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I get what you mean, Product Management is different for every organization. One thing that I’ve found helpful is to connect with a colleague that is doing it well in that org and try to learn what they do. Like at my old startup A/Cs were what the team relied on so I partnered with the PM that wrote great clear concise A/Cs to figure out his thought process. The new firm I joined it’s more about detailed descriptions
I find the pace far too slow and yet chaotic..
There are 40 product managers at my organisation.. and there’s few experts of their domain, because as you said, there’s little on the job training
I’m still new to the product role so I’m in the honeymoon phase. But, for some guidance I’ve really enjoyed the Product Thinking Podcast!
I think it really depends on the company. When I moved into PM, I had a great senior on the team who took me under his wing and mentored me. If I'd been thrown directly into the fire without this type of support, I probably wouldn't have made it.
This! I took my first product role 2.5 years ago and just put in my resignation as I take on a new product role at a smaller org for higher pay. First role had issues because of a blend of very old tech product and leadership not willing to make changes. But also, I was told I’d be mentored and there would be support, but it was really a sink or swim situation with no guidance or even past documentation/work done. I’ve done ok, but it’s been stressful.
I was thinking of making the same exact transition and had these same exact concerns, thanks for asking OP!
I don't if it's a good thing or bad thing that we have the same concerns:-)
I’m PM a for 4+yrs now I worked for multinationals, startup, small company and now consultancy. I’m in London, work for small consultancy and I don’t regret the move to consulting, at the moment I work more on the product strategy size which I wanted to make sure I can improve my knowledge on versus the focus on implementation I gain the past few years.
I also see how focus consultancy with Product managers is perceived by client who buy the expertise it’s for me much more fulfilling to be seen as an asset/expert rather than dealing with terrible old fashion stakeholders or executing solely what they want.
I had a role where the product function was not empowered and it make us PMs just delivery managers which I hated.
I found the problem in most of my previous role were the hierarchy and senior stakeholders that could understand the value a product manager could bring or sometime just had PMs to tick a box and didn’t know what to do with it.
Some organizations confuse product owner & manager, you say you’re transitioning…were you PO for the product you’re now going to be managing? Are there clear role differences? It is a transition and can be daunting as you work to get your legs under you, but I’ve found the role very rewarding esp if you have support. PMs are afforded a degree of (informed) creativity that’s really unique.
This webinar by Marty Cagan is super on point about this topic. I recommend watching this :) couldn't open this on mobile so I recommend opening the link on desktop.https://www.productboard.com/empowering-teams-beyond-features-ondemand-webinar/?mkt_tok=MTI4LUpIUi04NzEAAAGFwD8HGKrQO0zWRrjZExcwB-FR_LJyBsSFB3T8fikUXNYmbdYi3z9VPNX4Ep43H0ZeHTigQwdBpA-Y_l1N1C_OkLvGgIRGbILcKKtTkRLcHE8#play-video
I am still fairly new to this role so I am still learning. So far I am happy. It's chaotic but it's a positive kind of chaos.
It definitely depends on the company and team. When I first took a product manager role 2.5 years ago I loved it. Now we have all new management and I’m bored, frustrated with leadership inconsistencies and overall unmotivated. I really like product management in general so I’m hoping to be able to move to a different team with whether strategy/vision in place in the near future.
I don’t know where you live, but there are offline communities in NYC. Check out meetup.com. Tons of online communities, and maybe you can get your company to pay for outside coaching. The problem you describe is solvable with creativity and effort.
Bowl Leader
I really like product and personally don't want to shy away from the implementation side of the work, which I find a lot of PMs don't value. I think a really strong PM can balance doing both strategy and implementation (because what's the value in a strategy without understanding how you achieve it). Also strong PM orgs enable PMs to be able to do both which is tough to find.
Not sad nor happy. I guess I'm just doing this for the sake of paying the bills. Should I take the same career change as you? I'm kind of considering it now.