Product management

There’s no lack of “What is product management?” articles out there. Sure, Mini-CEOs and Venn diagrams make for an interesting read. But they have never helped me work better.

So, I have my own mental model of product management:

1. Enable your team to make good decisions on their own.
2. Focus on what needs to happen to get a better product out there.

Which translates to the following responsibilities:

1. Create a decision support system with clear product vision and principles
2. Work on customer research, solution proposals, project delivery and/or product adoption. Be picky, as you don’t have time for everything!

Decision support is something no product team can work effectively without. It gives direction, guidance and safety for decision making. Better decisions mean better execution. Taking care of this is an ongoing job for a product manager.

Execution is the actual day-to-day of product development. A product manager needs to prioritise what matters the most right now. This changes over time, and is highly contextual.

For me, the biggest benefit of this model is how it helps with decision making. I can see if I’m setting others up for success and focusing on the right things.

Once I have the answers, I already know what to do next.

ps. If you want to read more on how others think about product management, here are some of the more actionable reads:

• Sachin Rechi: 10 top deliverables of product managers
  Sachin Rekhi breaks product management down to four dimensions: Vision, Strategy, Design and Execution. He explains clearly the deliverables expected from a PM in each of the dimensions.
• Ian McAllister: Top 1% product managers
  Even if the title is elitist, this is a good summary of the traits one can always improve on. Most of them revolve around clear communication, decision making and execution.