A product manager’s responsibility is broad and encompassing. The main objective is to have a vision for a product and where it is going, and to make sure this vision is communicated to everybody on the team as well as to executives. It is important to be a good communicator and to lead the product effectively. It is important to empower the team you are leading to make the correct decisions. A product manager leads from the front, knows customers’ needs, business goals and shows the team how it is done. The better the product manager is, the more confident the team is to make big decisions about the product.

What is Expected from This Position?

A few different skills are required for this role:

• From the very beginning of the concept, assist with design, make sure it is cost-effective, test the product, produce it and promote it.
• Have a plan of growth for the product, including market share, profit, and the return, which includes profit from customers.
• Assist with the marketing activities through vigorous research and planning.
• Being confident to lead a team behind you all pulling in the same direction.

What is fantastic about this position is that there is plenty of room for growth and change. It depends on which company you work for because every company has its variations on the role. What we know for sure is that your job role will be different day to day.

The Key Four Roles Required of a Product Manager

In this role, you are the glue that holds everything together. Your responsibility is to get as much information as possible and analyze different data and business intelligence. You will also be required to add sources such as sales and customer service data, and then use it to create a strategy.

There are 4 core requirements:

Be able to explain your thoughts clearly to share where the product is heading.
It is important to be able to communicate why you want to head down a certain path with the product. You will need to explain to executives and constituents why a certain theme is taking priority over another. You will need to be transparent in everything you are doing, so everyone around you understands the “why.” When this is done well, everyone on your team will pull in the same direction, as they fully understand and appreciate their thinking behind the decision.

Be able to refuse requests from engineers and executives.
It is critical to be able to explain to certain people that you can not do that. Executives will request certain features, or ask for a tool to be added. Your responsibility is to say no and explain so everybody understands why and where you want the product to go. It is not always easy to refuse requests from other members of the team. This is where confidence comes in. In product management, the ability to explain why you can not allow the product to go down a certain path is critical.

Be able to prioritize and balance needs.
You will always be on a budget and facing time pressures. The art is to prioritize the most important factors in the product over other factors. If you can not prioritize, different tools are available, such as weighted scoring and the Kano model. The best way to learn these skills is at an online product management course held by ELVTR. You can learn all these skills to uct manager. Clear and concise assignments will give you everything you need to become a better version of yourself.

Show evidence when communicating to executives.
It is important to be able to show facts and figures when explaining some of your decisions to executives. They often want to know why you are going down a certain road with the product. The more evidence you can give them, the better for you and for them. It is a good idea to read reviews from customers and from your competitors, too. This data will assist you in making your decisions. As we stated earlier, the more transparent you can be, the more your team will follow your lead and be dedicated to you.

Take an Online Product Management course

A product manager is a go-to person. A good product manager needs to have a good understanding of the customer’s needs as well as the executive’s demands. This role demands great communication skills across the organization, from customers to board members. A great idea would be to take a six-week ELVTR online product management course to learn the key aspects of the role. The course is provided by Manish Sirdeshmukh, the Netflix director, who will not only guide you on product management but teach you how to enjoy this role.

Final Thoughts

What we love about this role is that there are many ways to be good in it. Over the last 20 years, this job has become very popular, especially among younger people. If you can question things and are curious, this responsibility will be perfect for you. Only through this strategy will you become the best possible manager and understand the best route for the product.