I see a product manager as the person responsible for the “success” of a product, which is measured by the business results through metrics like profit, user satisfaction, etc. (see Figure 1). More specifically, the product manager is responsible for defining and communicating the product’s vision, working with others to ensure that vision is being brought to life, and ensuring that the product drives success for the business.
In practice, the product manager is highly dependent on other people in the company to achieve these goals, and they must be able to exert influence without having authority. They should be strong communicators who are able to align the goals and efforts of a variety of people. Their job is often highly ambiguous, unlike jobs like software engineering where your code is a clear, concrete deliverable you have produced. Tasks that are more typically associated with a product manager’s job include things like creating user stories, creating product requirements documents, conducting market research, influencing people across the company to align on the product vision, and making timelines and tracking the team’s progress towards achieving deliverables. In practice, their day to day responsibilities can vary widely, especially in early stage companies, where product managers might be doing anything from HR to UX designers. Since the product manager is responsible for the overall success of the product, if something needs to get done but no one is doing it, it is the product manager’s job to make that happen.
I really liked this reading, because it provides great insight into the different between a product manager’s job in theory versus in practice. These will be important things for me to keep in mind as I decide the next steps of my career. I think the ability to navigate ambiguity and interpersonal communication are challenging but critical components of a product manager’s job, and I also liked how author provided some guidance on how to handle these more effectively.
My questions for the author are: what can we as students do to prepare ourselves for careers in product management (i.e. product management in practice rather than in theory)? In particular, what can we do to enable ourselves to better navigate the ambiguity and complex interpersonal dynamics of the role?
