How to be a good Product Manager

Jeff Lash says, “if you wan tot be a good product manager, do everything yourself.”  As a product manager you have the final say on pretty much everything.  You are the one answering questions from salespeople, writing press releases, and pouring over details with others.  Being a product manager takes a lot of your time, but that is the name of the game.

One way to be a good product manager is to delegate as many activities as you can to others.  You have a team, and as a team member, more then that an effective team member, you give product knowledge and responsibility and some decision-making responsibilities to other team members.  By doing this you, as the product manager, can focus on the strategic role of product management.

When it comes to being a product manager, it’s hard for you to balance the “strategic and tactical priorities of product manager.”  Just like is any other job the day-to-day tasks can take over.  Consider the metaphor of focusing on the trees instead of the forest.  Well a product manager sometimes focuses on a single “piece of bark.”

Being more strategic and less tactical is sometimes easier said then done for a product manager.  So it comes down to a product manager being a strategic role.  Everybody wants you to do everything.

The truth is, the product manager, “can and should be giving the necessary direction, context, and guidance to allow other people to accomplish these tasks themselves.”  Product managers need to teach their team to be self-sufficient in many ways. 

You have to be careful what you say yes to.  Ask yourself, is it forward thinking and strategic.  So it comes down to thinking about your role, as the product manager, as being strategic and focused.