“A fully trained product manager can help increase an organization’s profit by 34%”
Impressive, isn’t it?
However, do you know what it takes for a great product manager to help a business grow? Short answer – A LOT!
The guide below will provide in-depth information about what a product manager does to envision and develop a marketable product.
It will also help you understand the challenges a product manager faces while doing so. First, let’s understand what a typical day in the life of a product manager looks like.
A Typical Day in the Life of a Product Manager
To handle the mantle of a product manager is no cakewalk. It requires you to be apt at multitasking and being updated about the industry at all times.
But, that is not all. The typical day in the life of a product manager does have some major roles & responsibilities.
Roles & Responsibilities of Product Manager
Interdepartmental Meetings
Depending on the size of the organization, product managers spend the majority of their time in meetings. They have to coordinate with various teams including sales, product marketing, and business development. Product managers have to spend time with the development team to know about the progress made in product development.
Communicate With Customers
Be it through email, social media, or a phone call; Product managers need to spend a lot of time communicating with their target audience to understand the type of product they want. Spending time with the prospect helps them come up with new features regarding the product.
Manage Product Backlog
A product backlog contains details about new product features and bug fixes. The product managers have to ensure the development team is maintaining a regular product feature backlog. It helps them identify which features to focus on during the product launch. Many product management tools can help maintain a steady record of the different stages of product development.
Strategic Planning
Product managers have to think about long-term product strategy and vision. For this, they have to remain aware of any current updates in their industry. Product managers also have to focus on the future performance of a product.
Analyze Data
For Product managers, data is their friend when it comes to developing a new product. Data is crucial to making decisions related to the development of a new product. Product managers have to understand and analyze all data to identify which business value the product will help drive.
Document Everything
A product manager has to ensure that the right information flows to the right people. It is why documentation is an important part of the typical day in the life of a product manager. These documents include release notes, user flow, team meeting notes, and caveats. Product managers have to summarize the said information before sharing it with others.
To successfully ideate, develop, and market a product; product managers have to don numerous hats.
Pay attention! Given below are the different roles a product manager has to play in their day-to-day office life.
Product Specialist
“A fully optimized product manager can increase company profits by 34.2%” – (Airfocus.com)
A product manager has to be a market and product expert. Knowing the competition and target market well is one of the expectations from product managers.
For this, product managers must;
- Possess an in-depth understanding of overall product development strategy
- Know which new feature to add to the product before or after the launch
- Understand the target market’s needs and feedback
Business Specialist
Product managers are the CEO of the product they want to develop. They possess good knowledge about the various stages of product development including budget. For this, product managers should possess strong business skills with in-depth industry knowledge and mix the two to get the best results.
To make this possible, a product manager should;
- Know the external and internal stakeholders in the product
- Develop an understanding of the key metrics of a product’s success
- Possess an in-depth understanding of the latest business trends and competition
Leadership
Leadership is one of the qualities that is expected of every product manager. A product manager must be able to lead the team and lay down a stronger production process.
For this, the product manager should;
- Coordinate with cross-functional teams to bring everyone on the same page in product development
- Be a decision-maker by using strategic thinking and guidance from the product team
- Work with product, sales, and customer support teams for a stronger product vision
Operations
Handling operations is one of the roles helmed by product managers. A product manager has to work carefully on both small and big details regarding a product.
For this, a product manager should;
- Possess an understanding of the current product backlog
- Understand the development process of a product
Besides these roles and responsibilities, taking crucial product-related decisions is one part of the many responsibilities a product manager has to fulfill.
Key Decisions Taken By a Product Manager
Decision-making is a vital part of a product manager’s daily schedule. The success of a product depends on making the right decisions at the right time and communicating the same to others.
A product manager has to decide the features of a product to include and decide how these would help the target audience.
The key decisions that every product manager has to make include the 3 Ws, aka the Where, What, and When. Given below is a detailed explanation of all three.
Where – Setting the Strategy
The right product strategy lays down a solid foundation of the entire product planning strategy. It depends on which phase of a product development the product manager is in. With a new product, product managers have to focus on what to include in the MVP that will be sent to the target market.
On the contrary, if working on an existing product, product managers need to check how it is performing, and how they can improve it to attract new customers. In this strategy, product managers should list all the product goals for every quarter. They also have to mention the steps taken to achieve the goals.
What – Choosing Features
After finalizing the strategy, product managers have to develop a backlog of all the potential features to add onto the product. However, a major issue that product managers face here is the constant bombardment of suggestions and proposals from every department.
This can be suggestions from upper management, news about the current market trends, or a customer-requested feature. Product managers need to look for a single tool to save and access every idea. A dedicated product management tool can help them do this with ease.
When – Prioritization
It is never an easy task for product managers to decide what features to include in a product and what to leave out. During these times, it is advised to use an easy-to-use and feature-rich product management software to make the process easy and fast.
For example, product managers can give a “value score” to show the product’s usefulness for the target market.
Apart from these key roles, at times, a product manager often faces challenges that make it difficult to execute on the said strategy.
5 Challenges Every Product Manager Has To Face
Product managers have to take care of a lot of product development areas like customer demands, product marketing, and securing the necessary resources for product development and management.
That said, given below are the 5 major challenges that every product manager has to face when it comes to effective product management.
Challenge#1 – Idea Validation
Getting a product idea ‘validated’ is the first step to developing a great product for a product manager. To do this, product managers need to ensure multiple tests to get a sense of assurance and workability of the said product.
Challenge#2 – Finding the Right Product-Market Fit
Another major challenge in the typical day in the life of a product manager is finding the right product-market fit.
Challenge#3 – Lack of User Research
Product managers often find analyzing and decoding too much data cumbersome. Unfortunately, many organizations do not have the right business management tools to decipher so much data.
It makes it harder for the product UX team to develop a product that matches the organization’s business objectives and the target audience’s needs.
Challenge#4 – Getting the Organization to Focus on a Single Objective
Back in 1995, Steve Jobs used design thinking to focus on a single metric for the entire product development process. He stopped all R&D work involving multiple products to focus on a single product at a time.
Being a product manager, focusing on multiple aspects of product development comes naturally. However, it is not always a good idea.
Challenge#5 – User Onboarding Process
“According to a recent market statistics, out of all the products created by companies, only 40% survive in the market” – (Webinarcare.com)
One of the major challenges of product management is User Onboarding. It can easily make or break a user’s connection with the product. The User Onboarding process helps new users become efficient in using the product.
Thus, if a business fails to deliver the best user onboarding experience, it will fail to connect with the audience.
Why is Good Product Management Critical for the Success of a Product?
Efficient product management can help in knowing when to invest in marketing and sales. It helps a company introduce a quality product to the market.
The entire idea behind product management is to introduce a product that resolves a customer’s query and helps the company move closer to its business objective.
So, here’s how good product management contributes to the success of a product in the market.
Aligns Business Offering With the Market Needs
Products that offer some value to the customer are more likely to succeed in the market.
One of the goals of product management is to ensure that the product development strategies are in line with what the target market wants. It is how many businesses provide customers with a product that fulfills their needs.
Improves Resource Allocation
Product development is one area of business that helps product managers identify opportunities to get a foothold in the market. Using fresh data, product managers can devise plans that are worth investing and help maximize returns without any risk.
Improves Customer Experience
Efficient product management can help drastically improve the product’s conception and development. The organization has to work deep to find out what it is the target market wants to develop a product that fulfills the need.
This helps improve customer experience with the product in the long run. It is also one of the secrets for successful business management.
Improves Product Sales Strategies
Every organization needs a good sales strategy to help deliver the product to its target market. Effective product management tends to make the sales of a product become more effective. This depends largely on the knowledge accumulated by a product manager.
The data on customer behavior, demands, and recent market trends can help product managers develop sales strategies that capture the interest of the target audience.
These are the main reasons why good product management is good for the success of a product in the market.
On that note, let us check out how a new product manager can handle all this and help a business grow.
Tips for New Product Managers:
Given below are 3 tips to help a new product manager rock at their new job.
- Know the market, customer, and product
The first step for a new product manager is to understand the market. The best way to do this is to connect with the customers. Finding out how the organization interacts with the customer and having a schedule to do so will help.
Understanding the market and customer will help you design the best product. The perfect way to proceed is to connect with a customer group directly impacted by the product.
- Understand the Project Team and their pain points
As a new product manager you have to schedule one-on-one meetings with the product team during the first few weeks. Doing so will provide you with a good insight into every team member’s personality, their communication style, and how they can be an asset for you.
Your main responsibility is to keep the team free and functioning to the best of their abilities. Knowing the team members will help you identify any potential roadblocks that impact product development.
- Focus On the Bigger Picture
As a new product manager, there will be a lot to handle. But, do not ever lose sight of the bigger picture. You have to focus on the main goal and this can be done by having a discussion with the upper management to know their expectations.
In the long run, having clear direction makes your day-to-day easier to handle and develop a product that outruns the competition.
Conclusion
Boredom is not something a product manager ever has to worry about. On the contrary, there is so much to do that product managers find it hard to breathe. From getting the perfect product idea to its development, there is a lot that is expected of a product manager. The typical day in the life of a product manager is a mix bag of many responsibilities.
Product Management FAQs
What Do Project Managers Do in Their Free Time?
It is quite common for product managers to work 50,60, or even 70 hours per week. However, these depend on the type of organization, project manager’s designation, and how big the project is.
Is Product Manager a Stressful Job?
Upto certain extent, every job that comes with a lot of responsibilities also has a bit of stress. Product manager is a challenging job role. However, on the other hand, with a lot of responsibility also comes many rewards and recognition.
Do Product Managers Work Alone?
Working alone as a product manager is optional. Product managers do need to collaborate with other departments, teams, and employees. Collaboration is what will help achieve a positive result in the end.
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