Product Management is the best job, and the worst job

I like to think of Product Management as the best job and the worst job. You get to work with teams to build awesome products that people love, as well as invent the future. But you have limited info and budget, demanding customers and stakeholders, and so many plates spinning in the air.

Finite resources. Infinite expectations

But I have loved building since I was a kid, and I want other people to love it too.

So I’m starting this series to share my experiences which are a bit different from the ideal Product Manager that we read about on the internet. I read through those and think how far they are away from my day job, and I want people to know it is ok. And I love nudging people towards smarter product decisions because the perfect is not attainable immediately. I want people to learn there is more to Product Management when you’re doing what you can with what you have.

Part of this is about giving back to the industry that I love. I have learnt from many product leaders in my years, and used blogs, podcasts, conferences and hard knocks to question my ways of working. So this series will be about coalescing my own thoughts into short suggestions to help others. And then get feedback from the industry and watch the evolution of my own thinking.

Next steps?

For me, I’m going to write some articles and see how this goes.

For you, read some thoughts, click on some links, and comment on your ideas.

Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash

Comments

Is Iran about to experience a growth in product management?

Out of interest I have been looking into Google trends. Google keeps track of search terms across the world since 2004. You can use this to look at relative popularity of certain phrases. Where is it popular, is it trending, and how does it compare to other terms. Naturally I typed in the term Product Management since 2004, you get an interesting data point where Iran is #1 for searching product management - exceeding even the US at #10 Photo by Sohail Kasaei on Unsplash

Are you a project manager?

Every now and then we have to introduce ourselves as product managers, and most conversations go a bit like this Q: What do you do? Me: I'm a product manager Q: Is that like a project manager? Me: Ah no ... <deep breath> ... well... This is a fair question; as the role is usually behind the scenes and a lot of people have not met a product manager in the wild. And there are lots of possible answers here, the key things I try to get across in my answer are We care about the whole product, Our goal is overall success for the organisation and the customer, We work with everyone, including project managers, and Our job is not that weird Naturally as part of any discussion you want to tailor the answer to the recipient. Ask what they know already, what kind of products they might sell themselves, and use this to understand your conversation partner and their business better. This also help prevent patronising them. So my answer goes something like this: Me: Ah no ... ...

How to leave your current product manager job without burning bridges

Before you let you company know you're leaving, there are some steps to smooth the transition and avoid burning bridges. Hopefully at this time you already have another job offer, or even something better planned. Or maybe this wasn’t your choice, and you want to make sure you leave on a positive note. Leaving might be hard, but a poor exit may actually be damaging to your career. Let's create a plan to make your departure successful Have clear goals of why you are leaving Remove all personal info from your work devices Prepare a high level handover plan Book some one on one time with your manager. Would you accept a counter offer? Prepare your handover Last days in the job. A lot of the guidance on the internet is tailored to the American market of two weeks notice. In the countries I have worked, the employment contract has a notice period of a month or so, or more for senior roles. There is more time to make a graceful exit, and the contracted expectati...

Product Awesome - Learnings from product manager to product leader

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