𝗔 “𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿” 𝗶𝘀 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀! I remember when I first got the title in a little start-up, I’m pretty much sure someone called me a “Product” and not a “Project” Manager by mistake and the title somehow stuck. As I found this interesting, I started exploring the position and decided to grow to become a true Product Manager! Two years, many learnings and confusing interviews later, I reached my goal and became a Product Owner in an international company. During that time and towards today, I saw the position being formalized and clarified, however at the same time different subdivisions emerged. Throughout the years I managed to identify the following aspects of Product Managers:
𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 - Classical generalist, pure focus on Product. Responsible for choosing the priorities of what to change in the Product. Sometimes also known as “Business Product Manager, which did really confuse me when I bumped into this phrase a few weeks back. This type of Product Manager has a few subvariants:
▶️ 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘖𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳 - Ideally, a PM in Agile Scrum. Practically, often a junior PM or some joke on the intended set of responsibilities. It all depends on what the employer pictures a Product Owner as.
▶️ 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 - A generalist PM focused on growing the Product's user base. This can be the same or confused with:
▶️▶️ 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 - A growth PM that manages the growth by Marketing means (ads) rather than changes in the Product itself. This position might also be known as Performance Marketing Manager.
▶️ 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 - A merge between a Product and Project Manager - so on top of the regular PM complexity, this person is also responsible for timely update delivery and progress reporting. Nothing to envy, this is literally two positions in one with not enough time to do either with high quality and full dedication.
𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 - Specialized PM, which holds Technical expert knowledge. Responsible for choosing the priorities of what to change in the Product and how to implement it. This position may include being a formal leader of the team and being directly responsible for the solutions and progress. So a merge of Product Manager, Project Manager and Engineering Manager, but this time for good reasons. Being a tech expert helps to combine those roles and choose where the person should focus one’s energy. Here are the subvariants I am aware of:
....well, they are outside this LinkedIn post due to the character count limit. Read the rest of the post! Link in the comments section :) 🔽
P.S. If you would like to become a PM, there is a summer sale on my courses :)
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#productmanagement #productexperience #productmanagers
CEO – First Sport Media
2yCongrats Ana! 🎉