Product management is a procedure that involves the creation as well as the distribution of a product. Between the creation and distribution phases, there are elements like planning for the product, production of the product, and pre-distribution tasks based on marketing strategies for the product. Developing, strategising, planning, verifying, forecasting, launching, and marketing a product is known as the product management process. These are the stages in the lifecycle of a product. Irrespective of the product’s size, without the management of procedures involved in creating and distributing a product, there is a high chance that the business will face failure.
The objective of product management is to develop and distribute products that are both qualitatively and quantitatively better. The product’s launch reflects if the aim is achieved or not as in the product launching phase; businesses get the customer feedback and know if the product is profitable. To learn about such exciting concepts, a product management course is recommended. After the course is completed, you can apply for a job that can earn you the title of being a product manager.
Here are some responsibilities of a product manager.
| Responsibility | Description |
| Setting strategy | Conveying the business value and strategy to team members to work efficiently with the required strategy and meet the deadlines according to the scheduled timeline. |
| Defining releases | Making the planned strategies a reality in a given timeline. Delivering the implementation of strategy with the help of marketing, sales, and customer support teams. |
| Evaluating ideas | Collection, development, and curation of different ideas effectively increase the product’s qualitative and quantitative value. |
| Priorities features | Determining the value of new features and ranking them to decide whether to implement them or not. |
A product management professional needs to have a particular set of skills. Some of those skills are listed below:
- Communication skills
- Technical expertise
- Business skills
- Research skills
- Analytical skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Marketing skills
- Delegation skills
- Strategic thinking
- Prioritisation skills
Tools for product management:
- User tracking and analysis tools – These tools tell the businesses how the customer is receiving their product and whether it is doing well in the market or not.
- Roadmapping software – This software helps the teams have a visually appealing plan of strategies and tactics that lead a product from the creation phase to the distribution phase.
- Customer survey tools – Customer feedback is a great way to decide if the plan and strategies for product management are successful or not. Customer survey tools help businesses get customer feedback quickly.
- Presentation software – For optimised data representation.
- Project management tools
- Feature flagging software
- Flowcharting tools
- Idea capture and collaboration tools.
Product management is booming as online businesses as e-commerce is rising day by day. This means the demand for product management professionals is also high. To catch this wave that can lead you to a successful career opportunity, you can consider attending a product management course.
The courses in product management usually have three stages.
- In the first stage, they teach students about the introductory concepts related to product management. Then they teach them vast concepts and more in-depth topics in product management.
- In the second stage, candidates mostly have a hands-on project to work with. This gives them a real-life experience to implement the knowledge they have gained in the course.
- In the third and the final stage of the course, there is generally an examination, and then the certification process occurs. The fee structure and duration of the course varies with different institutions.
