How important exactly is product management in a modern day-to-day business? Why are Product Managers such a crucial part of a functioning business? Let’s cut to the chase: here’s what you need to know about the importance of product management.
Product Management: A Quick History
Product Management has a rich history. It stems from Neil H. McElroy in 1931: his 800-word memo involved separating specializations within a business or organization amongst various persons. This tackled primarily the marketing department.
However, with the advancement of technology, Product Managers began delving further and further into the technological field. This leads us to modern-day Product Managers who require specializations in a number of fields, such as
- UX (User Experience)
- Business
- Technology
Today’s Product Manager
Today, Product Managers have a hand in a business’s success across a number of departments. While product management most definitely affects a company’s technological development, some Product Managers don’t have a business or technological background. Today, Product Managers come from a wide range of backgrounds. What makes a person with such a diverse background, required in a large business?
Product Managers are essentially the backbone for a company or business. Not only do they monitor every team, ensuring tasks are completed and people are collaborating effectively, but they also oversee the development of products. The Product Manager keeps everything on track, from the initialization of a product to the release of the product. They also present the products to the stakeholders and executives.
There’s a magnitude of how many different tasks and variables that a Product Manager could be responsible for. This is why product management appeals to a wide range of people across different backgrounds: specialized skills may help in one aspect of the job, but broad-scale experience in leadership and communication is just as important as technological know-how.
Listed here are a few of the important tasks a Product Manager handles in their role:
- Creating strategic plans and strategies moving forwards in the life of a product. For example, they oversee the creation of product roadmaps. They then communicate ideas and strategies with the internal teams, such as the engineering team, through discussions such as the involvement of features, and how to prioritize UX (User Experience).
- Product Managers monitor the release of the products and ensure that the launch goes safely and smoothly.
- Product Managers communicate with the executives and the stakeholders of a product, explaining the benefits and the pros of a product.
The Importance of Product Management
Product Managers take on large assets of a company in the form of the product being initiated. They have a hand in the success of a product at every level, from the conception of the idea through its development and release.
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