
