What does a typical day for a Product Manager look like?

What Does A Typical Day For A Product Manager Look Like?

In this Video we will see that, a day in the life of Lenworth Gordon, Senior Product Manager requires not only hardwork but multiple role handling. As a product manager, he needs to be alert about influential market demands and be multi- tasking at the same time. Here in this video, We will see Lenworth Gordon give us an insight into his professional outlook and how he manages the diversified departments with his creative perception be it in boosting sales or acing the client meetings.

Product Management Lenworth Gordon Senior Product Manager

Product Manager jobs are highly in demand and require a certain skill and qualification to excel in it. To envision and build marketable products is challenging work. It requires a lot of team effort and input from other teams in the company as well. A full work day, packed with new challenges and learning on a daily basis is the norm, for a Product Manager. A successful Product Manager is one who meets all these criteria.

Product Manager job description mainly encompasses a detail-oriented capability to know how and what to build. Problem solving capability, is a key function of engineers. Therefore, it is a natural progression when a person armed with an engineering degree, aspires to become a Product Manager.

Role of a Product Manager

Accountability and responsibility of every aspect of the product, is the prime role of a Product Manager. He is responsible for

Deciding and defining the features to be built
Study the need of and decide why a product should be built
When to release the product in the market. Strategic timing of the product release is of vital importance
To do all of the above, the Product manager needs to understand the market dynamics very well
Know what his competitors in the same field are doing
Study and understand customer needs and customer persona
Have a clear vision of the product, the capacity to sell that vision to everyone in the organization and to translate that vision into a product roadmap
Deliver the actual product
Have a marketing plan in place to sell the end product to the consumer

While these are the primary responsibilities of the Product Manager of any company, the role does differ from company to company. Also, the Product Manager is aided by experts like project managers, business analysts and other marketing and sales personnel, to ensure the successful execution of his functions.

The role of a Product Manager also undergoes transformation based on whether he is developing a product for the B2B or B2C segment of the market. Different product roles within an organization are also different.

Typical Day of a Product Manager

Variety is the spice of a Product Manager’s day. His typical day is always interesting and entails interaction with different people and teams in the organization. Product related brainstorming and troubleshooting is an integral part of a regular workday.

Team Meetings: The Product Manager and his team meet and share updates on a daily basis. Updates are on work done, on work to be done and any blockers anticipated. In these meetings the Product Manager most likely provides additional inputs or more context that is relevant to the working of the team.
Nurture Work Relationships: Have one on one meetings with their other counterparts like stakeholders, engineering managers, partners and other product managers. These meetings and interactions enable the entire body working on a product to be in sync, share relevant updates, strategize and prioritize tactical issues. This builds a healthy work atmosphere and promotes knowledge sharing, benefitting and inspiring all.
Interacting with Tech Counterparts and Customers: Meeting with the tech people and participating in iteration planning. Updating and handling of customers and dealing with their queries. Depending on customer urgency and request, to shuffle and prioritize product management, keeping all other verticals in mind.
Strategic Planning and Problem Solving: Most product related issues are tactical in nature and require strategic handling keeping a long-term outlook. Time has to be blocked on the Product Manager’s calendar to devote time for this kind of planning and problem-solving activity.
Writing of Reports: A written account or documentation, which gives an overview of the work in hand has to be maintained by the Product Manager. The steps and procedure adopted to execute the work, the problems faced, measures adopted to overcome the same – are all documented and circulated to keep updated every person associated with work going on.

Fun Aspect of Product Manager Role

There are many things which make work fun. This again depends on the individual. Generally, the fun aspect of a Product Manager career lies in

Variety – There are multiple initiatives going on at any point of time. The range of tasks to be done is wide and new problems keep surfacing and require to be solved. The work is never repetitive and there is a constant learning happening on the job.
Exposure to multiple job roles within the purview of product management. This is tiring but exhilarating.
Seeing your product vision being shaped and slowly come to life. When the product goes live in the market it is a high like no other.
Interacting and working with experienced, expert and smart persons is an added bonus. To learn from the best and have them as colleagues, makes for an interesting and fun work atmosphere.

Product Management career encompasses a wide range of responsibilities and jobs. As a Product Manager one learns, executes and bring to life products that will ease the life of mankind.