Grow your career as a product manager

The "CEO of a Product" is what they call a Product Manager. From being the voice of a customer to streamlining complex tasks and workflows across diverse teams, a Product Manager has one of the most extensive set of responsibilities and competency demands in an organization.

With so much happening, how does one plan career growth in in Product Management? What does one have to do to consistently deliver and stay a step ahead of internal and external requirements?

Well, this article is all about shedding light on steps you need to take to nail your growth in the Product Management domain. Let's check them out.

The product management career ladder

Before we find out the steps and initiatives to grow as a Product Manager, let's quickly look at the path in this domain.

Associate product manager – This is an entry-level position for someone new to the domain and role. Also referred to as an APM, the professional is generally someone who has recently graduated from college and has a fresh path laid out in front of them.

Junior product manager – Relatively still recent to the domain, but they develop hands-on experience in the role by working with micro teams/products. A Junior Product Manager has some work experience in other streams or domains.

Product manager – They are responsible for working on an entire product autonomously. Senior Product Manager is usually the next immediate job role for someone transitioning into a higher role.

Product lead – This role requires exceptional skills and hands-on experience working on product/product lines. At this stage, it is still possible to be a contributor rather than as a manager or at a leadership role.

VP product or Head of product – Here, the professional is a senior product person in an organization. This involves managing multiple Product Managers and working on budgeting as well.

CPO or the Chief product officer – They manage multiple product lines, represent a line/multiple lines of products in C-suite meetings, take care of product alignment, develop product vision, manage operational and organizational alignment, and more.

Surging ahead in the product management domain

An ideal Product Manager brings to the table a balance and blend of multiple competencies. Needless to say, this comes from a lot of exposure to critical situations, work scenarios, learning, and obviously making errors. However, you don't have to wait for too long as you can quickly take notes on the areas you need to develop to grow in your career path. Look at building the following skills and competencies.

Emotional quotient

High Emotional Quotient (EQ) has been one of the predominant qualities of successful Product Managers and their superiors. This is because a PM should ideally empathize with customers and their pain points. Empathy is what makes all the difference in the development of a product, as it differentiates between building the right product and building the product right. Apart from understanding customers, high EQ also ensures objectively approaching team members and processes and sensibly prioritizing tasks and processes for smooth completion.

Self-Management

The role of a Product Manager involves stress. This could stem from internal pressure, deadline constraints, go-to-market restrictions, revenue targets, product development issues, and more. So, a PM is required to maintain a cool approach and juggle multiple responsibilities and tasks despite pressure and panic. Such PMs are immediately recognized by superiors and management as well.

Technical competencies

By this we mean not the skills on tools and platforms, but the technicalities involved in specific domains and fields. For instance, a product line in the Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFC) will require the concerned PM to have an adequate understanding of finance and economics to successfully conceptualize and launch a product. Tools and solutions fall under this subset.

Consistent exposure

What sets sharp Product Managers apart from their regular counterparts is their consistent exposure to market and domain insights. The ability to grasp market demands and revisit their product for quick feedback and detours will help in nailing organizational visibility, increasing the chances of swifter promotions. This exposure comes through soaking in diverse forms of content in specific domains, such as books, keynote speeches, news, podcasts, networking, and more.

Final thoughts

I believe this extensive piece brought you more clarity on the path ahead in Product Management and the efforts you need to take to surge in your career. While experience will help you move ahead significantly, these pointers would help you ease the journey.