Ms. Nana, I heard that you were a product manager before, and I want to ask if it's hard to be a product manager.

I want to give it a try, but I don't know if I can do it.

I'm not sure if I can do it. I was in sales before, and I want to be a product manager, so I don't know if I have a chance.

I've been a product manager for 5 years now, and I'm getting tired; I'm not working hard, I'm not carrying a lot of pots, I'm often tearing each other apart with my developers, and I'm feeling like there's less and less hope for the future; what do you think about the development of product managers?

In the face of these problems, Zhihu, Renren and various platforms, the answer is also a variety of opinions; some newcomers say, first enroll in a training course to learn, after learning, probably know what's going on. Some people say that the product and technology tear each other is the norm, too normal; at the same time, it is recommended to go to the development of large companies, which is to prevent the elimination of the feasible road. Some people say that product managers have a lot of money, so they have to do a lot of things to get used to it.

In the face of product people, whether it's a newcomer to the product, an old man, or a college student; I would like to use my personal experience as a product manager and combine my career planning techniques and psychology to sort out how the individual matches up with the product manager's position; how to find the right track for their own development; and what are the possibilities for more individual development?

On this issue, we need to start from these information dimensions:

1, understand their own personality traits and personal expectations.

2. Understand what the product manager job requirements are.

3, to understand what the future development path of the product manager.

4. What is the growth strategy for individual development.

1, understand their own qualities and personal expectations

Let's start by asking a few questions:

Do you understand your own character strengths, abilities? Looking back on past achievements and highlights, can you summarize your character strengths and abilities? On a deeper level, what kind of person do you want to be? What are the role models in the workplace?

The reason for asking such questions is to get you out of the complexity of the environment; to have time to focus on yourself. Think about it, is the current state of work and life what you want? Is there a gap between the person you were ambitious to become when you first graduated from college and now? Understanding yourself is a very important part of career development; if you are hesitating in front of the screen at the moment, you can leave a message. Currently open a green channel for product people, I will help you to analyze and understand yourself in depth.

If you compare a person to a car,

Character preference is like the type of car; you need to know that you are born in a saloon car, or a business car, or a family car.

Interests are like the gas pedal; without them, how can you drive the field and go far?

The ability to accumulate, the advantage is like the engine of the car; let you understand how the degree of firepower is.

And personal values are like the direction in which the car is headed, whether it's for a field trip, a business meeting, or the morning rush hour.

2, understand how the product manager job characteristics

Again, what are the characteristics of the product manager job.

1) The product manager is a low threshold, but the growth of the post is very high

There are two dimensions of the low threshold; one, the post is not mandatory requirements must be which professional graduates; what certificates to get on the job; very tolerant of people from all walks of life; and the second, everyone can say that he or she is a product manager; from the implementation of the product to the CEO to call himself or herself a product manager.

Perhaps it is because of the low barrier to entry, wave after wave of partners like moths to the flame, did not do anything to prepare, do not understand the position and the future of the time into this sea of people.

2) The work of the product manager needs to balance rationality and sensibility

In the product manager to do demand analysis, competitive research, data analysis, prioritization scheduling, product management, more need to rational brain support; you need to be more logical, organized, more objective, efficient. Product design, insight into human nature, develop strategies that require you to be more emotional, with inspiration and creativity more; at the same time also need to be invisible and unknowable customer experience considerations.

3) The work of the product manager needs to be balanced, there is persistence and compromise

The product manager can be said to be the soul of a product, to be responsible for the entire product lifecycle; it is necessary to have their own ideas and insights. But at the same time, the reality is that product managers do not have real power, need to balance resources, consider the team's comprehensive strength, the industry's competitive environment, stage goals and other factors. In different situations to make the right trade-offs, but also product people often encounter problems.

4) Communication and coordination is the main work of the product manager

With the development department to discuss the realization of technology, the feasibility of the demand; with the marketing and sales team to discuss the strategy and tactics, as well as to enhance the influence of the product's strategy; with the customer department to communicate the details; and the customer to use the process of collecting the problem; all departments need to communicate with the product manager, exchange. How to communicate and coordinate with different departments is a very interesting thing. Because any department is not a subordinate department of the product department, each other is a cooperative relationship; at the same time, these brother departments need to use the hand of the product to create performance and realize their own KPI. efficient communication, the ability to influence others, you give yourself a few points?

5) Product managers first need to continue to learn, enhance the continuous iteration of their

Product managers in the Internet riverbed was born; and the Internet is a significant feature of the fast, efficient iteration; that as a product manager need to have continuous learning, refine their thinking and awareness, and constantly improve their overall ability to continue to iterate themselves.

6) The product manager is a "backstabber" but also has a high sense of significance and value

The product is delayed on line, scolded first is the product manager; the product on line has a major bug, down the line back to the furnace; the product manager has to be in the forefront, but also to deal with the aftermath; The "backstabber" is a term of endearment for product people. At the same time, when the product continues to fall open upgrades; customer feedback is very helpful, and even their own responsible for the product has millions of users in use, will still have a great sense of honor and sense of value.

These are the characteristics of a generic product manager position, at this time to return to the previous screen, to think of themselves as a good comparison of what style of car, how much horsepower, how to accelerate the throttle, driving in which road. These combined with the product manager traits, you will give yourself a few points?

The product manager is responsible for the product from the customer/user perspective, can be divided into 2B products and 2C products. 2B refers to the product service to enterprise customers; 2C refers to the product service to consumers. Due to the different product attributes and industries, the ability requirements, development paths, and growth strategies of product managers will be very different.

The product manager development path can be roughly divided into six directions:

1, a field of product experts

Plow a vertical field, become a product expert. For example, in the field of video conferencing, cloud services, logistics, etc.

2, product trainer

Product general ability to cultivate to a certain extent, to become a product manager trainer; to help newcomers grow.

3, Product Leader

All the way from the product assistant - & gt; product manager - & gt; senior product manager - & gt; product director;

One side of the refinement of product planning, product design professional ability; one side of the refinement of management

The product manager is a senior product manager and a product director.

It's a two-pronged approach, with product expertise and product team management skills.

The more you grow up, the more the corresponding business strategy, operation strategy, insight into the market, the more you can put you on the fast track.

4, managers

All the way from the product assistant - > product manager - > senior product manager - > product director - > VP - > managers

Usually such a manager also needs to have a deep understanding of the technical aspects and can be responsible for the management of the product + technical team.

It's a 3-pronged approach, with product capability, technical capability, and management capability; the focus is different at different stages.

5, shift

Product managers can shift to the front and back end of the product line, such as pre-sales service (product consultant), after-sales service (customer service representative), product operations, data analysis, sales, planning, project manager and other positions; these positions are product people more cross-posts; and in the early found the need to shift or relatively easy.

6, entrepreneurs

Becoming an entrepreneur according to personal preferences is also a very common development path; for example, video creators, newcomer training, etc.

6, entrepreneurs

According to the personal preferences of entrepreneurs is also very common.

7, freelance

According to personal resources, advantages, personal development needs, to become a freelancer. Such as freelance writers, columnists, business consultants.

Everyone's growth path is dynamic, based on personal characteristics, the current stage, resources, expectations and other factors; it is possible to form their own core competitiveness of the development strategy.

Partners who want to lead their peers need to focus on personal growth paths and development strategies.

Here through a few cases to share with you, how to find the right development strategy

Case 1

Xiaoli (a pseudonym) cheerful and enthusiastic character; graduated about 3 years; by chance to a central enterprise information department to do the front-end development; the beginning of the work is quite happy, the intensity of the work is not too strong, and there is time for their own; 3 years later, she found that it is very difficult to find their own place in the environment; the work of a central enterprise to do front-end development. After 3 years, she realized that it was hard for her to find her own place in this environment; the work content was simple and repetitive, unchanging; she was skeptical about the in-depth cultivation of technology and was not sure if she could do it well; at the same time, when she exchanged ideas and cooperated with other people, she would feel very happy and interesting. So she began to think about whether this was the work and life she wanted. And then found me for career counseling.

Together, we analyzed her character traits, inner pursuits and expectations; she has rich, diversified, social and flexible character traits; she is enthusiastic, cheerful and positive, which contributes to people's happiness; she is good at maintaining relationships and pursues independence and freedom. Not good at self-management.

In the in-depth communication, combined with her personal multi-faceted factors, we together explore the feasible, matching high degree of career development direction, such as product, planning, market development, business, consultative sales and other directions. After job research, pre-analysis and other links, she finally locked the target on the product manager position, and wanted to further deepen the understanding. Together we sorted out her suitable product development strategy and development path.

She has her own technology development foundation and related experience, and the degree of difficulty in switching to products is moderate; in this track, we suggest that she avoid typical T-type leaders; and consider entering product-driven enterprises rather than technology-driven enterprises. Recognize your strengths and weaknesses from a personality preference perspective; and learn how to effectively communicate and collaborate with T-type partners.

In recent communications, she said that the position she is currently in has challenges for her, as well as moments that she can manage and feel a sense of accomplishment. Compared to before, there is much less internal entanglement and consumption. There is a clear sense of direction.

Case 2

Xiaohua (a pseudonym) has seven years of work experience in the workplace; the university is a computer science major; after graduation, it is very smooth to do a java program developer; although the past company is not big, it is also considered to be all the way to grow over, laying the foundation of their own technology. The purpose of the consulting is, at present, more hesitant to continue to develop in the technical track or turn product manager.

Combined with the past work experience combing, she has come all the way to the achievements of the honor event, personal expectations, career phantom tour and other multi-dimensional; we discussed the positioning of the 5 years later and what is the goal? She prefers to be an independent freelancer.

What paths are currently available to her to help her get there?

Option 1, continue to refine your technical skills, gain expertise in technical areas, and gradually move to freelancing.

Option 2: After moving to the product track, focus on the pros and cons, the gap to her goals, whether it will help her achieve her freelance goals, and what are the feasible paths, and what do she need to give up and what do she need to gain in the process.

At the same time, no program can ignore the impact of a woman's marriage and parenthood plans on her career development at this age.

The same product positions, the same college majors, different people climb to the top of their careers and feel very different. Some people are frustrated and hesitant to return because they can't see the path ahead, while others are "obsessively crawling in a field they're not good at" because of limiting beliefs and other influences.

Friends in front of the screen, do you have similar experiences? Do you also encounter confusion and bewilderment in career development? Welcome to leave a message, exchange.

As a consultant, I can help you:

1, analyze the current career development encountered in what confusion, personal growth issues;

2, accompanied by you to find the direction of the lost; to explore the path to achieve the goal;

3, consulting the process of letting you regain the confidence and courage;

4, from the choice of action recommendations, to explore suitable for your Career development strategy;