Product managers play a very important role in software development

When it comes to product manager's responsibilities, the first thing we think of is that we have to be responsible for the entire product life cycle, from market research, product planning, design, project management, product on-line, on-line promotion, product redesign and upgrade. Product managers play a very important role in software development.

Recently, Vik Singh, CEO and founder of Infer, a big data analytics company that has been digging into potential sales, recently recruited product managers based on what they learned and learned about how to recruit good product managers and how to be good product managers Written. Infer users include Tableau, SurveyMonkey, Zendesk, New Relic, AdRoll, Box and Cloudera. The following is the translation:

I used to work with many product managers at big companies like Yahoo and Google and interviewed more than 20 product manager candidates in the past two months, but only two of them interviewed excellent product managers. From the experience of recruiting product managers from my team and most start-ups, what we need is a product manager:

People who innovate through minimalism: The best product manager knows to narrow the range of products reasonably, rather than simply adding unnecessary functions and knowing what the product really needs.

Decision-making capabilities: Product managers pay attention to the product development agenda, so you have to have excellent organizational skills, in the team when faced with conflicts and other difficulties to quickly weigh, and then make a decision.

Communication skills: Product managers not only have to contact the technical and marketing departments, but also to the users and the executives of the company, which requires a strong ability to say and write. As a good product manager, have the ability to convince others to follow your thoughts and footsteps, just as Steve Jobs did. For consumers, the most important communication skill is knowing how to say "NO" to a user's request, but keeping them from getting angry.

How to recruit a good product manager?

Ideally, it is best to find a product manager who lives in a small company and in a big company. But to make it clear, there are differences between product managers working for small and large companies. For small companies or start-ups, product managers tend to grow in a chaotic and unstructured environment, yet large project managers from well-known companies play a key role in implementing and implementing the structure and process. The company expects all its employees to be vibrant and to know how the various businesses of the company will function when they mature - policy, policies, best practices, training, structure, KPIs and more.

But finding someone who meets the above requirements is not easy. So far, I've found that the most effective technique for screening candidates is through role-playing exercises that allow them to design a minimum viable product (MVP) on a whiteboard.

A virtual product concept does not require a lot of workable background knowledge to understand that during the interview you can vaguely vocalize and take the chance to test the questioning ability of the following testers as you record when you fill in the blank design as required How do they differentiate their product schedules? Can they identify shortcuts? How can they exploit scarce resources? Can start-ups realize the importance of failure? Can they reproduce a clean design? What do they feel like? Pay more attention to market concepts? Do you care less about product vision? If so, they may be a good product designer, but still a little behind the product manager. Most importantly, observe whether they cut or increase the scope for minimizing viable products. Did they come up with the idea of ​​a unique and valuable v2 product? Did they ask the right questions? How did they work with you, did you accept your feedback, and did you make any mistakes?

I find this process more relevant than any other source for a better understanding of a product designer and the appropriate product manager.

It is also worth noting that in the early days of a startup, it was good for one of the founders to be the chief product manager. Because the company's founders generally have a strong influence, and can make the process faster development through redundancy. But this can only be done when the founder is a good product thinker, and has good execution skills. If a company founder is not a reliable product designer, it could be a disaster for the company if the company gives them that right.

How to become a good product manager?

My suggestion is to join the competition to earn experience from big or small companies so that they can grow better and recognize their own shortcomings. Remember that few people in the world, like Steve Jobs, are great, and you can not be a good product manager in less than a day, but if you can find an excellent product manager mentor, you earn more from yourself than you work Experience more effective, you can learn better experience, is expected to become an excellent product manager as soon as possible.

I've also encouraged some product managers and future prospective product managers to read Ben Horowitz's "Good Product Manager, Poor Product Manager," an article written by Netscape's product manager, Written in 1996, but still applicable today. In conclusion, Ben Horowitz's is also one of the founders of Infer.