The product managers of tomorrow
- Asad Naqvi
- Jul 23, 2019
- 2 min read
Product managers are the glue that bind the many functions that work on a product. They own the decisions about what gets built and also influence every aspect of how it gets built and launched.
In the past, product manager primarily focused on execution and were measured by the on-time delivery of the product. However, the product manager of today are increasingly like mini-CEO of the product. They dawn a number of hats, using scientific methods to make trade-off decisions and ensure alignment between cross functional teams. What’s more, product management is emerging as the new training ground for future tech CEOs. However, this evolution is yet to reach its tipping point so let’s take a look at a few key ways the role might evolve int he next decade.
Customer experience is not everything
For the past two decades, being customer-first has been a competitive advantage which has enabled Netflix to oust Blockbuster, Apple to antiquate Kodak, and Uber to replace taxis. But in the future, being customer-first will no longer be a competitive advantage. In the next few years, all companies will be customer first. No consumer or business user will have any patience whatsoever for a frustrating product or service, especially when they can quickly turn to a competitor.
Data will drive most decisions
You are likely already collecting a wealth of data. Most product managers have terabytes, or even petabytes, of valuable, proprietary information on the customer patterns and market demographics. Product managers of the future will be analytics gurus and less reliant on analysts for basic questions. They will be able to quickly spin up a Hadoop cluster on Amazon Web Services, pull usage data, and analyze it to draw insights. They will be adept at applying machine learning concepts and tools that are specifically designed to aid the product manager decision making.
Product management will become a more strategic role
Product managers are known for doing whatever needs to get done. While this “roll up your sleeves” attitude has made product management a vital role in many organizations, it can come at the expense of being strategic. Over the past few years, we’ve seen product management shift from a highly tactical, project-based role to a more strategic one. As per a survey done by Alpha, 89% of product managers say that they are responsible for setting the roadmap and 80% of product managers reported strategizing on a daily basis.
Develop meaningful relationships
As the role becomes mature and more strategic in nature, modern product managers will have more time to spend on external activities like engaging with customers and the partner ecosystem. Such engagement will not be limited to consumer products. As the consumerization of IT continues, product managers will directly connect with end users rather than extracting feedback through multiple layers of sales and intermediaries.
Crowdsourcing ideas
Great product managers understand the importance of shipping features that provide propositional value to their users. Ideas lead to innovation, and innovation leads to market dominance. As the high tech industry gets more competitive, the product manager would have to be increasingly active in collecting product ideas from colleague and customers. Additionally, prioritizing and trade-off decisions would be harder and require additional experimentation to derive the true value hypothesis.
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