Product manager leveling the road should be how to go

Recently, the question was asked many times: "What is the value of the product manager?", Especially for Internet product managers who are still in the dark. Product Manager in the end is the post of flowers and applause co-existence of glamorous work is still prestigious actually cannon fodder Title Title?

In the enterprise, any position must be the executor of a certain part of the operation of the enterprise. So to see if a post is valuable, we must look at the position of the post in the overall operation of the business as well as the responsibilities and the realized value of this position.

For any company that aims for profit, no matter how complicated its internal implementation process and the large size and structure of its organization, it will certainly follow the closed-loop price realization process from the market to the market. Like Philips Kotler defines the core functions of an enterprise in his classic book Marketing Management as the value realization process shown below. The overall activities of the enterprise will surely encompass the process of selecting value, realizing value (providing value) and delivering value. It is like Buddha's Fazhi Mountain, no monkey can escape.

There is a choice of products or services to choose from, whether to sell the barbecue down to the floor, or dirty to open "heaven and earth", the products and services to be chosen, the sales and implementation of the products and services we chose earlier the process of.

What is the role of product manager in the above process? I believe most of the people who are working as product managers or those who wish to work as product managers will beating their cheers on "value-for-money". Well, I will agree - "a bunch of PM with the ideal!"

Then, if you look at the Title as a Product Manager alone, product managers who are able to value the value are estimated to be less than 0.01%, or even less. Silver students also wrote in his blog:

In large and medium-sized companies, PM to do what, and even how to plan how architecture, more than their own ideas have nothing to do, depends on the will of the Executive. Product Manager Ye Hao, product manager's manager Ye Hao, just a performer.

As for a small company, there is only one person who can make this decision, Boss. If the small company's boss do not make this decision or are unable to make this decision. That quickly roll out the cover roll it. To stay down even after the cover is not followed by a get out.

So what is the value of the product manager in such a system? I think the product manager's power and value at this point is to describe the value or to define the value in part. This is the most basic ability that should be possessed as a product manager: the analytical and descriptive power of requirements. To be honest, there is no ability to produce a high quality PRD. Of course, I also never think that this stage of the product manager has no market research, user analysis and operational analysis capabilities, but these capabilities in the product value is not reflected in the fundamental, but also left the core value of the product.

A product manager who can analyze and output high-quality requirements can not guarantee that he must be a good product manager, but at least he can be assured that he is a PM that will not let us get out of our hands and keep rubbing our feet every day. So it should be a qualified PM.

However, as an ideal product manager, it will not be self-defeating and unscrupulous. Through tireless accumulation and hard-working study will be generous, fledgling and become a cattle breaking PM. Whatever the day of arrival and when, the sign that it comes must be that the focus of work shifts from describing needs to identifying and choosing values.

The market is the sole criterion for testing products, but it is absurd to wait until the product is good or bad before entering the market. Excellent products do not require market research and user research, this is the method of Jobs and Zhang Xiaolong (even if they are so advertised). But if you and I did not do market research and user research right from the start, let's assume that we were able to create the product that guided the user's needs. I said yes, extraordinary, and Lao Tzu said: "Yes, it is extraordinary." That is a big difference, totally different. Why? Buddies are now at the level of grandson, did not become Lao Tzu's experience and process, of course, in the same thing on the different realm.

Typical market analysis process is roughly divided into one: the trend analysis (macro market analysis); second is: segmentation and competition; Sanyue: user behavior and psychology, space limitations, here can not be described in detail the methods of analysis of various classes. Slightly fur, right when the reference.

Trend analysis is to understand and grasp the stage where the market is located, the overall size of the market, the composition of the market Player and relative market share, market trends, and market risks. An incremental market with size and market space is a market worth considering.

Segmentation and competition are mid-to-large studies aimed at selecting segments from one industry market and using competition analysis to identify opportunities and challenges in segments and identifying entry points to the market.

User behavior and psychology Why not say the user needs because the user's behavior and psychology closer to the user's needs and the real reflection of the behavior of the user to determine the final product offering to provide the shape and core functions than to subjectively describe the user Kaopu.

A few pen absolutely can not describe the various stages of the complex, just say the trend of research, basically like a mirror, is hopeless. In extreme cases it's like predicting the stock market trend, probably only chimpanzees do the best. But the role of methodology is to allow reeling to be infinitely close to the right path, even without touching the G point, at least not contrary.

Therefore, the above market research methods are still the appropriate method to choose value. Only by using handy ones can we choose the right market and the correct product function, and provide a product that meets the user's G-point, so as to maximize the product value Choose the purpose of value.

Such skill reached, they entered the second realm of product manager. Cow Breaking product manager.

Then there is no lack of good ideas in this world, but the lack of implementation of ideas as the execution of successful products. It is the third level of product manager to lead and manage an executive team that realizes value and successfully delivers value to the marketplace and gets the love of the target audience.

This third power seems to belong to non-Internet product manager capabilities, but this is not too far from the hands-on approach of Procter & Gamble, the originator of the product manager. Procter & Gamble's product manager, also known as brand manager, is responsible for the "Head & Shoulders" or "Rejoice" market. The product manager (PDT manager) of a larger product line at Huawei is also a product manager who manages hundreds of people who are responsible for the success of the product market. But in the Internet, this ability is basically only the general manager of the division or Boss, rather than the product manager's ability requirements. So Ma and Zhou Hongyi claim to be product manager. Indeed they are the benchmark for successful product managers. But many of the little bosses who are forbear and grow up in the market are not it?

Long way to repair it, non-cannon fodder is not surprising The value of living PM fundamentally from their own ability. Thinking all the way, all the way leveling, always be able to get through Ren Duojiu !!!