What is the Internet Product Manager?

In fact, this is an initial level of literacy, and only one thing to say: Internet products by Rationale is what ?

The reason why I want to talk about this shallow topic is because I find that the definition of the industry is so confusing that no matter what product manager I write, there will be objections. But when I look at it, he's right, but the context is totally different. Because the understanding of the "Product manager" position is so changeable that there are 1000 product managers in the eyes of 1000 people ...

My own transformation to do the product, was in early 2008, when the product manager has not been generally referred to as PM, product Manager fashionable popular has only just begun.

The first product manager is a relatively high position, about middle-level cadres and front-line supervisors, or even directly the middle class cadres. Only a large scale, the status of the more important products, its total head, can be labeled as "Product Manager" title (in the NetEase corresponding channel editor of this level). This person is generally responsible for product design, operations, and sometimes in charge of technology. He includes product planning (there was no PD at the time), UI designers (there were few special interaction designers at the time), operational extension personnel, and so on.

08 I manage the product department, mainly by the planning/senior Planning, Operation/advanced operation composition. has not promoted product manager, only set up as a first-line director of the "project manager" "Planning manager" position, intends to further improve the product manager. But in 09, the world changed, the market to recruit a large number of product managers, and even the company dug people also issued a product manager's title. My team is really someone has been dug--here I am the senior planning, turn a post to ascend a level yo!

This thing at that time gave me to be depressed bad, soon found that the NI is not that thing ah. The person being dug is not fully responsible for a particular product, he is probably still the original job. Since 09, the "Product manager" of the gold has been diluted, a smaller product, its owner can be the product manager, or even a large product contains a sub module/subsystem, the owner can also be the product manager. The title quickly depreciated because it was so fashionable and so popular that it was easier to recruit good front-line officers and front-line supervisors.

You think, here is "planning", move a nest is "manager", even if the same treatment, planners will also feel that the latter more face, promising. To the final formation of the industry ethos, not out of the title of the product manager will not recruit skilled, I can only admit, herd.

Fucqua looks absurd, in fact, there are reasonable hidden factors.

1,

The management of the product industry is a flat structure, there are not too many levels, usually have the following scenarios:

Product director (on one level)

Product Department head > Product Director

Product Department head > Product leader > Sub Module owner

Product Department head > Product Director > Large module leader > Small module leader or product assistant

You see, up to 4, the most common situation is level 2-3. The results of the promotion to motivate staff management means is not very effective, but also to give him an exciting product project. Flat management can tolerate the pot of title, and also benefit the equal product team culture.

2,

Product planners do not only the planning work, but also include a large number of ued coordination, development coordination, operational coordination, and from the beginning to the end of the project progress management and quality management. At first, the work of the biased management was assumed by the "Real Product manager", which soon found that the workload was very large, the execution required very high, the responsibilities had to be delegated, and the planning was fully authorized. Even the general planning, he is actually doing sub modules and even small product project management work, "planning" weight is only 1/3 of them. So what about the name of the product manager? can also mobilize the enthusiasm of the staff.

3,

With the rapid heat of the product industry, division of labor refinement, even the aforementioned "Real product manager", his power is shrinking. Now very few product managers can direct to the technical team, the operation of most of the single open, visual/interactive/research and split out the UED department, the free boss Trust experts to lead. Departments bristling, power entanglements, before the head of the eight-face, now mostly just a total planning, general scheduling, the name of the product of the birds, but also often with other departments. In that case, what is the significance of the tangled title gold?

Since 2010, product managers have been inundated. Some companies are divided into two grades of PM and PD, distinguishing between proficient and novice, and some companies even recruit fresh students, interns are branded as product manager of the virtual title. The young man is daring, you let him go to be director, General Manager, he also calf, and "people go to High place". In the end the job definition was extremely confusing. Have adhere to the fundamentalism, such as Baidu, but also the product manager as an important management staff to see, but feel that they have been dry for two or three years even a "manager" are not up to the Baidu planning, many were outside the company name dug away. At the opposite end of the spectrum, a lot of kids in the industry who work as product assistants are offered a "senior product Manager" Resume ...

In short, you will never be able to judge a person's weight by the title. Whether the assistant, PD or PM, the right to have a project or not the right to project, regardless of the ued and technical team, is a lone rookie and management team of hundreds of people, and finally collectively referred to as "product manager." In a bad way, this makes the title of the honor indifferent; in good sense, the industry is desperately touting product managers. Ma Zhou is not all called Product Manager? The CEO is magnanimous, how can you have the nerve to fight for a name?

So from a pragmatic standpoint, the position of the product manager is not the title, but what kind of product (module) He has the power to dominate. We have to evaluate how the PM should not how to do, we have to substitute for the corresponding identity context, otherwise wavelength all meaningless. But who writes product article also impatient to spread out first, make 2000 words background introduction, you love to write people also don't love to see. So the product manager as the protagonist of the article, 1000 eyes have 1000 kinds of understanding, there are differences between the dispute is almost irreconcilable.

Above, is a completely useless academic article. It is my interest to write this reasonable nonsense that does not help to be rational and inhuman.

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Http://weibo.com/cicada