With Make in India today making rapid strides, startups have rapidly mushroomed across the country. They have been functioning with the sole aim of creating new products/finding newer-advanced solutions to solve at least one layer of issues that plague end users. In this regard, smart products require smarter Product Managers to ensure success.
Product Management today has rapidly evolved; but is also misunderstood from the point of view of execution. Hence, to dispel myths/misunderstandings surrounding product managers; students of business, management, along with that of budding product managers could check out key aspects that would make an effective product manager:
- Defining the function of product teams – Before delving into the actual design of products and execution, a product manager clearly defines the roles/functional areas of his/her team such that the entire team could focus on building specific functionality and thereby ensure that the product is totally ready as per the standards set.
- Understand end users – While analyzing the product actuals, a product manager should also analyze the end users and their characteristics, along with potential problems that might crop up, and the overall market.
- Design user experience – After analyzing the end users, user experiences could be designed so as to make the product as user friendly as possible, rather than as a product with dated features.
- Communicate with prospective customers – After designing user experiences, a product manager should then communicate with prospective end users so as to beta test the product before its official launch.
- Post-development updates – Once the product is developed, a product manager should then ensure to deliver consistent value to the products in the form of incremental updates. The best illustration here is the progress from a plain skateboard to a car – the underlying incremental updates are there for everyone to see.
In tandem with the above, if you are a budding product manager, you should ensure that you have the requisite skill sets to stand out from competition:
- Product Management framework
- Public Speaking
- Technical Skills
- Negotiation skills
- UX Skills
- Conflict Management skills
- Design Thinking
- Teamwork
- Time Management Skills
- Leading with authority.
These skillsets/traits are sought-after by companies engaged in product development today. These skills along with the right blend of smartness and an analytical frame of mind should make you potentially smart product managers irrespective of whether you are a working professional or an entrepreneur – contributing to “Making in India”.
