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Prof. (Dr. Atul Kumar) Head (Research), Dr. D. Y. Patil B-School, Pune, India
The ways of product management are evolving as well, the product managers now need to re-strategise their business goals and have to understand the necessity to cope up with the changes brought up due to Pandemic. This article presents the views of Prof. (Dr.) Atul Kumar, Head (Research) and Dr. Sheetal Darekar, Head (Corporate Relations), Dr. D. Y. Patil B-School, Pune, India.
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The product management profession has become one of the hottest trends with the digital boom in India. This profession requires a lot of creativity and good skills to evolve. Nowadays Industries are going with the trend to cope up with the sudden and latest transitions in the traditional working methods. The ways of product management are evolving as well, the product managers now need to re-strategise their business goals and have to understand the necessity to cope up with the changes brought up due to Pandemic. Several organizations have realised the need of investing in trained and experienced product managers and the results on the profit they have.
This is the perfect time for aspiring product managers, to build a skill set in order. As per the latest AEG (Anderson Economic Group) report, hiring professionals will need over 88 million staff for the roles related to project management by 2027. This report also states that India and China will provide jobs to over 75 percent of employees for all project management-oriented employment.
So the question is - Who is eligible for the job of a product manager?
The product-related domain has no such discrimination when it comes to educational background. Be it a fresher or highly skilled professional anyone can proceed with a career in product management. Freshers and individuals can enhance their skills and become experts by investing in the right resources.
Let us know about some skills and tips as well as tricks that will be beneficial for the enthusiasts to move a step forward.
Effective communication
Product managers have the responsibility to come up with innovative product strategies to satisfy the needs of the customer while keeping the brand vision in mind. They are the ‘ideators’ and acts as a bridge between the customer and the brand. They should be well-versed in explaining the product ideas and feedback of the customer to their employers appropriately.
Focused leadership
Product managers should be focused on leadership and there is a need to be cooperating and deciding to lead the team and guide them regarding the needs to build a product successfully. It is the responsibility of the product manager to keep a record of the progress of the team and to guide them to get the desired outcome.
Marketing and research
Though product managers are not specialists in terms of marketing, they need to keep the knowledge and record of the latest business trends. They carry out thorough research regarding the latest market condition and help the target audience to understand that and place the product to gather maximum attention.
Finance knowledge
Product managers are called mini-entrepreneurs; they must carry out secure decisions that are suitable for the existing budget and provides maximum profit to the organisation. They must know the solution to problems like shortage of resources and limited budget.
Ability to prioritise
Product managers must know about the required decisions and processes to prioritise in every kind of situation for assured success. In short, a product manager should be multitasking and acquired multiple other skills. A ‘can-do attitude is mandatory.
One of the most interesting facts is that a product manager turns out to be the most successful CEO in the future. The experience they gain during their work is enough to raise them as great CEOs. Stewart Butterfield (Slack), Susan Wojcicki (YouTube), Sundar Pichai (Google and Alphabet), these names are examples that show how a product manager turned out into great CEO; however, the list can go on.
Do you know? What kinds of jobs are offered in this field? Let’s have a look:
Associate Product Manager
In the beginning stage, individuals get hired as Associate Product Managers (APM). They get to learn the work under Product Managers (PM). They get several innovative ideas and build a strong foundation that clears their way towards this career. An APM’s daily responsibilities are analysing data, performing competitive research, and identifying the requirements for features according to the directions given by the seniors.
Product Manager
A Product Manager's responsibility is to keep an eye on the roadmap, strategy and feature definition of the product line. They work closely with the seniors such as the Senior Product Manager, the Group Product Manager, or the Vice President of Product, as per the layout of the company.
Product Owner
The works and responsibilities of the Product Owner are similar Product Manager. Both of them divide their roles amongst themselves for a better and smooth functioning as well as a lesser workload. However, the confusing part comes when they have to decide about the responsibility of functions, well it completely depends on the company and their style of work.
Group Product Manager
The GPM (Group Product Manager) takes account of the leadership of a team and takes care of a certain product group. It’s a senior-most and non-executive job role of a Product Manager. The GPM manages other product managers and works under Vice Presidents or Product Directors and they possess five to eight years of experience.
Director of Product Management
The Director of Product Management works under the Vice President of Product, and the CEO or Business Unit Leader, it depends on the company’s size. With 10 years of experience as a Product Manager can be the Director of Product Management. They articulate a product vision clearly for the future. They also prioritise investments that provide greater benefit to the business and company.
Vice President of Product Management
The role of the Vice President of Product Management is mostly offered by the companies, it demands experience of over 12 years. They work with a C-level executive and also keeps a record of large steps and ideas that will create greater value to the business. This designation’s daily responsibility is to keep the cross-functional teams in order and coordination.
Chief Product Officer
The CPO (Chief Product Officer) works with the CEO directly and accounts for all product-related activities in the organization. A CPO needs to have work experience of over ten to twenty years. They also work as a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) sometimes and manage the marketing as well as the development of the product.
The aforementioned were some of the job profiles offered by this domain. Hence, the field is vast and demanding. It gives you life-changing adventures and out of many qualities being interesting is the best one for this profession
Concluding Words
The aforementioned were some job profiles that are offered under this domain. However, the field demands a lot and provides ample opportunities that can be life-changing for you. One of the best skills and qualities which is needed is being the most creative and interesting.
The 5i framework stands for ideate, implement, innovate, improve and industrialise is having a major role in the life cycle of product management. The development of a successful product is enabled by each of the given factors. One needs to focus on these and the above-mentioned skills to become a successful Product Manager.
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