Product manager vs project manager how to#

Self-management: As a point person for multiple cross-functional groups, product managers need to have a good sense of time management and how to prioritize around tight deadlines.

Self-awareness: Product managers need to stay objective during the development process so that their biases, opinions, and preferences won’t impact the final product.

Product managers must know how to negotiate, resolve conflict, and encourage teamwork, while balancing budgets and resources.

Relationship management: Relationship skills are vital for balancing communication between multiple departments, stakeholders and with various business leaders.

They also need to understand how to “empathize with customers” and to read between the lines to address any potential hiccups from the start.

Emotional intelligence (EQ): Product managers need a solid EQ to manage customer relationships and to ensure they have all the right requirements heading into a new project.

While business and IT skills are an important part of the product manager role, according to Julia Austin, who teaches a course on product management at Harvard University, a great product manager also needs the following soft skills: These steps bring structure to product management but also outline key skills product managers must have to succeed: They must be empathetic problem-solvers capable of defining problems, viewing those problems from multiple perspectives, and brainstorming myriad solutions for prototyping and testing. The five key steps to Design Thinking Process are to empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test.

Another key skill for product managers is knowledge of the Design Thinking Process, an approach that applies a practical lens to figuring out how problems can be solved via design. You will also need the ability to prioritize and make quick decisions. You will need to know how to drive conversations, when to say no, and how to keep everyone involved on task and on the right trajectory. Understanding potential challenges, risks, and hurdlesĬommunication is one of the most important skills for this role.Reviewing and correcting implementation strategies.Creating business plans for new products.Meeting with customers and clients to determine product requirements.They need the ability to understand several perspectives in the development process, including the needs of the user, capabilities of the developers, the vision of the stakeholders, and where the product stands in the market from a competitive standpoint. Whether it’s an internal or external product, product managers are responsible for understanding everyone’s needs and expectations and then translating that across departments. Product managers must lean on their communication and collaboration skills in making tough decisions and getting everyone on their teams on the same page when it comes to finding the right balance between user experience, technology, and business goals. They must also have a deep understanding of technology and business in order to know which products are worth developing and how they’ll directly impact the business.

To succeed in their role, product managers must understand the market, audience, and demand for a particular software, hardware, or service product.

Product manager vs project manager