What Is Product Management: Its History, Scope & Essential Skills

It's not just the villains or heroes who have an origin story. Every new product or service that we encounter has its own origin story. And product managers are the storytellers who've seen the product or service go from ideation to development, launch, and ultimately, management. This 'marvel'ous (pun intended) journey from origin to management is what product management is all about. 

In simple words, product management is a business process that covers the entire product lifecycle - from planning a new product/service to its management. It helps bring a product vision to life and is one of the most coveted roles in an organization today. 

What Is Product Management?

Since it was first introduced in 1931, the role of product management has evolved into a core business process. Product managers act as the lynchpin between the key stakeholders in the product development process, including external stakeholders in some cases.

Today, a career in product management is the goal for many engineering or management students. Product management can be a different, independent team in an organization, or it can also be a role within the product development team. Whatever might be the case, there's no denying the fact that it can be a lucrative and enriching career path for most individuals. 

A product manager is never an individual contributor. Product managers usually head product management teams or collaborate with different product teams (marketing, strategic, or engineering teams, etc.) in the course of developing, launching, and managing a product. In certain cases, a product manager may also be handling multiple product lines simultaneously.  

Where It All Began: A Memo

"I am outlining briefly the duties and responsibilities of the brand men."

With these words, marketing executive Neil H. McElroy introduced the idea of product managers to the world. 

Just like the most popular origin stories of comic book villains (and heroes) originate in the US, product management also traces its birth to the USA. In 1931, former US Defense Secretary Neil H. McElroy was working in the marketing department of the consumer goods manufacturer Procter & Gamble.

During his time with the marketing team, McElroy sent out a memo requesting an additional workforce who would work as "brand men". Per the memo, dated May 13, 1931, brand men would be employees focused on the brand management of individual products. As part of their role, the brand men would look after a product's production, packaging, distribution, sales, etc. As per the memo, some of the responsibilities of the brand men were as follows: 

1. Studying the shipment of the brand.
2. Studying the advertising and promotion history of weak brands and uncovering weaknesses. 
3. Creating a plan to tackle the discovered weakness and ensuring the plan is followed through. 
4. Studying the strengths of strong brands and replicating the treatment, if possible.
5. Take responsibility for product positioning ("printed word plans for brands") and other advertising expenditures. 
6. Experiment with product packaging ("wrapper revisions").
7. Regularly meet district managers to discuss territory-wise promotional plans and understand flaws, if any, in sales/promotional strategy. 

The memo, which was three pages long, gave birth to the idea of employees being responsible for individual products. McElroy's vision and capabilities put him on the path to success. 17 years later, in 1948, McElroy was appointed the president of Procter & Gamble. Here's a look at the memo: 

Source: Wikipedia

Today, the aim of product management has gone even beyond the original scope outlined by McElroy. From defining the product strategy to incorporating customer feedback and understanding market demands, product managers are involved every step of the way in the development of a product or service. 

Scope Of Product Management

It's common for individuals to confuse the roles and responsibilities of a product manager with other roles in an organization. However, it's important to understand the scope of product management and how it's different from project management or product development. 

Here's a look at what product management actually includes: 

Market Research:

Market research allows organizations to understand who exactly is their target customer and what are the customer demands. This, in turn, enables them to understand if a product or service is needed by the market. If yes, then there are different aspects of customer requirements (customer pain points, the urgency of the requirement, etc.) to consider. If a market is not present, then organizations need to focus on first developing a market for the product.

To summarize, market research is the first step in understanding the product-market fit. A product manager may work independently, or collaborate with different teams (marketing, research, etc.) to conduct market research and gather relevant data. Market research involves a wide variety of tasks, including but not limited to customer interviews, studying past performances, competitive analysis, mapping industry trends, etc. 

Drafting Product Roadmap:

Once the product manager has clarity on what can make the customers happy, it's time to define the product vision. This is one of the most crucial aspects of a product manager's role - determining the product strategy and developing a roadmap for its execution. This is the stage where the product managers forecast the delivery timelines and define major deliverables at each stage, for different product teams. A product manager may break down product development into smaller steps or different stages, and allocate responsibility for each stage, thus allowing for greater accountability. 

Developing & Testing:

While a product owner is responsible for developing a new product or service, a product manager is also involved in the developing and testing phase. At this stage, they coordinate with developers and product designers to review product demos, evaluate the result of user testing and determine if it meets the requirements. Product managers need to understand the results of product testing and revise the timelines (of product launch) and deliverables if needed.  

Launch:

Product marketing or product launches may look to be a function for the marketing team but it's actually a core area of responsibility for the product manager. A product manager understands the product's journey from conception to execution. Thus, they can provide valuable insights into product positioning i.e. how a product should be marketed and launched in the market and the kind of messaging that it should carry. 

Analyzing Results:

While different teams are responsible for the product at different stages, only product managers or their teams are aware of the product at every stage, from product planning to execution. They're thus best suited to holistically analyze the product's results on a wide range of metrics - from customer experience (taking feedback from customers) to product innovation (how it compares to competition) and overall efficiency.

Note: Product Managers and Internal Customers 

Product managers don't just deal with external customers. At various stages of the product lifecycle, and depending on the type of product, product managers may also gather information (from research to feedback) from internal customers.

Internal customers are employees of the company who may also be customers for a different product - such as sales executives who try a new app built by the tech team. Internal customers can also be the first testers of a new product being launched by the organization.

Who Can Be A Product Manager? 

While there is no one degree for product management, there are several certification courses that interested individuals can undertake to become better product managers. Additionally, listed below are essential product management skills: 

i) Communication Skills

Communicating with different product teams is one of the main areas of responsibility for a product manager. At different stages of a product lifecycle, product managers may be involved in meetings with the relevant teams, from upper management to the technical team. They may also be involved in communicating product plans to external stakeholders. For example, conducting a meeting with the sales team right before launch to ensure they have the complete product knowledge, or regular meetings with the product development team (design and engineering) at the time of development to discuss product aspects basis customer requirements. Thus, it's important that product managers are able to effectively communicate the product vision to the different teams. 

ii) Technical Skills

Unlike a product owner, a product manager does not need in-depth knowledge of how a product is developed. But, product managers should have a basic technical understanding of how a product is developed to be able to communicate a product's vision to the development team, and understand their concerns, if any. A product manager who's clueless about how a product is developed may set unrealistic timelines for the items on the product backlog. In order to create a viable product, it's important that product managers exhibit a basic understanding of product development. 

iii) Business acumen

Just as product managers don't need a deep understanding of a product's technical know-how, they don't necessarily need a degree in business management. But, they do need to exhibit sound business acumen and understand if a new product or service is a viable solution or not. Simply put, product managers need to understand the cost (time and money) associated with developing a new product or service and be able to analyse if it would fetch the desired returns. 

iv) Collaborative Approach

By now, it must be clear that product managers need to collaborate with various business teams across the entire organization. Developing and launching products require a higher level of cross-functionality and interdependence. Thus, it's imperative they adopt a collaborative approach to work and manage both, the expectations and concerns of all teams involved.

v) Strategic Thinking 

Product managers need to have a strategic bent of mind. They're strategizing with different teams and ensuring cohesiveness across different stages of product development. This also allows managers to adopt a novel approach or find a new solution to an old problem. 

vi) Organizational Skills

Product managers need to be highly organized. Metaphorically speaking, they're juggling multiple balls at any given time. If you're someone who walks around with a planner and are prefer organized chaos over disorganized mayhem, then product management is for you. However, if you struggle with sticking to a schedule or feel that organization hampers your creativity, you may find it difficult to be an effective product manager - though exceptions surely exist. 

Product management lies at the intersection of technology, user experience, and business strategy. In other words, it's the thread weaving together innovation, profit, and customer experience in any organization, not just a tech company. 

Starting The Product Manager Journey

Keeping in mind its rising popularity and the dire need for a dedicated course, Unstop introduced an intensive, 12-week-long Product Management Course. Each week, students will study a specific aspect of product management through real-life examples. 

The paid course is taught by industry experts and includes a Capstone project at the end. The Capstone project will allow students to put their knowledge and learnings to the test. The course includes certification. You can find more details here. 

Product Management FAQs

Here's a look at some of the most commonly asked questions about product management: 

1. Is product management the same as project management?

No. Product management involves overseeing the entire product lifecycle from inception to launch, whereas project management refers to overseeing the execution of a project - it could be a project within a business role or an independent project sanctioned by the organization. For example, launching a new app is a part of product management but gathering customer feedback could be a project within the app launch. 

The main difference between product and project managers is that the former is involved with planning and developing product strategies, while the latter works on pre-approved plans or strategies, ensuring things get done.  

2. What kind of hierarchy exists in product management?

Depending on their experience in product management, a team may have a chief product officer and an associate product manager. Organizations may also employ growth product managers or technical product managers, who're aligned to a particular business goal or domain.

3. What's the difference between a product manager and a technical product manager?

First, it's important to understand that technical product manager is not just a role in the tech industry though it may be more common in tech companies. It's a role that exists when a new product needs intensive technical oversight. In such cases, a product manager oversees other parts of product development (logistics, launch, research, marketing, etc.), while a technical product manager oversees product specifications and product design. In such cases, technical product managers collaborate with product development teams and manage the product backlog. 

4. Is there a course I can undertake for product management?

There are several certification courses available for product management. The duration and mode of the course depend on the organization offering the course, but it can take place online and offline. However, there is no dedicated degree program for product management - usually, it's a certification course or a subject within another degree program. 

5. What are some soft skills needed for product management?

There are several skills that come in handy in project management. However, the most important skills are communication skills, strategic thinking, organizational skills, and a collaborative approach. 

6. What's the average salary for a product manager?

The actual compensation for product managers depends on industry trends and individual work experience. However, reports suggest that the average salary for a product manager in India is anywhere between INR 12 lakh to INR 20 lakh. 

We hope that you now have a fair understanding of what product management is all about, how it differs from other roles in an organization, what skills are important to be a product manager, and what a career path in the field may look like. 

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