WHAT, WHY & HOW PRODUCT AMANGEMENT

What is it?
Although it plays a crucial role in product development teams, product management hasn't been a
formalized profession in digital businesses for very long. It has evolved over time as agile product
development approaches have become more popular. Today, the term "product management" refers to a
position within a product development team that is dedicated to carrying out the product lifecycle
successfully.

Product managers are typically in charge of implementing product management principles which involves,
presenting and positioning fresh concepts for the creation of products and features, collaborating with the
design and engineering teams to create the product & ensuring that every product satisfies the demands of
the intended consumer or client.

It's important to note that project management differs from product management in that the latter is more
concerned with how each effort is organized and resourced than it is with establishing the overall product
vision.

Why is it important?

New products and user experiences are launched with the help of product managers. They function as the
link between engineering teams, business leaders, and UX or user experience teams. They also act as the
glue that binds these groups' shared product visions.

Most importantly, product managers explain the product strategy, define the success of each product, and
show how it will affect the consumer and the company's objectives. Teams would struggle to navigate the
diverse interests that exist across both large and small enterprises without the voice of a product owner.

What is it you do when you work in this domain?

The final consumer of a PM's product is one of their main priorities. Consequently, a large portion of a
product manager's time is spent performing and reviewing both user and market research, either alone or in
collaboration with specialized research teams, depending on the size of their firm. PMs must assess the
needs of the client and the product's fit with the market, then argue that these facts be included in the
company's prioritizing conversations. To make a new product successful, it is essential to collect user
feedback.

PM’s assist in defining the organization's product roadmap after completing research, which effectively
outlines the timeline for when and how each feature or product will be deployed. Each new product build
will be divided, in collaboration with the project management teams, into several incremental phases that
will be carried out over a certain length of time, usually divided into quarters. PMs ensure that the technical
team they collaborate with maintains a backlog of ideas, assigns the appropriate priorities to them, and is
aware of all the conditions and procedures necessary to realize the product's vision.

PMs oversee the testing of the new feature after the development process is complete, frequently by setting
up trials and iterations. Large projects can occasionally be divided into smaller parts, like a "beta" launch.
PMs evaluate the effectiveness of each step and collaborating with engineers to resolve any problems that
surface during testing.

The product manager is often in charge of informing company leadership of the accomplishments or
shortcomings of the product once a new feature is live and in front of actual customers or users. To make
sure that the product lives up to the standards established during the research process, they use a variety of
various analytics tools and reports.

How do you start a career in this domain?

A job in product management can suit a wide range of educational backgrounds and skill sets. It is an
excellent alternative for people who are interested in technology but unsure of how to apply their prior skills
to a tech career because there is no set path to becoming a PM. Empathy for your user is the most crucial
quality for a PM to possess. Start focusing on the features of the products you use daily that both thrill and
annoy you. What are the product's shortcomings in your opinion, and how could they be improved? Your
success as a product manager depends on having this mindset.

At their core, great product managers are problem solvers for both their organization and their users.
Include examples of how you assisted in solving challenging issues in previous positions and experiences,
along with an explanation of why these issues were crucial to resolving. They must be well structured
because a PM's daily expectations can change. Create a system of prioritization for the tasks you need to do
and start this practice early. Recognize why you value one item over another, then hold to that belief. A
successful product launch can be made or broken by effective prioritization skills.

A product manager needs to be a leader because you will own the product vision and working with a team to
accomplish goals. You can volunteer at a company, apply for internships, and, most importantly, don't be
afraid to challenge yourself if you want to develop this ability. PMs must be skilled decision-makers,
especially under time constraints.

Product managers are essential in making sure new products are successful for both their company and their
consumers since they work at the nexus of business and technology executives. Product management could
be a very fulfilling career choice for those who have a passion for working in a team, strategic thinking, and
producing amazing experiences for people. One can get a Product Management Certification in a Product
Management course such as Coursera Product Management, Udemy Product Management, CII Product
Management, etc.

HIERARCHICAL LEVELS OF PRODUCT MANAGERS

If there comes a point in your life, when you feel that you are led to creative thinking, problem-solving, and
curiosity, it is quite possible that as a career option product management would be a good fit for you. A
product manager's job is about solving problems for the customers. In this blog we will look at various levels
of product managers that the product management domain offers you.

Associate Product Manager

Assembling data, doing customer research, working with stakeholders, and creating new product features
are all duties of an associate product manager. They collaborate with one or more product managers and
help them be more productive in their work. Many of the duties performed by product managers are also
performed by APMs, including, market & consumer research, gathering and coordinating product needs with
corporate objectives, collaborating with all relevant parties to realize the product vision, creating new
features for products, planning to create product strategy, etc.

In some companies, APMs don't collaborate directly on product development with the tech team. Also,
APMs may even have their own dedicated product team with which they collaborate in other organizations.
Regarding product responsibility, APMs typically work on new features for an established product rather
than the whole thing.

Junior Product Manager

A junior product manager assists the product manager with the creation and introduction of new products.
They frequently connect with data, clients, and other stakeholders to generate fresh concepts and
approaches to enhance the product line.

Some primary duties that junior product managers typically handle include, defining the product vision and
product strategy in cooperation with the product team, examining the buyer persona and the target market,
speaking with clients to obtain feedback, creating the product plan and the product specifications, examining
data to identify issues and possible solutions, collaborating with other departments to meet production
deadlines, readying products for launch, etc.

Product Manager
A product manager describes what success looks like for a product, pinpoints the consumer needs and bigger
corporate goals that a product/feature will address, and rallies a team to make that vision a reality. What
falls under the intersection of user experience, technology and business goals for a company when talking
about a product, is taken care of by a PM.

Some primary duties that product managers typically handle include, recognizing and expressing user
requirements, market research and creating competitive evaluations, creating a product's vision, bringing
stakeholders together to support the product's goal, putting emphasis on a product's strengths and qualities,
and fostering a common brain among larger teams to encourage independent judgment, etc.

Senior Product Manager

Leading product managers while coordinating with engineering, marketing, sales, and other departments is
the senior product managers' job. They create the product's needs and roadmaps and incorporate consumer
feedback into the plan for the product.

They frequently collaborate with senior managers such as the director of product management, senior
project managers, senior technical product managers, and senior product marketing managers. Product
managers, engineering managers, product marketing specialists, design experts, associate product
managers, software engineers, financial analysts, and the complete product team make up the senior
product management.

Senior product managers are also in charge of marketing their products. For the products, they typically
create a long-term vision and strategy. They then share this plan with all parties involved. They also, require
in-depth knowledge of project management, product marketing, technology, and finances. They must be
able to create budgets, conduct specialized market research, and work cooperatively with numerous
partners at once.

Product Lead
A new product's idea, development, testing, and launch are all under the control of the product lead. They
are responsible for most of the upper-level practical management, including developing the product road
map and making sure that all cross-functional teams and stakeholders agree.
Depending on the company they work for, a lead product manager may also have additional titles. In larger
businesses, product leaders have multiple junior product managers reporting to them, and they work with a
chief product owner (CPO) to create the best possible product.

Some primary duties that Product Lead typically handle include, creating product strategy, managing the
development process, analysing product metrics, optimizing user experience, streamlining product launch,
collaborating with stakeholders, etc.

Product Director
Depending on the workplace or industry, a product director may have different responsibilities. Their duties
often include managing the product development operations to ensure efficiency and smooth flow, coming
up with plans to enhance procedures, gathering pertinent information like sales and customer feedback, and
working with other departments to produce new goods and services. As a director, it is also imperative to
enforce the company's laws and rules, including its mission and vision, as well as to inspire departments to
achieve their goals.

Some primary duties that Product Director typically handle include, collaboration for translating product
needs into requirements, evaluating product proposals, supervising functions of other people, keeping the
stakeholders up to date, overseeing the product line lifecycle, engagement with customers for gaining
insights, developing product & marketing strategies, conducting product research & market analyses, etc.

VP Product
Although they both serve as team leaders; the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Vice President of Product
(VP of Product) support one another. The VP of Product may oversee organizing a team to carry out strategic
goals, namely developing a product roadmap. He or she creates the technical vision for a certain company's
product.

Within an organization, vice presidents of product act as the developers and engineers' point of contact.
They are very well known since they develop innovative digital goods that greatly influence outcomes. The
intersection between product strategy and technology depends on their position.

Some primary duties that VP Product typically handle include, acting as CTO's advisor at times, determining
product & operational issues and resolving them, implementing productive transformation from planning to
execution, updates on latest product developments, collaborating with business partners.

Chief Product Officer

A chief product officer (CPO) is a C-level executive who oversees the organization's overall product strategy
and execution. The duties of a CPO start throughout the stages of product innovation and vision, continue
through the marketing campaign, and continue after the product is released. Typically, the company's chief
executive officer is the chief product officer (CEO). The position is also known as the head of product or vice
president (VP) of product. A CPO's main responsibility is to guide and support product management teams in
the development of products that are valuable to the user and the company. Chief product officers must do
this by coordinating the needs and objectives of the firm and the product.
 TRANSITIONING TO A PRODUCT-LED ORGANIZATION
Product-led businesses rely primarily on their product to attract, engage, and keep customers. The goal is to
alleviate user suffering by producing the finest product conceivable. Consumer behaviour data and feedback,
rather than the company's perception of what matters, are a clear representation of the value of the product
and any faults. An organization must first comprehend the value it offers to its users. The organization must
then successfully communicate the value. The organization must then fulfil that value.

How to become one?

Being a product-led business should always be motivated by matching the value of a product with the
appropriate consumer. A product-led growth company will not succeed with a subpar product that has shelf
ware potential. When creating a freemium product, the top focus should be on developing an excellent
product strategy. Avoid using fear as a motivator when choosing which features to include or exclude.

Does becoming a product-led organization, change things?

Product-led teams increase productivity by giving the product the ability to delegate high-volume, low-value
tasks. High-value consulting work makes the marketing, engineering, customer success, and product teams
happier. You are promoting a positive experience in a product-led growth strategy in addition to selling a
product. The marketing team needs to be genuine and speak to the needs of the user. Onboarding friction
must be reduced and the value of the product elevated in videos and explanations. A product-led
organization's engineering divisions work together with design, product management, and marketing to
attract and retain customers. In contrast to engineering for a sales-led strategy, which is siloed and product-
specific, their work is closer to the clients.

In a sales-driven company, customer success managers (CSM) frequently feel like glorified product trainers
when they are asked questions such as, "How does this work?" by customers. also, "What does this feature
do?" CSMS strive to be clients' valued partners and assist them in achieving their business goals. The ideal
customer success manager models for product-led businesses are tech- and digitally led low-touch models,
which allow one person to effectively manage hundreds of users at The work of CMS is more highly regarded
by low-touch and tech-touch models, and they are better able to spot areas of weakness to add value that
might be lacking.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to shifting from a sales-led to a product-led strategy. Some businesses
disband their sales team and switch to a product approach. Sales can have a purpose in a firm that is
product-led, and PLG and sales are not mutually exclusive. The focus of the experience is on the product in
product-led marketing. The product is what ultimately sells, and the sales team walks the users through the
process while encouraging the buyer to test the product.

Product-led businesses need to have a team-based strategy for setting, comprehending, and achieving
objectives. To measure value, business objectives and measurements must adapt to changing user needs.
For start-ups, product-market fit is a great metric. Analytics on engagement are available to organizations.
Understanding the value acquired by customers can be determined perfectly through usage. The length of
time spent on a product, or a volume-based measure are examples of different forms of usage. Organizations
want to measure this since each product has a notion that the more people perform x-function, the more
value they are obtaining from it.

Product - the new marketing?

Good products are self-marketed. Products that alleviate users' problems encourage word-of-mouth and
referral marketing. The emphasis is on curating an outstanding product experience rather than using
sophisticated marketing techniques to spin the product in a particular way. Online reviews of your goods on
public review sites might serve as a marketing launchpad. Unfiltered information on items is more widely
available than ever before, and businesses can no longer conceal the reality of their worth. Excellent
marketing teams develop trust by listening to what their customers want and providing a top-notch offering.

In a product-led organization, the way products are delivered is drastically different. In the past, businesses
would create a product and then distribute it for sale. However, businesses today operate on the principle of
feature flagging, allowing for phased rollouts. A business may choose a closed beta test or a limited release
to internal stakeholders. In contrast, open betas offer opportunities and levers to gather user feedback,
focus on product features, and strengthen connections with users to jointly achieve the intended product
outcome.

Transitioning into a product-led organization

Introduce the concept of product-led thinking. Consider the tasks that your product can relieve departments
of. An excellent place to start is with customer support. Discover the causes of user support requests and
troubleshoot answers to reduce calls. Determine whether your product is no-touch, low-touch, or high-touch
to determine its product led growth feasibility. In general, a product-led growth strategy benefits from the
100% user self-service no-touch and low-sales touch that is a salesman answering queries and closing a sale
but not chasing leads. A common sales strategy is high touch.

By responding to inquiries from customers and highlighting unique characteristics, sales representatives raise
the perceived worth of a product. Companies that wish to make the switch to product-led marketing must
demonstrate value to customers by showcasing how the product benefits them, increases customer
satisfaction, and affects how others view them. A successful product-led approach for one company may not
always be applicable to another. Put your entire team's work into creating the greatest product you can for
your users to personalize the route to PLG success for your company. Great items nowadays market
themselves on the market.

CAN YOU LAND A PM JOB WITHOUT EXPERIENCE?

Can you Land a PM Job without Experience?

Yes, you read that correctly. Everyone wants to hire a seasoned product manager with a broad perspective
to expand the product. However, how will you obtain experience if you are not recruited is the topic at hand.
OK! RELAX!!! You're not going crazy. You only need to consider the product that will enhance and provide
value to people's lives. There are so many no-coding tools that can help you even if you are not very
technically savvy. Your objective is to demonstrate that you have the skills necessary to recognize and
iteratively address customer concerns. You should be able to demonstrate how you can make product
improvements over time. There are many product management training courses and some of them are
perceived to be one of the best product management certifications. And one can also go for MBA in product
management offered by various companies & institutes.

Consider roles as junior product managers

Your experience is sufficient to apply for a Junior Product Manager or Associate Product Manager position at
another firm if you have some prior experience with product management duties in another position, such
as working as a Project Manager or in a product design capacity. One of the greatest areas to seek for these
jobs is with larger corporations, as they frequently have protocols in place, so you won't have to jump in
headfirst. They may also have Product Managers with greater expertise than you do, so take use of that.
Engage in start-ups
You can start as a product manager using your expertise or make it one of the many hats you will wear.
Start-ups frequently have a dire need for talent, yet their resources and area of work are constrained.

Networking is essential
I received two offers in the end for my summer internship. One of those incidents occurred as a result of my
asking a hiring manager I interviewed with but who I ultimately received no offer from whether he knew of
any other job seekers. My full-time job came about as a result of a referral from someone I met while
studying abroad who was good friends with someone in HR at the company that hired him.

Focus on big companies

Concentrate on major corporations that value your existing work. Find someone who can afford to hire you
for "potential" and train you for the position for six months. Some hiring managers might feel you're worth
the investment if you appear shiny and fantastic enough, but they can only do that if they have the funds to
support you only temporarily.

Any role at a corporation can utilize all these qualities. Think about users and how they differ from you if you
are an engineer. Offer ideas for how to make the experience better. Promote features you believe will be
important and support your arguments with your superior quantitative skills. By prioritizing features and
removing confusion and overload, you may reduce stress on your team. Update your resume to reflect the
specific team accomplishments and the part you played in achieving them. If you do this correctly, anecdotes
will come to you on their own, which you may subsequently use in your upcoming PM interview.

4 PRODUCT MANAGEMENT SKILLS

A general understanding of data

The ability to accurately analyse and interpret data is a crucial skill to have, even though you don't have to be
an excellent mathematician or statistician. In a series of interviews with product manager, economist and
data scientist Luciano Pesci found that many of them make judgments based on intuition rather than data-
driven insights. He also discovered that although many of the product managers he questioned felt
empowered when using data, they were frequently unsure about data interpretation and needed to learn
how to do it for themself.

The ability to evaluate and interpret data is even more important for SaaS product managers because these
products typically produce massive amounts of data. It's crucial that you, as a SaaS product manager, adopt a
data- driven mindset and set the pace for the digital transformation in this situation. Product managers who
worked for companies where data was an essential and deeply ingrained component of their decision-
making processes reported being the happiest, according to Pesci's research. Of course, there are times
when you should go with your instinct, but you need proof for that!

Understanding of design and user experience

While all the abilities are important, product managers in the SaaS industry should have a solid grasp of UX
design, for example. SaaS businesses must offer an unmatched customer experience in order to succeed. The
success of the business is determined by the UX, thus having a foundational understanding of UX and fusing
it with, say, the expertise of your UX researcher will position you for success.
Strategic thinking
This is related to having a solid understanding of the market and the competition. You, as the product
manager, must use strategic thinking to define the company's vision and then work toward it with attainable
targets.

Industry insights and KPIs

The capacity to foresee events accurately, analyse critically and logically, reason inductively and deductively,
make decisions quickly, ask the correct questions at the right time, delegate effectively, and create and stick
to reasonable goals are all important for strategic planning. Knowledge of market and industry trends, as
well as the ability to set and monitor key KPIs like customer acquisition costs, customer conversion rate, daily
active users, feature usage, user churn, Net Promoter Score, customer satisfaction, and customer lifetime
value, are essential for product management.

To find that crucial product-market fit, product managers must have well-defined use cases, distinct
consumer personas, and a strong understanding of data analytics. It's simple to think that the sales and
customer success teams should be the ones who interact directly with customers, but product managers
stand to learn a lot from doing so. SaaS companies are constantly expanding (and, sadly, occasionally going
out of business), and while many believe that the race to develop products that consumers want is on, it's
crucial that winning this race doesn't come at the expense of developing a strong, high-quality product that
truly meets the needs of its specific target market.