Product Management is one of the most chaotic disciplines within and across organisation, industries, continents. The expectation from a PM changes depending upon multitude of factors, e.g.,
- type of product - revenue or non-revenue
- type of industry - tech, i.e., hardware, software, digital etc. or non-tech etc
- size of organisation - 0-10 people, 10-50 people, 50-250 people etc
- structure and processes of the organisation - where does product management sit in the organisation - CEO, CTO, COO; what's the process of understanding the customer
- where in the globe is role based out of - Valley with mature PM ecosystem vs Berlin where PM ecosystem is pretty nascent
Young PMs get confused as to what really does the roles expect from them, esp. when they switch organisations. Or, if they tap into their network to understand how it's done in their networks' organisation.
To be effective at anything requires crystal clear understanding of the expectation, and being able to focus on that. In case of PM - it means having a very clear understanding of the expectation that the organisation have for the role and you is the first step to being effective.
But, one should be able to apply first principles to the PM role definition and abstract it (abstraction - key tactical skill for a PM) well enough to know what is expected from you, and hence - prioritise right, build right skills, and become an effective PM.
What does a Product Manager do?
Fundamentally, an effective PM does three things - and does them really really well.
1. Define the Vision/Strategy - Problem Identification
2. Evangelise, Plan and Prioritise the execution - Solution, Planning and Communication
3. Execute for Success - Get Sh*t Done
A great PM is probably two-parts of #1 and eight-parts of #2 and #3.
That's it. That's what is expected from a PM. And, an effective PM does all of these. And, does them really really well to ensure the success of the product.
What are some of Product Management Skills?
While the above defines the expectation from a PM, one will need a bunch of tactical general management skills to be effective - starting with Skill #1 - Problem Identification.
If you are great at problem identification, you should be able to identify problems that are blocking or stopping you from delivering a good outcome for 1, 2 and 3 above.
Vision/Strategy - Do you need more insights into P&L or Org. Strategy to build your product strategy?
- How can you evangelise and drive relationships to get these informations - Skill #2 - Stakeholder Management
Evangelise - Are you finding it difficult to get investment buy-in for your vision/strategy from a leader who holds the purse string?
- Can you excite one of the P&L owners in the organisation to fund your experiment? Skill #3 - Storytelling
- Can you build a strong and convincing business-case for the leadership? Skill #4 Business Finance
Planning - Are you able to get dedicated set of resources, or your own tiger team for developing on your strategy?
- Can you define the structure of the team that you believe should be able to drive results? Skills needed for individuals? Skill #5 - Team Building
- Can you identify and influence rock-star individuals to bet on your vision? Skill #3 - Storytelling
Execution - How are you doing against commitments and timelines? Consistent delays - why?
- Are you expecting something, and what gets delivered is something else? Are you giving the right context to the builders? Skill #6 - Communication
- Can you modify the overall process such that context transfer becomes easier, faster, better with early feedback loops? Skill #7 - Organisation and Process Design
- Or, do you feel the team is not driving with right ownership? Can you drive motivation and accountability to teams and individuals? Skill #8 - People Management
So, how do I become an effective PM?
Since there is so much that a PM needs to know, practice and do to be effective, the only things one can do it to be able to Self Manage and be an Infinite Learner.
KEEP LEARNING - The only rule to becoming an effective PM
A PMs role is narrow enough, i.e., focus on the success of product, and it's also broad enough, i.e., focus on success of business. One needs to do everything and anything to achieve that.
Become an Infinite Learner
Dig into learning resources - books, articles, expert blogs, podcasts, videos
Tap into network of other PMs in similar or other organisations. Look inside (be self-aware), and identify the gaps. Ask your network if they have faced something similar and how did they solve it. Ask them if they can recommend a resource to check and learn from.
See if you can find a mentor in the leaders you are working with, worked with or someone outside your network who you can reach out to for guidance (happy to help!)
Work with your manager to identify areas of development, and ensure you spend atleast some portion of your time doing stuffs that can help you develop yourself in those areas.
And, keep applying what you learn. Learn from outcome. Iterate.
To summarise
A Product Manager (PM) is an effective PM if he does three things really really well - Identify right problems, Define and Communicate right solution Definition, and Gett Sh*t Done.
And, the only way to do this well is to Keep Learning: Learn - Apply - Identify - Iterate ...