Is a product manager a game changer or a chokepoint?
For the many new careers in the market, it can be difficult to explain them as they are not intuitive.
Even in teams where there are product managers, it can still be unclear what their role is and isn’t
In order to appreciate the value that they provide and the impact that they make, it’s important to call out what a product manager isn’t
So let’s talk about the many misconceptions about who a product manager is
A product manager is NOT…
Just a project manager
There’s a huge difference between a project manager and a product manager. Project managers align their outputs to scope, schedule and budget while product managers must have the bigger picture at play.
While product managers need to have project management skills, project managers are not necessarily product managers
An IT expert
PM definitely should have an idea of the trends and what potential solutions to explore, but they don’t need to be the code developers and knowing all the backend stuff. It’s great to know some basics to be able to communicate with the tech team, but it’s not a requirement to succeed on the job
The final decision maker
While a product manager is critical to articulate the product roadmap and to manage a multitude of stakeholders, they instead facilitate decision making
A dictator
PM are there to evangelize the product roadmap and ensure that the product design aligns with the customer needs and expectations. They are not there to boss people around and make all the final decisions…they are team players
Tell me, what other misconceptions have you heard about product managers?