How to Build your Career in Product Management?

An MBA degree offers diverse career opportunities and with time, new job profiles are being added each day.

One such profession that recently shot into the limelight is that of a Product Manager. And why not? The job profile of a Product Manager is highly attractive, offering job security and handsome salaries. Trained and skilled professionals are in high demand in India and abroad, and multinational corporates are always on the lookout for experts in this field.

Product Managers are visionaries who are responsible for product development, right from its conceptualisation to introduction, and success in the consumer market. They are trained to identify a customers needs and aftermarket research, create the right product or service.

So, lets discuss everything about Product Management and how to become a successful Product Manager. What does a Product Manager do? What special skills should he possess? And most importantly, what qualification should he have?

What is Product Management?

Product Management is a process that focuses on developing an existing product in the market or introducing a new one. One of the most important activities of Product Management is to create and document a product strategy. Along with this, the overall success of a product depends on the Product Management team.

Various studies affirm that effective Product Management can increase a companys profit by 34.2%.

Qualification and Skills of a Product Manager

Here is a detailed strategy on how you can build your career in Product Management.

Earning an MBA degree in Marketing from a reputed institution is the first step to becoming a Product Manager. This is because a Product Manager must possess a mix of personal and technical skills.

An MBA in Marketing is a two-year postgraduate degree that teaches students about marketing, sales, consumer trends, etc. The course discusses everything about market research, product management, consumer behaviour, strategic selling, and much more. These topics prove very beneficial in enhancing the skills of aspirants and helping them carve a successful career out of product management.

Shoolini University based in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, offers a cutting-edge program in MBA Marketing. Students learn to apply key marketing theories, frameworks, and tools to solve marketing problems and apply marketing strategies. After in-depth academic and hands-on training, scholars can exercise critical judgement through engagement and reflection with existing marketing literature and new developments in the marketing environment.

An MBA in Marketing from Shoolini University equips candidates to face all challenges in the global professional landscape and emerge as leaders in their chosen field. Shoolini University boasts of top rankings and its School of Business Management is among the Top 65 Business Schools of India (NIRF).

Have more questions about MBA in marketing? Check out this blog: What is MBA in Marketing? Is it worth it?

The Unique Highlights of MBA in Marketing at Shoolini are:

• Summer internships to prepare students for placements.  
• Stanford-based SPRINT program to develop soft skills to thrive in a competitive workplace.
• Faculty comprises professionals from MNCs and large Indian corporates.
• Tours to industries and institutions. 
• Extensive use of modern teaching methodologies
• Communication Effectiveness Module offers Best in Class techniques on communication skills.

Though some skills may come naturally to you, others require a deep knowledge of the subject or work experience. Lets discuss some skills that product managers must possess.

Personal Skills

Communication

Communication skill is about both writing and talking. A product manager should be able to convey his ideas and messages in a simpler way. It is necessary for him to make designers and product developers understand what he wants them to create.

Creativity

Along with being a good communicator, it is important to be creative. This skill will help a product manager to think about new ways to resolve customers’ pain points and develop effective decision-making.

Highly organised

As a product manager, it is necessary for you to be highly organised. Moreover, along with being organised, it is a must for a product manager to be systematic. Product managers are behind managing and organising the information given by customers and product owners.

Technical Skills

Product Release Management

As a product manager, your work is to manage and oversee product releases. Also, you have to make sure that designers, developers, and other managers are able to understand the end goal of the new item.

That is why this skill is important.

Product Lifecycle Utilisation

Being a product manager, it is mandatory for you to know how to use the product lifecycle to your advantage. This helps you and the team you work with to plan each stage of the upcoming product. This includes its introduction, maturity, growth, etc.

Product Design Knowledge

If you do not have any knowledge about product design, you cannot produce viable product strategies for your designers and developers. Having a good knowledge of product design will help the team come out with a realistic plan. This saves time during the planning phase.

Value Proposition Creation

A product manager is also responsible for developing value propositions. This helps him explain to designers, team members, and developers how the new product will meet the needs of the customers.

Product Strategy Development

Product managers work on product strategies as well. These product strategies describe who your target market is, who are your buyer personas, and how you can achieve success with your latest product.

These are some of the basic personal and technical skills that a product manager must possess.

In addition, other skills include:

Marketing

Having deep knowledge about marketing can help product managers design and provide products that people find useful. This will also help them advertise their companys product efficiently.

Storytelling

Product managers research a lot about customers’ persona. Due to this they know even more about their customers than their sales team does. This skill will help them to explain about the customers and their needs to the company.

Making a career in product management is interesting as product managers come from all sorts of backgrounds. Due to this, there are a variety of product managers.

Role of a Product Manager

A product manager is responsible for identifying the needs of a customer. In addition, he should also meet the larger business objectives of the product.

Product managers are in charge of putting product management principles into action. This consists of:

• Rolling out of innovative ideas and placing them for feature and product development
• Functioning with designing and engineering teams to bring the product to life
• Making sure that the product meets the needs of the target customer

Types of Product Managers

Customer-Focused Product Managers

Customer-Focused product managers come with a background in sales engineering and customer support. They are dedicated to their product and how those products best serve customers.

Business-Focused Product Managers

Business-Focused product managers come with background knowledge in sales or sales management. These managers are focused on how they can develop, fund, and improve the quality of the product.

Along with this, they focus on how the business is impacted. Business-Focused product managers have detailed knowledge about the products place in the market.

Design-Focused Product Managers

These product managers have detailed background knowledge in product development and product design. Their focus is on the products functionality, design, and user experience.

Engineering/ Technology-Focused Product Managers

The engineering or technology-focused product managers have an IT or software engineering background. These managers try to sort all kinds of engineering-related problems.

Conclusion

The definition of product management is different for every company. This is because each company has different products. Due to the differentiation in products, their way of functioning, and their organisational structure is unique.

Besides, the aim of every product manager remains the same. It is to boost the product sales and the business of the company. If you have already decided to take product management as a career, then it is necessary for you to possess the above-mentioned skills.

Also, MBA in marketing is the only degree that will help you acquire the skills completely. So, now you know how to build your career in product management, so get cracking, push your boundaries, and reach the top of your potential.