A Day in the Life of a Product Manager

by Guillermo Trujillo

A product manager’s job is wide-ranging and stimulating. In fact, it can feel like there’s too much to do at times.

But what is product management? Product management plays an important role in a company; it is responsible for ensuring that every product offered by the company is set up for success — both short-term tactically and long-term strategically. Additionally, product management is one of the few groups that has a holistic view and understanding of how things fit together within a company.

The question then becomes, “what’s important to do right now?”

As your product progresses through its life cycle (conceive, plan, develop, qualify, launch, maximize, and retire), you can expect to do the following as a Product Manager (PM):

• CONCEIVE: Generate and prioritize new ideas for products and features by collaborating with various teams / departments, performing customer research, and market analysis.
• PLAN: Once an idea is selected, perform in-depth planning around concepts such as market strategy, customer needs, and business case to ensure the plans are well thought out and support the strategic and financial milestones of the business.
• DEVELOPMENT: Communicate market needs to the development team and ensure the product is solving for customer pain points / needs.
• DEVELOPMENT: Negotiate with development to ensure that any changes to the plans keep the product on track.
• QUALIFY: Validate whether the product is ready to officially launch in the marketplace.
• LAUNCH: Plan and execute effective product launches that ensure the company can meet revenue, profitability, and strategic objectives.
• MAXIMIZE: Maximize revenues and profitability after the product is made available in the marketplace.
• RETIRE: Determine whether and when to retire the product and plan / execute a successful end-of-life campaign.

As a PM, you need to be aware of your product’s promise and ensure the product delivers in a way the customer expects. Essentially, you are the Voice of the Customer.

Guest Contributor: Guillermo is the Co-founder / CEO of hopps, an iOS / iPad application that reduces the hassle and time for patrons to get a drink, while driving revenue for venues and tips for bartenders.

Follow hopps on instagram, facebook, twitter, linkedin, crunchbase, and angellist or sign up for early access to the iOS app at hoppstech.com.

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