2. Responsibilities of a Product Manager

In this section, we will delve into the key responsibilities of a Product Manager (PM) and how these responsibilities shape their role within an organization.

The Role of a Product Manager

A common analogy often heard is that the Product Manager is the "CEO of the product." However, this comparison has its limitations for several reasons:

1. Scope of Responsibility: Unlike a CEO, who is responsible for all aspects of a company, a PM's focus is limited to their specific product. In companies where the core business is not digital, the PM's responsibilities are even more specialized. For example, at a bank like Nubank, the core products are financial services such as checking accounts and credit cards. The digital product serves as an enabler of these services but is not the primary focus of the business.

2. Leadership Structure: A Product Manager does not directly lead people; rather, they lead the product development process. Their role involves aligning business needs with customer problems and working collaboratively with the product team—designers, developers, and engineers—to create and implement solutions that meet these needs while supporting the company's strategic goals.

Product management is inherently a team effort, requiring close collaboration between the PM, product designers, UX experts, and engineers. The PM's responsibility is to bridge the gap between the company's strategic objectives and the problems and needs of the customers.

Core Responsibilities

1. Aligning with Strategic Objectives

A PM must deeply understand the company's strategic objectives and ensure that the product they manage positively impacts these objectives. This involves not just knowing what the goals are, but actively contributing to achieving them through the product's development and performance.

2. Identifying and Solving Customer Problems

On the customer side, the PM is responsible for identifying problems and needs, testing potential solutions, and collaborating with the team to build and implement those solutions. The PM must ensure that the solutions align with both customer needs and the company’s strategic goals.

3. Discovery and Delivery Phases

The PM’s role spans both the discovery and delivery phases of product development:

• Problem Discovery: This phase focuses on identifying the problems worth solving. It is primarily led by product management and UX, with engineering involved to a lesser extent. The goal is to understand what problems exist and which ones present valuable opportunities for the business.

• Solution Discovery: In this phase, the PM works closely with engineering and product design to brainstorm, test, and validate potential solutions quickly. This phase is collaborative, with all three areas—product management, UX, and engineering—equally involved in developing hypotheses and testing solutions.

• Delivery: During delivery, the PM supports the development of the solution, ensures that it aligns with the identified needs and strategic goals, and helps define the success metrics. The PM's involvement decreases as engineering takes the lead in this phase.

4. Dynamic Process

It’s important to note that discovery and delivery are not strictly sequential processes. They are dynamic and iterative. Problem discovery can lead to solution testing, which might feed back into refining the problem definition or directly into delivery if a solution is ready to be implemented.

Differentiating Product Manager and Product Owner Roles

The roles of Product Manager (PM) and Product Owner (PO) are sometimes confused, but they have distinct focuses:

• Product Owner (PO): Originating from agile methodologies like Scrum, the PO is primarily concerned with the process of software development. Their role is to help the team develop software efficiently, focusing on improving the development process.

• Product Manager (PM): The PM is more concerned with delivering the right product—the best product that meets customer needs while achieving the company’s strategic goals. The PM’s focus is on discovering better ways to create software that solves real problems and drives business success.

While some organizations may have separate roles for PMs and POs, others may combine these responsibilities into a single role. In teams where these roles are combined, the PM often assists with process improvement while maintaining their focus on delivering the right product.

Product Management Career Path

A career in product management involves a progression of responsibilities:

• Business Analyst (BA): Focuses on specifying what needs to be done.
• Product Owner (PO): Responsible for both specifying and prioritizing tasks.
• Product Manager (PM): Specifies, prioritizes, defines the vision, and sets the strategy for the product.

Some organizations have developed explicit career paths that start with roles like BA or PO, progressing to PM as individuals gain experience and take on more strategic responsibilities.

Specialized Product Management Roles

As product management evolves, different types of PM roles are emerging:

• Growth Product Manager: Focuses on customer acquisition and works closely with marketing to optimize the funnel from awareness to conversion.
• Data Product Manager: Specializes in creating data-driven products, such as recommendation algorithms, churn detection, or pricing insights.
• Technical Product Manager (TPM): Works closely with infrastructure and platform teams to develop tools and frameworks that enhance the productivity of other product teams.

Becoming a Successful Product Manager

Becoming a successful PM requires a combination of study, experience, and a conducive environment for growth:

• Practice: Gaining hands-on experience is essential. Malcolm Gladwell's concept of 10,000 hours of practice applies here—continuous, conscious practice is crucial.
• Coaching: Having a mentor or coach can greatly benefit your development as a PM.
• Supportive Environment: Working in an environment that allows for learning from failures and encourages experimentation is important for developing as a PM.

Transitioning to a Product Management Role

For those looking to transition into product management from another field, such as marketing, legal, or finance, it’s important to:

• Leverage Existing Experience: Having some level of seniority in another field can be beneficial when moving into product management.
• Study and Network: Invest time in learning about product management through books, courses, and industry events.
• Transition Within Your Company: It’s often easier to transition into product management within your current company, where you already have knowledge of the business. If your company doesn’t have a formal product management role, consider volunteering to work more closely with the digital product team or even advocating for the creation of a product management function.
• Consider Associate Product Manager (APM) Roles: APM positions are becoming more common and offer a pathway into product management for those starting out in the field.

Understanding the responsibilities and career path of a Product Manager is crucial for anyone looking to excel in this role. Whether you are currently in a PM role or considering a transition, the key to success lies in continuous learning, practical experience, and the ability to navigate both strategic and customer-focused aspects of product development.