A general product manager

It has been brewing for a long time, about my career, or my work, the idea of fragmentary ideas or customizations have been countless, many times want to organize the text has not been implemented. Today, I do not know whether it is a whim or a little tired, the past few years I personally to the "product" of the feeling elaborated. This article will not have a lot of product skills, experience, or specific product job description, only for those who have not started the "product" profession may be interested in the business of several points to do my own answer.

This article describes the relevance of an ordinary Internet Product manager.

So who am I? I am an ordinary product manager.

What have I done? I started to make products as my career choice since 2008 under the leadership of my product mentor. Has in two video sites engaged in product work, is currently working in a domestic map company, of course, are doing the product of those things.

Products, in the end what is it?

From the position description of the company staff, the product manager seems to be a "manager" title, in fact Ta is not really a "manager". In the 90 's, the manager of this special position has been given to senior, gorgeous, industry management, middle management cadres and other gorgeous decoration, but in the 2012 in this pompous era, if go out do not say oneself is a what manager, are embarrassed to greet people. It's a long way off. The product manager is not the manager, the general product manager does not have his own subordinates, at most one or two product commissioners help out the document, record a meeting minutes, and perform some edge problems when the product manager is busy. Product managers need to directly face the problem to solve, what is the means to solve it? The next paragraph of text in detail, in short, the product manager himself to arrange the work content, himself to help complete the task.

What skills do product managers need?

In recent years, the popularity of axure, as long as the products are axure hanging on the mouth. What user research, requirements analysis, product documentation, and so on, and so on, and so on the text modification I can write a hundreds of thousand words and do not take outfits, but see through and do not know what the product manager in the end what to focus Kung Fu. It's just a dine of a beginner's résumé for a job search.

I think there are some basic qualities that a product manager should have:

1, to be able to listen to demand, objectively and rationally filtered to determine the extent of product positioning;

2, communication, remove too much useless words, naked and accurately express the definition of the product;

3, judge the time, the right time to do the right thing is to achieve the premise of the goal;

4, professional attitude, with unprofessional identity to complete the coordination of professional resources;

5. Compromise and persistence, balanced compromise is the ideal spring to adhere to the product;

6, the implementation of the above 5 points of auxiliary tools, such as Axure.

When it comes to tools, I actually started abandoning it when I learned to use axure. The reason is that my broken computer can not move it, open a axure, and then open a few other software computer card can not. I stuck to the idea of doing whatever it takes to express the ideas of a product person. Just look at a person's liking, I write a word, write an Excel, even I use fireworks to draw a picture out, what's more, use Photoshop to make a super High-fidelity product prototype, in fact all can. Balance your time, know your purpose, do not waste too much time in the wrong product to do things can, after all, there are interactive and visual comrades, do not rob their jobs. In short, I think the tool is a carrier role, the carrier on the message is the essence of the product.

What are the product manager's work content?

The product manager's work can be roughly divided into two parts: solving product problems and performing boss tasks.

First of all, to carry out the boss's task, this part of the work to tell the truth, do not need much innovation, how many extraordinary personal thinking, step-by-Step to organize the task of the technical resources, design resources, operations and market resources and other necessary factors, in a series of established project management process to complete the tasks and indicators issued by the Boss ( A KPI that people often say. Finish the project and end this year's Fucked up work at the official celebratory feast. This part of the work for a product manager is a must experience, I think it is also the day-to-day work of all Internet product managers, especially the major portals, major vertical sites or mobile Internet applications of large companies, this type of companies are already in a more mature product phase, Product types and project classification has been very complex, rich large companies have a more reasonable human management plan, product manager's main work is often in the implementation of a Director, an editor, or even a VP issued a direct task command.

Solve the product problem, but also can use the current small popular vocabulary description, called Product innovation. Product Manager According to the general direction of the company, the big demand, with Product Manager This special angle, the product solution, including product design, program confirmation, put into execution, put into operation and so on. Simple example, Youku potatoes and other video site products appear to solve the users want to see a variety of online video needs; QQ products to solve the users want to use the network communication needs; Map products to solve the user wants to use the network to query geographic information needs, and so on. This part of the product is the work of the product managers are eager to work content, because TA bring a sense of achievement and satisfaction is not the boss's praise can match, at least I think so.

With the change of time and the accumulation of product work experience, I need to balance the proportion of the above two parts of work in my own schedule. In my opinion, more junior product personnel to carry out a small proportion of the task, can design their own implementation opportunities and the poor time; more experienced product staff are more willing to follow their own way of thinking and attitude approach to work, pick their own preferences to complete product innovation, make very useful, The good things that can change people's lives by thinking they are very interesting. But the senior product personnel can not escape the boss task, after all, they are not the boss, the company is not their own decision, but experienced people know how to easily and efficiently complete the task, and is a high standard. This will have more time and resources to do their favorite products.

How does a product manager fit into a new company?

There are two types of companies in my eyes that need product managers: the more sophisticated and mature companies (such as the big portals, the big power companies, etc.) and innovative organizations (such as entrepreneurial teams or business units in large corporations that open up new businesses).

When I was in college, I used my spare time, but it took up most of my time (because I skipped school) and I was a member of a small, small, poor entrepreneurial team, and we had a vision for the team's future and a lot of hope for the industry, but the reality is that, after that, The root cause can be attributed to economic problems. Then I never joined any entrepreneurial team, the failure of which gave me a more profound lesson, although I now have a new understanding of entrepreneurship and attitude. Now let me explain how to become a product role in the entrepreneurial team, I understand that: the product role is a versatile, need to have the boss should have a bird's eye view of the overall situation, regardless of the individual in the day-to-day business of the proportion, not only to co-ordinate the planning of products, but also to do a bit of finishing text, the image of a small job to play. In general, the product staff in the entrepreneurial team is a Montana, on the table, and the end of tea! Why? Because we have a common entrepreneurial goal.

How does that fit into a mature company? Before entering the company, you need to think about why the new company needs its own, the new company must have a vacancy in the matter is not enough to do, will have vacant post recruitment. Before you start your work, help yourself to a reasonable position and fully understand what you want to do with your job. Really understand their own business scope, must be in the company's old colleagues under the guidance. Of course, you can choose not to accept, but you must listen carefully. First from the company's product defects start, proposal layer, complete the middle of the solution and implementation. This is a more conservative approach, and may be a lot of active or thinking radical friends disagree. But I do not mean that I think so much, a qualified product personnel, the depth and length of thinking must be far more than the day-to-day work of the category, with the Chinese vocabulary interpretation is thick thin hair. In a mature system to establish the cornerstone of product stability, and then enlarge their preferences is not too late, the company all people need a running-in process.

How are the product manager's working hours scheduled?

Recently interviewed beliefs college students, the new students are full of longing for product work, many are from the Internet flooded products related books, as well as jobs, Zuckerberg and other people's stalwart Halo. As everyone knows, product personnel in the star products behind the amount of time spent, how much energy dissipation.

Normally schedule 8 hours of daily work, and stay in company overtime if necessary, like other business people. I want to say is not the same, do product people's brain unconsciously developed a habit, all the time may be associated with their own business needs. May eat the time, also may in with the friend chats, an idea floats, a creative initiation, may change your product person career. So, the product manager's "Working hours" is 24 hours, if you stick to the job, how long you live, your product can at least live long.

What is the product manager's pursuit?

This is a tacky question, the high-sounding answer is that their products change the lives of thousands of people. To use my understanding to interpret, it should be called a sense of existence. A product manager can feel how much of a sense of being a product he or she is responsible for, and how much is achieved. When I am responsible for the product to do good or bad, are ignored by users, or no users, that is the biggest setback to product personnel. Of course, the approval of the superior and the company's commendation for the company as a general employee of the product manager, is also a part of the sense of achievement. Although I do not value;

The economics of the product manager

I now have two cars, two suites (the suburbs of a set of 100-ping, three-ring edge of a set of 60), but these and the work of the products do not have any relationship.

I am not a rich second-generation. I am a study in Beijing and work in the South, 02 came to the capital of Beijing basic can be counted penniless, in the parents ' efforts to support the completion of Self-Study College, began work-study, independent completion of undergraduate graduation, get a degree. 05 by the sale of the only parent unit of the home of the A hundred thousand of yuan in Hebei Jiao rural loans bought 2 to see not forming the auction house, fortunately, after all the price increases, so out of thin air more than more than 1 million, just now a well-off life.

Anyway, my current job income is less than 10k after tax and no other income.

Salary evolution from 08 onwards (before tax):

2k > 4.5k > 6k > 7.5k > 10k > 13k

(May be my salary and colleagues in the peer gap, but I think you can pay attention to the product work of fresh friends for reference)

I think I am not a lazy person, I believe that people who love product work are hard-working. So even if there is a stable life, or have their own product pursuit. If someone asks me what is the highest level of product? On my current level of cognition, I think I do the highest state of products is to take their own products as children, his growth and change can bring me all kinds of emotions, as parents of the kind of complex feelings I believe we are also more easily understood.

Maybe one day, I will be because of real life and compromise, but I am still holding on, because I now treat my product as a child, which is also I insist on the only reason to do the product.

Finally, let me summarize my personal opinion. The product is my job, I use my love to fill the job, but so far this is just a job. A person besides work, family, and life. I need to share the limited time of my life with my family, life needs to read, need footprints, need to touch the colorful world. Learning to live is more important than work. Not a product predecessors said such a word-do not know how to live the people, certainly do not make good products.

@ Tracy 2012-10-30