Should you switch to Product Management?

Is it just me or are there more and more people around you as well who are opting for Product Management? If you are wondering why is this the case, worry not, let’s try to understand why Product Management has emerged as one of the most sought-after professions in the last few years.

Did you know back in 2004, Sundar Pichai’s first designation at Google was Product Manager? I was amazed to find out that Product Management as a role has been there for decades but has only found its place in the mainstream very recently. As for me, I started my journey as a Product Manager in 2018 when I worked on building a mobile application for my startup, and have been enjoying and loving every single part of this role since then. Here are some of the important aspects of Product Management according to me that make it such an amazing and enjoyable experience.

Product management standing out in a word cloud of jobs

1. Develops Thinking Skills: Thinking from the user’s perspective helps develop empathy and solving complex problems enhances critical thinking. It truly amazes me how being more empathetic has not only changed me professionally but personally as well. On the other hand, working on real-world challenges helps in the development of good problem-solving skills which come in handy in all aspects of life.
2. Ownership: A Product Manager calls the shots for their product (some may even refer to them as mini-CEOs, I don’t agree with it 100%). They design the strategy of the product and decide what goes into it and what does not. PMs are responsible for end-to-end feature development right from ideation to its launch. This sense of ownership and responsibility drives a PM to strive for more.
3. Intersection: A product manager stands at the crossroads of the engineering, strategy, and marketing team (plus a few others as well depending on your organization). They not only get to acquire multiple learnings from various departments but also get to understand different perspectives. PMs bridge the gap between multiple departments and bring everyone together to give a complete shape to the product. By working with multiple departments at once, a PM is best placed to envision and thus execute the larger vision of the product.
4. Visibility: PMs interact with the leadership team regularly. They have high visibility in the organization and are often key stakeholders in business and product strategy meetings. Being responsible for driving the key metrics of their product, PMs contribute to the key goal of the entire company.
5. Interpersonal Skills: Working as a Product Manager improves interpersonal skills as they communicate with multiple stakeholders in their daily work. Not only do they learn the art of negotiation but also the art of persuasion as well. Who said it was an easy task to bring all the teams on the same page?
6. Structure: Product management helps bring structure to almost everything that they work on. This skill helps in dealing with ambiguity and scoping complex problem statements. It brings clarity of thought and a more organized way of doing things not just professionally but personally too.
7. Impact: PMs are able to visualize the impact of their products/features in real life most of the time. PMs employed with companies such as Uber, Zomato, Instagram, etc. work on the products that are used by almost everyone in their day-to-day lives and any changes made to these products will generate a direct impact. Seeing this impact motivates a Product Manager and serves as an appreciation of their work.

While these are a few points that, I believe, someone looking to shift to this field should know, there could very well be many more to add to the list. However, since every coin has 2 sides, being a Product Manager has its fair share of cons as well, but that will be a full-fledged topic in itself to be covered some other time. Overall, the rewards of being a PM far outweigh the risks that come with it. Product Management is quickly becoming one of the most popular professions of the current times, are you planning to jump on this bandwagon?