Keep in mind the responsibility of product management

I've found that many companies are still stuck in outdated, failed product management models, unaware of how important the product manager's role definition is to building effective teams and successful products.

In a few previous articles, I tried to explain how the product manager should be positioned on the team, but in this article I would like to try to illustrate the issue from another perspective, emphasizing what the product manager should not do. I hope to analyze these common mistakes to help companies find their problems and re-examine their position on the role.

Product management is not defined as a business model

Some product managers think their job is simply to analyze why the product is being made and to define a business model for it. So is the business model really important?

It is clear that management will use these business models to determine where the business will invest. But this is no help for real products. Indeed, in many enterprises, it is good to have a product manager on one side of the business model and do something to help the product achieve it, but don't confuse it with product management.

Product management is not defined as market demand

For many companies, they think it is up to the product manager to define the market requirements, and then engineers to implement those requirements. The product manager creates a market demand document (MRD), enumerates the market requirements, and then the specific product definition and functionality implementation is usually done by the engineer. In fact, there are two fallacies.

The first fallacy is the so-called "market" demand. In fact, there is no demand for the market, people are in demand. The definition of a product must be communicated directly with the actual demand person. If a product is defined by an engineer, the engineer becomes the product manager's role. You can only pray that the engineer understands the work of the Product manager and communicates directly with the actual user.

The second fallacy is that market demand is separate from product demand. Only the market demand and technology have a deep understanding of the two can find the point of agreement. In this search process, you will recognize the real needs of the market, and find the corresponding technical solutions.

Product management is not a requirement gathering

Many companies, especially those with direct trading relationships with customers, work with their product managers to collect the needs of customers or potential customers, organize them into documents and hand them over to engineers, and ensure that they are delivered to the customer on time.

This is not product management. This is the project management of personalized customization software. Truly based on the products of the company, they know that users have a lot of needs, but user needs can not determine the direction of the product development. In other words, you can't confuse user needs with product requirements.

Be wary of any mentality that encourages such "demand capture" or "demand management". This will make your product downhill, basically, is doomed to failure of the road.

Product management is not a project management

In some enterprises, the Product management team undertakes the task of project/plan management, especially when the company has a tradition of customizing software for the customer. In this case, the Product manager is responsible for collecting and documenting the requirements and managing the project from the concept to the implementation process. But discovering that demand is not as simple as a task in a project plan. The process of product development is very different from the process of product development. In addition, because everyone's nature is different, very few people like both product management and project management.

Product management is not product marketing

Finally, product management is not about pricing, promotions, positioning, and advertising. It also has nothing to do with network marketing, getting customers or other projects that have an impact on the market. These are extremely important activities, and the work of product managers is inseparable from these activities, but do not mix them with product management. Instant is the least eye-catching product also needs to invest in a skilled marketing staff to specialize in product marketing. While some companies let product managers do these things, these campaigns are significantly different from discovering product requirements, and it's hard to find people who are proficient in both.

In contrast, the responsibility of the Product manager is to discover a useful, usable, and achievable product. If he does, his work is done. If he can't, there is no need to waste time and money to develop products.

If your company has one of the above errors, you can send this article to your boss for a look. Ask if he can try to convert your character while doing the next product. I think if you can focus on looking for demand, your company will see what real product management is.