What Exactly Does a Product Manager Do? By
Zoe Aerin
Zoe Aerin is a product manager, specializing in growth. According to Zoe, Product managers define customer wants and company goals and then translate those into workable, cutting-edge solutions. The actions required to advance new products through each stage of development, from conception to launch, are planned and carried out by this person.
All of these tasks are part of a typical day’s job, along with creating and maintaining roadmaps for driving products, defining and conveying product requirements, supervising usability testing and prototype development, prioritizing features,writingupgrades,andtrackingmetrics.
Additionally, the position entails leading deliverables to achieve deadlines and milestones, developing user stories, packaging,andpromoting,supportingcross-functionalteams, andcarryingoutcompetitiveandmarketresearch.
Skills a product manager need : The ability to think strategically is crucial. According to Zoe, “a product manager is expected to solve amorphous problems, such as how to accelerate growth, so you have to be able to break things down into manageable chunks, methodically evaluate potential solutions, and come to a decision.” “If a product isn’t solving a problem, it doesn’t matter how well it is built.” Another crucial ability is communication. You must communicate your vision and goals to engineers, designers, marketers, salesmen, etc. as the “mini-CEO.” Collaboration skills with each group are crucial as well. There is no “I” in team, as everyone’s go-to inspirational poster reminds us. It takes a team to create a product and get it into consumers’ hands.
Additionally, you want to have some technical sensibility. You don’t have to be the next Steve Jobs, but you should be familiar with A/B testing, software development lifecycle (SDLC) processes, and common measurement tools like GoogleAnalytics.
While it’s unquestionably not a requirement, you should be abletodevelopwireframesandassessuserexperience.
The most crucial qualities for a potential product manager to possess are attention to detail, deadline awareness, and results-drivenness.