Want to manage the product? What are all product managers silent
Of course, everyone in the development team is doing everything possible to produce a cool product. But in case of failure, all the bumps pour on one person - the product manager. Of course, the nuts will get not only him. But for a product manager, this failure is not just a “working moment”, but a cross on all the work done.
How do they become product managers? Who is this person really? What exactly does he do all day, because of what worries? How, after all, are his relationships with the product, colleagues, users and objective reality being built? We have translated an article for you about it.
Translation of the article by the localization company Alconost .
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It seems to me - or is there really a lot of people rushing around for product managers? Maybe it seems to me only because I myself am one of them. But lately, I have constantly heard that people who are not product managers (consultants, future masters of business administration, developers) want to become them.
I would not be surprised if indeed “everyone” wants to become a product manager. This is one of the few professions for which you do not need to be an expert in any particular field. To manage a product, you do not need to know how to create data models or write code; no need to be able to design websites. If you can do it well, but it is not required . Just take and turn into a developer or designer - you can not, but in a product manager - you can.
And then, how cute the role looks from the outside:
But this is, in general, a joke. In fact, the position of product manager comes complete with a host of surprises. If you are not a product manager and not one who worked with him in the same team, then product management is not what you think .
In short
I became a product manager unexpectedly for myself. I then graduated from college with a degree in Psychology and terribly wanted to return home to the coast of San Francisco Bay. Work there, of course, the car and a small truck, but all of it - in the field of technology. I began to look for such a job, in combination with which my specialization would not look ridiculous. To my surprise, I was offered an internship at the position of product manager at Intuit, a company remarkable for its technology and a favorable corporate climate.
Why "to my surprise"? Firstly, because I really didn’t know what the product manager was doing. “ Wow ,” I thought, reading and rereading the job offer letter. - At all interviews I did what I said about my passion. Has this been enough? ". Secondly, because I defended my diploma in psycholinguistics. And the psychology of the language, according to my latest data, has little in common with financial software.
My first product was QuickBooks. I was responsible for managing the beta version of our annual release. The experience I gained showed me all aspects of the profession of a product manager. Aspects not mentioned in job descriptions.
The four main aspects are here.
1. You are not managing a product, but a problem that it solves.
When I found out that I would manage QuickBooks, I almost turned out. “ QuickBooks ?! - I was indignant. - Yes, this program is a hundred years old at lunch! "(In fact, of course, it is not so - but when you live in Silicon Valley, where new products appear every second, QuickBooks is perceived as some kind of gramophone). I was disappointed that I could not work as a “real” product manager and create “innovations”. I wanted to manage a stylish, fashionable, youth product.
But I was deeply mistaken.
When you start managing a product that has at least one user, you quickly realize that your work is not only the product itself, no matter how tricked it is. Your job is to deeply understand the problem that the product is aimed at, and solve every aspect of the problem.
You will always have too many requests to add new features - and too little time. Too many bugs - and too little time. You always have something to do. Suppose you have a finished product with which users already have an interaction tactic, and the company has already built up business processes around this product. Who should you be to innovate in such a framework? Right. Superhero
Being a product manager is about making compromises between what your team can do in a given period of time and what is absolutely necessary for users. In a hopeless race with time, you will constantly be torn between the team, customers and business. Keeping a balance between short and long-term product strategies (regardless of whether the idea for your product originated today or 20 years ago) is already a small victory.
2. The product is cool if it is cool in the user's view.
Managing our beta version meant not only weekly communication with testers by e-mail, but also conversations with them on the phone. Sometimes I spent all day providing a variety of technical support. At first, it was terribly disappointing. “Why am I responding to problems? - I wondered. “I should have managed the product!”
I spent a lot of time communicating with users and observing how they use the product. And I realized that user “ does not work ” actually means that the product does not work the way they expected. User perception is the reality, and it is not my business to explain to users what they are doing wrong. On the contrary: my conversations with users helped me understand what I am doing wrong. With this understanding, I came to the developers and designers to brainstorm and make it work for users.
As a result, these hours and even days of communication with users saved my product. And well, that saved, because in order to manage the product, you need, in fact, the product.
3. The product manager is not a designer or developer.
I was told that in order to register the application in the AppStore, I would need the design of the selling page. Being a novice, I took the task literally - and got stuck in the layers and color palettes of Photoshop. Intoxicated with the release of endorphin accompanying the process of creation, I sent the page by mail to my boss. His answer did not abound in praise to the extent that I expected. The answer was: “ Cool. Did our designer do this? As for me, let them still play with the color scheme . ” “ Designer ?! - I asked at the computer. “ What is he talking about?” ".
That's how I gained an understanding that the product manager is not engaged in visual design (especially in a large and healthy company). And he does not write the code either. The design expert is the designer. Programming expert - developer. And you, the product manager, is an expert in whether the design and functionality satisfy the actual needs of the user.
4. Do not be a star, and control the universe.
On the first day of the QuickBooks team, my boss led me around the office and introduced everyone - literally everything: support specialists, marketers, developers, designers, financiers. It stunned me - but much more I was worried about how much time my boss “killed” it. Why didn't he start by introducing me to other product managers? “ Of course, I will get to know them later, ” I decided. But it was not even the fact that he introduced me to such a huge number of people that put me in a much more awkward position, but how he did it. “She will be responsible for the release of QuickBooks,” he told everyone. And I didn’t understand how I was going to release QuickBooks at all if I hadn’t even downloaded it to my computer ...
Weeks went by and it became clear that I wouldn’t be able to release QuickBooks to the world as I could if it were about pigeons at the graduation ceremony. On the contrary: my job is to contribute to the right brainstorming and communication between people (those whom I was introduced on the first day), so that in the end we would come to decisions on which the issue depends. This was both shocking and a little comforting (quite a bit). I did not need to offer the best ideas. I had only to make sure that the right people had gathered in the room, capable of offering a sea of ​​ideas from which I could choose the best.
After three years of product management in a large company and in a startup, I realized one important thing. Those passionate hobbies that I talked about during my first interview for a product manager (deep understanding of other people, reducing pain in human life, writing, field research, the ability to look at patterns and trends in data, designing for people ) were exactly what my interviewers were looking for. After all, all this is necessary to successfully manage the product.
In my work as a product manager, there were and are reasons for concern. I feel stupid when communicating with developers; would prefer to be able to design websites; hate to be a taskmaster; I’m worried if they’re taking me as a simple JIRA backup; Inadvertently, I hurt my inner researcher, convincing myself that I am doing ungrateful work. But when I see that the user is happy with my product - I understand that all this is worth it.
Being a product manager is not going crazy because of the word "manager" in the title of the position. Of course, you make decisions - but you too are responsible for all the advantages and disadvantages of your product. If the user does not understand your product - you are mistaken, not marketers. If the product is released at the wrong time - you miscalculated, not strategists. If the user can not find the button - you are flawed, not designers.
And if the target user does not need your product - you are to blame, not him.
About the translator
The article is translated in Alconost.
Alconost is engaged in the localization of applications, games and websites in 60 languages. Language translators, linguistic testing, cloud platform with API, continuous localization, 24/7 project managers, any formats of string resources.
We also make advertising and training videos - for websites selling, image, advertising, training, teasers, expliners, trailers for Google Play and the App Store.
Read more: https://alconost.com
How do they become product managers? Who is this person really? What exactly does he do all day, because of what worries? How, after all, are his relationships with the product, colleagues, users and objective reality being built? We have translated an article for you about it.
Translation of the article by the localization company Alconost .
')
It seems to me - or is there really a lot of people rushing around for product managers? Maybe it seems to me only because I myself am one of them. But lately, I have constantly heard that people who are not product managers (consultants, future masters of business administration, developers) want to become them.
I would not be surprised if indeed “everyone” wants to become a product manager. This is one of the few professions for which you do not need to be an expert in any particular field. To manage a product, you do not need to know how to create data models or write code; no need to be able to design websites. If you can do it well, but it is not required . Just take and turn into a developer or designer - you can not, but in a product manager - you can.
And then, how cute the role looks from the outside:
- you are a mini director;
- you lead others;
- you are an industry expert;
- you decide how the product will look and be perceived today and in the future;
- you get paid well;
- you are the real boss.
But this is, in general, a joke. In fact, the position of product manager comes complete with a host of surprises. If you are not a product manager and not one who worked with him in the same team, then product management is not what you think .
In short
In fact, managing a product is:
- feel, understand users and convey their voices to developers;
- promote teamwork of teams solving different tasks;
- compromise on the product;
- achieve the ultimate goal in terms of fixed time and resources;
- lead people along the way to create a product;
- be positive and practical;
- make decisions based on a small amount of information.
Managing a product does NOT mean:
- have a decisive vote;
- be the only generator of ideas;
- be a designer;
- be a programmer;
- manage quality assurance;
- optimize sites;
- write supporting marketing materials.
How do I know
I became a product manager unexpectedly for myself. I then graduated from college with a degree in Psychology and terribly wanted to return home to the coast of San Francisco Bay. Work there, of course, the car and a small truck, but all of it - in the field of technology. I began to look for such a job, in combination with which my specialization would not look ridiculous. To my surprise, I was offered an internship at the position of product manager at Intuit, a company remarkable for its technology and a favorable corporate climate.
Why "to my surprise"? Firstly, because I really didn’t know what the product manager was doing. “ Wow ,” I thought, reading and rereading the job offer letter. - At all interviews I did what I said about my passion. Has this been enough? ". Secondly, because I defended my diploma in psycholinguistics. And the psychology of the language, according to my latest data, has little in common with financial software.
My first product was QuickBooks. I was responsible for managing the beta version of our annual release. The experience I gained showed me all aspects of the profession of a product manager. Aspects not mentioned in job descriptions.
The four main aspects are here.
1. You are not managing a product, but a problem that it solves.
When I found out that I would manage QuickBooks, I almost turned out. “ QuickBooks ?! - I was indignant. - Yes, this program is a hundred years old at lunch! "(In fact, of course, it is not so - but when you live in Silicon Valley, where new products appear every second, QuickBooks is perceived as some kind of gramophone). I was disappointed that I could not work as a “real” product manager and create “innovations”. I wanted to manage a stylish, fashionable, youth product.
But I was deeply mistaken.
When you start managing a product that has at least one user, you quickly realize that your work is not only the product itself, no matter how tricked it is. Your job is to deeply understand the problem that the product is aimed at, and solve every aspect of the problem.
You will always have too many requests to add new features - and too little time. Too many bugs - and too little time. You always have something to do. Suppose you have a finished product with which users already have an interaction tactic, and the company has already built up business processes around this product. Who should you be to innovate in such a framework? Right. Superhero
Being a product manager is about making compromises between what your team can do in a given period of time and what is absolutely necessary for users. In a hopeless race with time, you will constantly be torn between the team, customers and business. Keeping a balance between short and long-term product strategies (regardless of whether the idea for your product originated today or 20 years ago) is already a small victory.
2. The product is cool if it is cool in the user's view.
Managing our beta version meant not only weekly communication with testers by e-mail, but also conversations with them on the phone. Sometimes I spent all day providing a variety of technical support. At first, it was terribly disappointing. “Why am I responding to problems? - I wondered. “I should have managed the product!”
I spent a lot of time communicating with users and observing how they use the product. And I realized that user “ does not work ” actually means that the product does not work the way they expected. User perception is the reality, and it is not my business to explain to users what they are doing wrong. On the contrary: my conversations with users helped me understand what I am doing wrong. With this understanding, I came to the developers and designers to brainstorm and make it work for users.
As a result, these hours and even days of communication with users saved my product. And well, that saved, because in order to manage the product, you need, in fact, the product.
3. The product manager is not a designer or developer.
I was told that in order to register the application in the AppStore, I would need the design of the selling page. Being a novice, I took the task literally - and got stuck in the layers and color palettes of Photoshop. Intoxicated with the release of endorphin accompanying the process of creation, I sent the page by mail to my boss. His answer did not abound in praise to the extent that I expected. The answer was: “ Cool. Did our designer do this? As for me, let them still play with the color scheme . ” “ Designer ?! - I asked at the computer. “ What is he talking about?” ".
That's how I gained an understanding that the product manager is not engaged in visual design (especially in a large and healthy company). And he does not write the code either. The design expert is the designer. Programming expert - developer. And you, the product manager, is an expert in whether the design and functionality satisfy the actual needs of the user.
4. Do not be a star, and control the universe.
On the first day of the QuickBooks team, my boss led me around the office and introduced everyone - literally everything: support specialists, marketers, developers, designers, financiers. It stunned me - but much more I was worried about how much time my boss “killed” it. Why didn't he start by introducing me to other product managers? “ Of course, I will get to know them later, ” I decided. But it was not even the fact that he introduced me to such a huge number of people that put me in a much more awkward position, but how he did it. “She will be responsible for the release of QuickBooks,” he told everyone. And I didn’t understand how I was going to release QuickBooks at all if I hadn’t even downloaded it to my computer ...
Weeks went by and it became clear that I wouldn’t be able to release QuickBooks to the world as I could if it were about pigeons at the graduation ceremony. On the contrary: my job is to contribute to the right brainstorming and communication between people (those whom I was introduced on the first day), so that in the end we would come to decisions on which the issue depends. This was both shocking and a little comforting (quite a bit). I did not need to offer the best ideas. I had only to make sure that the right people had gathered in the room, capable of offering a sea of ​​ideas from which I could choose the best.
After three years of product management in a large company and in a startup, I realized one important thing. Those passionate hobbies that I talked about during my first interview for a product manager (deep understanding of other people, reducing pain in human life, writing, field research, the ability to look at patterns and trends in data, designing for people ) were exactly what my interviewers were looking for. After all, all this is necessary to successfully manage the product.
In my work as a product manager, there were and are reasons for concern. I feel stupid when communicating with developers; would prefer to be able to design websites; hate to be a taskmaster; I’m worried if they’re taking me as a simple JIRA backup; Inadvertently, I hurt my inner researcher, convincing myself that I am doing ungrateful work. But when I see that the user is happy with my product - I understand that all this is worth it.
Being a product manager is not going crazy because of the word "manager" in the title of the position. Of course, you make decisions - but you too are responsible for all the advantages and disadvantages of your product. If the user does not understand your product - you are mistaken, not marketers. If the product is released at the wrong time - you miscalculated, not strategists. If the user can not find the button - you are flawed, not designers.
And if the target user does not need your product - you are to blame, not him.
About the translator
The article is translated in Alconost.
Alconost is engaged in the localization of applications, games and websites in 60 languages. Language translators, linguistic testing, cloud platform with API, continuous localization, 24/7 project managers, any formats of string resources.
We also make advertising and training videos - for websites selling, image, advertising, training, teasers, expliners, trailers for Google Play and the App Store.
Read more: https://alconost.com
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/220335/
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