Master These Skills To a Become Better Product Manager
We did some research on what makes a good product manager and gathered some intel from the various sources such as books, articles, and interviews.
We put together a list about the common traits of the best product managers but left out some of the typical things like “become a good person”, “work hard”, “be respectful” and so on.
Before starting, we want to say that, you might not have all of the skills listed here and it’s normal, you can’t have everything, but you have to focus on the skills you have, focus on your strengths and become even better.
Don’t try to be good at everything. It is tough to be ‘Jack of All Trades’ at least in a today’s competitive business environment. Identify which one of the skills you have, and focus on these to become a better product manager.
Strong Emotional Intelligence
Good product managers can easily handle customer interviews. But the best product managers can put themselves into their customer’s shoes and empathize with them.
Ability to see from your customer’s perspective will allow you to pinpoint ‘what are the problems of your customers?’ and how your product will solve this.
A product manager with high Emotional Intelligence can overcome the hurdles of creating a great product which has a product/market fit.
Great Product Manager is the one who can decide what is best for his product. Understanding what your customers want and need is important but its not always the best thing to priotize their needs. As Henry Ford once said “ If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses”
Questioning
A great product manager puts the customer into his perspective and always begins with ‘why?’. You should always ask questions like “why should someone use our product?”, “what problems are we solving?”, “what difference do we make?” and so on. Simon Sinek has a very inspirational book called “Start With Why” we strongly recommend this one.
Out Of The Box Thinking
We all know the best business leaders are out of the box thinkers. The same rule applies to the product managers as well. Innovative mindset combined with the enthusiasm for building novelty products is a fundamental skill set that differentiates ordinary product managers from excellent ones.
To be a great product manager, you should be a big thinker with an innovative mindset, but you should also be realistic as well. You have to be aware of your resources and your constraints.
Desire To Build
If you are not burning with the desire to build amazing products, then how are you going to create a great product? You need to have a desire to develop products. If you have this mindset, then it’s better to work in an industry you love, chances of building a quality product will be higher if you are working in an industry you are interested in.
Building Products That Solves Your Problems
When you are looking for ideas to build great products, you should go no further than yourself. When brainstorming for a product idea, great product managers always think about their problems first, and if the product you are going to build solves your problems, then you will be the best tester for your product.
You will have a better understanding of your product because the idea came from a problem you are facing in your daily life. In our opinion, a product idea which generated from the problem you are facing in your daily life could have pitfalls. If it solves your problem, you need to make sure that there is a market for it, make sure that other people are facing the same problem as you.
Doing detailed market research is vital. You should not have an emotional attachment to your product just because it solves your problem. Prioritize the pain points of the customers first.
Time Management
It’s a hard thing to be a product manager, and it’s even harder and more stressful to be a great one. You have to deal with a lot of people both external and internal.
On top of all that communication conflict you will have to generate new features for your product, and most of the times you will have a disagreement on which features to ship because sometimes, what customers want would not match with what your team wants.
In times like these, you have to keep calm under stress, not get confused and focus on your priorities. It’s normal if you stress or panic, try to keep it hidden so that others won’t sense. The great product manager is the one that can stay cool and maintain his confidence under pressure.
Focus On Strengths
At the beginning of this article, we have mentioned that being a Jack of All Trades is not going to work for product managers. If you try to chase many rabbits at the same time, you will not catch any.
Focusing on your strengths while knowing your weaknesses is a way to go. Identify your unique skills but don’t stop there, try to make them even better and once you are there repeat the same process and turn this into a loop.
Focus Like This
Market Knowledge
Knowing your market is a vital part of finding product/market fit. Great product managers are always informed about the latest trends and patterns in their markets while keeping an eye on his competitors.
Its great to have a good understanding of your market, but we think it’s best if you share this information with your team. You can do that by sharing the news, videos you found or doing presentations. If your whole team is informed, then you will put better team players out there.
Have a Great Sense of Humor And Be Likeable
If you have a good sense of humor, your team will love working with you, and your customers will enjoy engaging with you more.
Being a funny and likable guy works like a charm. We are under stress while working, but if you are someone who can make your team smile, you can turn this stressful work environment into a cheerful place.
When you are a likable guy, people around you will enjoy working with you, and because they like you, they work more efficiently. Don’t forget that we are playing a team game here its always better to have teammates who enjoy working with you.
