At the heart of every successful startup is a product that people want to buy. The product manager must be the one who finds out that need and makes that product a reality. It’s a tough role and requires a diversity of skills. In this blog, we’ll look at the 9 hats a product manager must wear to be successful in this tough role.
Why Have A Product Manager?
Product managers are vital to the success and growth of companies. They are a combination of a project manager and a marketer, and they often come up with the product idea. They usually carry out the actual product development. On top of this, they have to make sure the project is finished before the deadline.
After the product is complete, it is their responsibility to take care of the product. Next, they make sure that it is high quality and will sell to the public. There are many jobs that can be done in a company, but it is a product manager’s job to coordinate multiple jobs to work together efficiently.
This can be a very challenging task, but it also provides great opportunities to develop a variety of skills. When a product manager works with a team, they have to have a good sense of leadership, strong communication skills, and the ability to understand the goals of the company and the demands of the marketplace.
The 9 Hats
1. Salesperson’s hat
When wearing the salesperson’s hat, you protect your ego from getting bruised. This hat helps you sell without selling. You are not to be seen as a salesman but rather a facilitator who makes sure that things work out smoothly. People should feel comfortable talking to each other about their ideas freely.
2. Customer service hat
Ensure you are making people feel comfortable with the customer service hat. It can help keep you humble while at the same time helping you keep your cool. When you wear this hat, you are able to help others get what they want without coming off like a pompous jerk.
3. Data analyst’s hat
This is the best way to put yourself ahead of everyone else. The data analyst’s hat gives you the upper hand over other marketers. It allows you to take advantage of data analytics, marketing statistics, and other market research tools to create better campaigns. Using these tools can help you come up with innovative strategies.
4. Business Analyst hat
The business analyst takes responsibility for designing, testing, implementing, maintaining, monitoring, and documenting the functionality and usability of software applications, websites, mobile apps, databases, and other IT-related products and services. Their work can be highly technical, but they are expected to maintain a high level of understanding of the user experience and how that relates to their customer’s needs. They need to have a solid knowledge of the best practices in the industry and the ability to communicate those practices effectively to stakeholders across various departments and companies.
5. Project Manager hat
A project manager is responsible for overseeing the execution and delivery of projects from beginning to end. While this may seem like a simple job title, project managers are often the first line of defense against scope creep in any given project. As the project progresses through its lifecycle, the project manager ensures that deadlines are met and budgets aren’t exceeded, while making sure that everything is delivered according to plan. A project manager has to keep a close eye on the progress of each individual task on the timeline, ensuring that things are being completed on time and within budget.
6. Strategist hat
As a project manager, you need to be able to organize a plan of action for the company’s goals. You need to communicate to everyone what these goals are, how they fit into the bigger picture, and whether or not this plan is something the company is moving toward or away from.
7. Account Executive hat
As a project manager, you’ll probably spend a lot of time talking to people who are in charge of buying your products. They determine whether or not your business succeeds and how much money you’ll earn. If you want those accounts, you better make sure you’re good at making yourself look good to them.
8. Evangelist hat
No matter what type of product you’re selling, you’ll eventually be faced with the question “Where’d you get that?” And you better have a convincing answer ready. Your job isn’t just to promote your product but to convince potential customers that they should buy it.
9. The Leader hat
With so many hats to wear, sometimes it is easy to forget that as a product manager, one important hat you must wear is that of the Leader. Leadership is the ability to influence. Inherent in the job is the need to influence your team, your organization, and those you interact with. One of the areas where product managers (PMs) need leadership skills is in the product roadmap planning process. The roadmap is the roadmap for the product, right? Well, yes and no. While a roadmap is an important strategic planning document for a product, it is also a tool for communication and it is a leadership document. It’s a tool that can be used to bring people together around a common goal, to align everyone on the same path.
Closing With Product Managers
Being a product manager requires that you wear many different hats. You must be able to play with technology, understand the business side of things, work with the creative team, and so much more. We hope that this blog has helped you understand what it takes to be a product manager.
