In the recent years, we have witnessed some truly remarkable and groundbreaking innovations in the area of Product Management Processes, also referred to as PMP. Today, a majority of the software development and Cloud innovation companies rely on a plethora of highly refined engineering skills among product managers who have helped PMP domains break the glass ceiling. The breaking of boundaries has shown what talented people with product management certification can actually achieve with a sheer propensity to develop agile frameworks for superior product engineering in a cost effective manner and better ROI opportunities for the employer.
Let’s understand the nuances in this field. In this article, we will point out some superhuman product management skills that can turn you into a great asset in the PMP domain.
#Skill 1: Engineering and Creativity
Product managers are technically very advanced and they have a piece of great knowledge about the techniques they are going to adopt to create and test any product. You will often hear that mediocre product managers get fired or sidelined from a product due to numerous reasons. The most common reason for this ditching is their lack of creativity and not engineering skills. Creativity not only helps build a great product but also saves you from a “failure” at a critical juncture. Creative product managers are known to find the best and next to best solutions for any problem that may come up during the PMP, which using creativity and analytical skills can be solved using troubleshooting skills. So, if you want to be a successful PM in the digital era, get your engineering and creative juices mixed for a great concoction.
# Skill 2: Think like a Boss
You will often hear this in the product development cycle – “Product Manager is the Co-CEO of the product during the development and upgrade stages.” The companies that live up to this motto are known to develop highly advanced and far more superior products compared to any available in the market. A classic example of co-CEO methodology is seen in the PMP of Apple products. The journey to becoming a Product Manager at a legendary company like Apple, Inc. is once in a lifetime opportunity, and the milestone events invariably start with tackling Apple’s strategically designed interview processes at the time of selection and hiring. 1 out of 50 candidates is selected during the final interview round, and that too if the individual shows a sound CEO qualities, which means answering strategic questions on leadership, team management, accountability, failure and success metrics, and above all, code of conduct during PMP. If you think like a CEO, you will end up working among some really great product managers in the industry.
# Skill 3: Marketing and Sales acumen
In an organization, it’s very hard to find and train marketing and sales executives who can understand how the product works and help customers improve their life and scope of work. In order to help marketing and sales teams do their job in a better manner, product managers are often asked to take up trainers’ roles. In some cases, particularly in lean technology teams, the product managers double up as Marketing and Sales professionals, not just answering questions about the product during prospecting and selling stages but also at after sales and services stages. Empathetic product managers help their companies and customers grow faster. A great product manager would invariably be a good sales leader.
#Skill 4: Ability to motivate
The Product Managers are a different breed altogether!
When you see and meet a product manager, you can easily distinguish the professional from others in the league by virtue of their unique behavioral and interpersonal skills. These professionals have a very distinct and matured outlook towards the changing digital ecosystem, and more often than not, if you ask them, “how do you see the world changing to adopt the digital future?”, their eyes are going to light up and sparkle with joy on face — reason, it’s the product managers and their genius work that are helping the world create that future! These product managers are not only developing their own skills but also encouraging others, particularly young technology natives, and women who can code, to take up challenging work. These youngsters and women who can code see product management certification as the stepping stone to success where the world is 100% digitalized and evolved without signs of any human or machine bias.
Why is the digital world good for everyone?
Methodologically, PMP remains a fast shifting domain and the recent events pertaining to the use of Big Data intelligence, data analytics, AI, Robotics, and Automation have shown why product management certification should focus on digital transformation journeys as much as creating digital twin applications for 2022.
