How to become a Product Manager? An Easy 5 Step Guide

How to become a Product Manager Introduction

In an organization, the manager role is one of the key roles. Especially product manager is the highly prioritized role for which many aspirants want to be in that position as passionately. But, becoming a good project manager is not so easy. An individual who has great commitment and proceeds in a structured way will reach his goal and can make his dream come true. Let us see how to become a product manager and his role and responsibilities.

A product manager is a person who deals with all the activities related to the products of a company. He should monitor from the idea-making step to the execution step. These product managers were very significant in the organization. They strive more for the growth and expansion of an organization by introducing new products and policies than compared to the developers. Now we will see the product management roles and responsibilities. 

1. PM Roles and Responsibility
2. Career
3. Qualification
4. How to become a PM
5. How to become a product manager with no experience

1. PM Roles and Responsibility

While understanding how to become a product manager, it is also important to get aware of the role and responsibilities of a product manager. But the roles and responsibilities may not be static. They may change from product to product and company to company as well. Some of the common responsibilities are,

• Researching: the product manager should research the product and the given idea thoroughly. He is also supposed to understand the customer’s views and requirements.
• Planning: to become a good product manager, he has to plan for the entire product cycle in such a way that it should meet all the requirements of customers, goals of the organization, financial resources, and other resources too.
• Forecasting: the product manager also can forecast and estimate the output after completing the cycle.
• Executing or implementing: the major responsibility of the product manager is to execute the plan step by step by collaborating work and delegating the resources. Decentralizing power also takes a great part here.

2. Career

It is not quite encouraging to be in a single position for a long time in the organization. So to climb the career ladder from down to up, along with the knowledge of how to be a good product manager, it is also necessary to learn how the career growth will be for a product manager. So we’ll have a quick look at the hierarchy of different designations concerning product managers as follows-

• Assistant Product Manager (Optional)
• Associate Product Manager
• Product Manager
• Senior Product Manager
• Director of Product
• Vice President of Product
• Chief Product Officer etc according to the company.

The elbow designations are commonly followed by most organizations. The name and the responsibilities of each role may vary slightly from company to company. Also, there is no restriction that all the rules should be on the career ladder of product managers in every company. Based on the type, size, the necessity of the company, the management can design a set of designations.

3. Qualification 

The Product manager qualifications seemed to be simple and general but the fact is they should be qualified concerning knowledge from both college and the Market. The following are some of the product manager qualifications preferred by several organizations.

• Should have a bachelor’s degree with an aggregate percentage.
• A Master’s degree is also appreciable and preferable.
• Should have n years of experience in the marketing department.
• Should have experience in defining, planning, and executing a product.
• Should be good at oral and written communication skills.
• Flexibility to travel at any time.
• Good team building and analytical skills etc.

These are some of the qualifications of a good product manager to sustain in the corporate world. This criterion is also applicable to moving ahead in the product manager career path.

4. How to become a PM

It is not easy to become a great product manager. Before understanding how to become a great product manager, one will see certain skills required for the product manager. They are,

• Customer Rapport:- The perfect product manager should maintain a friendly rapper with the customers. He should understand the requirements of the customers.
• Enthusiastic traveller:- Restricted to a single place can’t achieve the goals. So the product manager should be willing to travel based on the requirement.
• Good Instructor:- Being in the role of product manager, he has to mentor his team members. It might be either technical knowledge or any other also.
• Adaptability:- As we know that market is unpredictable, the manager should be flexible to mould himself according to the situation.
• Transparency:- Like the product manager plays a key role in the organization, he has to bridge the gap between management and the customers. So he should be very transparent in all kinds of activities. This avoids unnecessary Miss understandings and mistakes.

These are some of the qualities that should be owned by a good product manager. Also one should keep in mind that success is given by hard work. Dedication, sincerity, etc certain personal qualities also play a vital role in the process of how to become a product manager.

5. How to become a product manager with no experience

By following a few tips and techniques, the individual can learn, How to become a product manager with no experience easily. They are,

• One should be like a research alcoholic. He should try to research as deeply as he can. He should understand the company, product, it’s his friends and weaknesses, customers’ reviews, prices, targeted audience, critics, etc.
• The aspirants who want to become product managers should have prior knowledge of the product-related technology also.
• The person should understand and analyze the market also he should talk to the customers and try to catch their pulse.
• The individual also needs to forecast the outcomes after initiating a new product and should try to match them with the goals of the organization.
• It is also appreciable if the person can able to provide innovative products and can try them in the market by taking initiation.

These are the essential tips for an individual to know how to become a product manager with no experience. These tips may help the individual through the interviews easily.

Conclusion

Hence the product manager is a person who takes care of all the product-related activities and issues from the initial stage to the final stage. An effective product manager plays a predominant role in an organization. Also, the skills, responsibilities, and qualities of a product manager can’t be restricted to a page or more. As we discussed earlier, he should possess some qualities like adaptability, spontaneousness, creativity, innovation, transparency, team building, etc.  Simply we can say that the individual who can act smartly will have more chances to become a good product manager.

Interested to learn all about Product Management from the best minds in the industry? Check out our Product Management Course. This 6-month-long program takes place online through live instructor-led sessions. It is the only program in India that offers the ‘Bring Your Own Product (BYOP)’ feature so that learners can build their product idea into a full-blown product, and go through an entire Product Development lifecycle. Not only this, but this is the only program in India with a curriculum that conforms to the 5i Framework. Post completion, learners receive a joint certification from the Indian Institute of Management, Indore, and Jigsaw Academy.