The Qualities Of A Great Product Manager | Tanner Flake

This article is about what makes a product manager great. As a product manager with over 8 years of experience, I have noticed the following.

In detail, let's examine each area.

An understanding of the customer

An effective PM is relentless in advocating for customers during product development. This topic is the PM's expertise from the perspective of the rest of the development team. The marketer must understand the target customer well to develop an effective marketing strategy.

Experiences for users

User experience experts are not necessary, but the PM should at least approve the user experience. Because the UX determines how the customer interacts with the product, it is the most important part. Despite brilliant technology, if the user experience is out of sync with the customer, the product will not be purchased.

Using technology

Your goal here is to become credible during conversations with your product development team. In addition, since the development team is often motivated to reduce risk, it is a good idea for a PM to challenge the team to think creatively.

In business

The business management side of a company is another key constituency for a PM. Depending on how the product fits into the financial plan laid out by the CEO and CFO, deviations from the plan could have serious ramifications on the company's forecasts. To ensure success, the PM needs to understand the business case and how it fits into the bigger picture.

A leadership role

Last but not least is that a PM needs to demonstrate leadership. Despite being key roles in product development, product managers rarely have formal authority over the people they work with. In other words, informal leadership is the most effective method of getting things done. Creating trust and offering a compelling vision of the product are proven methods to build trust.

Lastly,

Throughout this article, I have attempted to explain to you the five areas in which a great product manager needs to excel. The five categories were: customer understanding, user experience, technology, business, and leadership. If you master these five areas, you will be able to build a highly rewarding career in product management.

You can connect with product managers on the Product Management - Tanner Flake website.