What Does a Product Manager Actually Do?

A Product Manager is A Master Puzzler

    This is not going to be a traditional explanation of what a product manager does. ⚠You've been warned. There are tons of great resources out there around how the role varies, details around industry, and average salary or experience required to do the role. The internet doesn't need another post like that. Here is the Good Morning Product Manager version of what a product manager actually does and why.

    Have you ever done a really big puzzle? I'm talking about 1,000 pieces or more. How long did it take you? Not to brag, but I've accomplished this feat a few times in my life. Normally someone's helping me and we chat while we build. It can take us days if not weeks depending on how many young kids are around. Product Managers are puzzle masters. They also share traits with chameleons. Let me explain that piece later. For now let's talk about the puzzle master within every great product manager. 

Your Product is One Giant Puzzle

    Great puzzle masters understand what the bigger picture is, they quickly identify common traits and groups of pieces, and every great one builds the edges first. This is what you should be doing as a product manager.

The bigger picture 

    This is your vision and strategy. If you don't know this as a product manager it's very likely you will create features no one will use. This is critical to being successful in the long term. It's how you continuously bring value and manage scope.

Common traits and groups of pieces 

    It's the organizational product portfolio, product managers must understand how their product provides value and how it impacts and works with all the other parts of the business. If the product manager doesn't have this perspective within the organization and even within your industries broader environment, it's likely going to be a guessing game on what to build next. 

Build the edges first 

    Every great product manager should have a critical eye for scope. They need to be masters at identifying what their product does (within the edges) and what their product doesn't do (outside the edges). These edges ensure the product continues to focus where the most value is for the users. Product managers build those edges and protect them on behalf of the users. 

Product Managers Look Like a Chameleon.......Sorry

    They aren't the most glamorous or beautiful creatures in the animal kingdom, but it was a chameleon or an octopus. I hope you see why I chose chameleon. 

    Product managers need to blend in with many different teams. They work with highly technical groups of developers, designers, marketing teams, operational teams, customers, and leadership teams. They pretty much work with the entire organization depending on the scope of the product. Many product managers have to be able to switch styles to ensure the group they are working with understands the message. Here are some common traits product managers have.

Establish trust quickly 

    Product managers understand without trust established alignment is fragile. Trust is the table we build the puzzle on. It's foundational to the entire product strategy and if a product manager struggles to establish trust, it's likely they will struggle in execution.

Speak the departments language 

    This is probably where the chameleon commentary applies most. It goes without saying people are more at ease when you can demonstrate verbally or physically an understanding of their perspective. Great product managers are masters at the subtle language changes and cultural pleasantries found in departments. They embrace them and put people at ease quickly when ever they can so we all can focus on the message, rather than thinking of the product manager as an outsider.

Willing to adapt 

    If you don't like to communicate in diverse ways or listen to feedback product management my not be a great fit for you. Product managers have to adapt to a massive variety of users and stakeholders. Often they miss and have to receive feedback and be coachable without become defensive. It's a humbling role. Pride and stubbornness can stunt growth quickly for a product manager. That being said, you do have to be confident and direct in some scenarios as well.

Enjoy learning 

    There are a lot of situations where product managers are educating others and bringing them up to speed on the product strategy. I would argue there are far more situations where product managers are the curious person in the room. Asking genuine questions, sharing thoughtful dialog, and learning from subject matter experts throughout the organization and user base. This is how you become the puzzle master. You learn from everyone and spread that knowledge and experience as far as you possibly can within your organization. You pack that learning into features and roadmaps for your products. You must learn continuously as a product manager to keep your product relevant.

But What Do Product Managers Actually Do?

    Imagine that question being asked like a 5 year old after you've given a super detailed answer to one of their pretty basic questions. An answer you thought was going to blow their minds. They reply with ok but.... what do product managers actually do?

    Fair enough, all of the previous points tell you what drives the daily actions as a product manager. None of it told you what those daily actions actually are. The answer to that is, it depends heavily on the organizations needs. I won't leave you hanging with a cop out answer like that though.

    It can look a lot like this..... in no particular order

internal/external networking 

sitting at a desk

standing at a desk

lots of meetings

quite a few emails

product market research

conferences

presentations

chats/messages

communicating development progress

sharing knowledge

active listening

taking detailed notes

documented conversations

sending conversation recaps

licensing agreements

product demos

brainstorming ideas

feature writing

saying good idea but not now (NO)

understanding priorities

feature acceptance criteria

roadmap creation

adjusting timelines

delivering tough news (often NO)

estimating work

learning your product

user requests

urgent outages or bugs

setting expectations

for some managing a team

lunch meetings

coffee

more coffee

working with.....

product owners

scrum masters

leaders

customers

stakeholders

developers

✏

    That captures a lot of what product managers do daily, but it really depends on the day and the organization. Product managers are a diverse bunch, but should always focus on meeting real needs for their users. If you think of daily activities I missed put them in the comments! I would love to hear them.

If you like what you see learn more about Good Morning Product Manager and subscribe for free weekly articles about product management.