We decided to dedicate our post today to the profession of a product manager. Surely many have heard about him, but not everyone knows what this person does.

Therefore, we made a kind of introduction to the specialty, decided to talk about the necessary qualities and tasks solved by the product manager. Becoming a professional in this field is not easy. A potential product manager must combine many qualities inherent in a wide variety of professions.

Required qualities

A product manager is, first of all, an effective manager. He must be able to unite teams of completely different specialists: managers, techies, marketers. His tasks include full support for the production of the product: from the generation of ideas and the development of hypotheses to the creation of a prototype and launching the product on the market.

He must be inventive and not be afraid to take risks, giving out, at first glance, crazy ideas for implementation. His communication skills should be maximum, otherwise he will not be able to ensure effective interaction of specialists within the team. After all, managing it, the ability to work in teams that have a matrix structure, is also a special skill.

And most importantly, the product manager must be psychologically stable and ready to work in stressful conditions. What is this for? As the deadline for product delivery approaches, the work of the team becomes more intense, problems begin to pour in. In a short time, he turns from a like-minded person into an enemy of the whole team. And how could it be otherwise? After all, his task is to ensure that all employees work effectively on the project. Imagine all the flow of claims that he has to hear during the day. And he needs not only to listen to all this, but also to analyze, along the way, taking measures to resolve conflict situations that are growing like a snowball. Plus, the product manager becomes the arbitrator, sorting out the various claims of team members. With all their problems and complaints, people will go to him.

What jobs are like product managers?

In our opinion, an excellent attempt to figure out who the modern product manager is was made by Dean Peters. Despite the fact that these comparisons are joking, it is worth listening to his opinion, if only because he, by virtue of his labor activity, "held the defense on both sides of the barricades." Previously a programmer, he now works as a senior product manager.

Peters divided all the work of the “product” into 16 areas and briefly described each of them. For all the frivolity of this classification, it shows how much a product manager should know and be able to do.

• Investigator. Constantly analyzes and systematizes circumstantial evidence. In his work, he will have to constantly delve into a large number of facts and data, looking for minor, but important, although invisible to the inexperienced eye, details.
• Psychotherapist. Understand and forgive to assess the capabilities of all team members. In case of problems with a team or an individual employee, he must show the ways of an effective solution.
• An innovator. Feel free to generate ideas. Even the most incredible of them should not be discarded. Who knows, maybe they will help you create a unique and successful product!
• Head nurse. Competently prioritizes tasks and, if necessary, takes part in solving problems. The product, unlike other employees, cannot just sit and wait for the problem to resolve itself without his participation.
• Maestro. Just as a talented conductor, managing an orchestra, creates a musical masterpiece on stage, so a product manager, creating a team and uniting employees, must make a wonderful product.
• Midfielder. Starting the game and serving the ball (outlining the desired functions and services), you need to do it as efficiently as possible. All players must accurately solve their problems "on the field".
• Test Pilot. Like a test pilot, you need to have the desire and talent to work with new technology. But, unlike him, the product manager will not be physically harmed during an accident. Well, except that annoyed buyers can beat.
• crisis negotiator. A product manager, as a professional negotiator, needs to be especially careful and diplomatic, maneuvering between the interests of the team and the customer, so as not to lose money and not spoil the professional reputation.
• Air traffic controller. He professionally manages his aircraft as a team, avoiding internal and external collisions and overcoming turbulence, preventing him from entering a dive.
• Ambassador. The main objective of the product's mission is to achieve and maintain excellent relationships between all stakeholders: management, team members and customers.
• Writer. Like a good science fiction writer, a product developer must foresee the future and be able to communicate its bright ideals to all team members so that they have a desire to move mountains.
• Fan. Like a gambling fan, he constantly cheers on his team members. And at the same time inspires sales and marketing professionals.
• Marketer. You need to be able to show in a favorable light the merits of the product to all participants in the chain of promotion and implementation.
• Juggler. Competently juggling information, you need to constantly stir up interest in the future product. But sometimes you will have to toss fire maces or chainsaws. There is no victory without risk, just do not forget about safety!
• Scientist. Various experiments, including participation in focus groups, surveys and tests, are more like collecting scientific data and experiments. But it is they who help to make work on new products better and more efficient.
• Sorter. As Cinderella sorted scattered cereals, so the product will have to constantly highlight the most valuable from the general information flow, discarding the excess.

Instead of the total

As you can see, the work of a product manager can be called extreme. If before reading this article you thought that a product manager sees life only from the window of his office or car, then you were wrong.

We have launched a new series of free educational projects MADE. Product managers will be the first to be trained there. The entire training program is designed for two months. Applications for training accepted right now and through April 26, 2019. Potential course participants will have to pass entrance examinations: a test and a face-to-face interview.

Source: habr.com