I believe that a product manager’s job is essentially executing a product and performing or managing all job functions that it entails. One idea from the assigned reading that really resonated with me was that there is no definition for a product manager but rather only descriptions.
To begin, I believe that a product manager’s job ultimately comes down to communication, leadership, and making the most out of your team. I believe that it is an extremely people-oriented job as you are expected to work across many different teams such as designers or engineers. Therefore, I believe that a key job function within this role is being able to recognize people’s strengths and weaknesses in order to maximize everyone’s efforts.
In addition, you have to define the product vision and goals based on user needs and the capabilities of your team. After defining a product vision, you need to organize and lead the execution of the product, working with different job functions on a day-to-day basis. I also think that a large part of the role entails simply figuring out what needs to be done and how to go about doing it. In the reading, one essential question that the author mentioned that product managers face is deciding what to do all day. Therefore, I believe that a product manager’s job is to set objectives for both the product and the team in order to drive product development.
Questions I have for the author are: Why are you specifically passionate about product management? As a product manager, what support do you have from your company, peers, others to help guide you in the right direction? Since accepting responsibility over the product comes with the role, how do you deal with failures in your work?
