In recent years, becoming a product manager has turned into an interesting endeavour for the public eye. Understanding the customer's problem(s), finding areas of tension in a product, and developing a winning solution, are sought-after skills in today's work market.
In our interview with Soumeya Benghanem, we discussed why Product Management (PM) is so important and how can we start and improve our journey within this fascinating yet challenging role.
1. What does it take to become a product manager?
First and foremost, interest. You need a sense of curiosity and strong personal communication to dive into the problems customers face.
Creativity is also a strong point to consider. Imagining and pursuing what is possible with a specific product is crucial in creating exciting experiences for consumers.
Nevertheless, building a support system around you to accomplish the solutions you envision is the most important part. From engineers, designers to customer support, they require a foundation of understanding, safety, and accountability to solve customers' problems and properly build a healthy product.
2. How to build effective and high-performing teams?
It all comes down to the psychological safety of your team. Do they feel safe to try out new things, express their honest opinion and keep each other accountable?
If not, there are a few things to consider:
- understand your team's motivation, what drives them as a collective, and even more importantly, individually.
- have regular 1on1s to offer support and create a culture of engagement, risk-taking, and accountability.
- establish regular feedback sessions where your team members have the opportunity to truly and honestly express how they feel about their peers and the work accomplished.
3. A team is important, yet you are the driver.
Make sure you understand yourself the most! What makes you creative, what drives your imagination and what you need to improve.
If you are not happy with something, learn how to express it healthily—accumulating things that don't make you satisfied with your work runs over your team.
And remember, there is no written playbook of how the role should or shouldn't work.
Use your creativity and the tools available to shape yourself as the product manager you wish to become.
See you next time!
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