Project Management- Definition, Steps and Strategy

What is Product Management?

What is Product Management is a question that comes up very often, even from the most experienced business people.

Product Management is the Art of Building and Managing The managing or the management part is where the fun all begins. The practice basically involves strategically driving products from ideation or concept to launching the product in the market and everything that comes in between these two steps, with the addition of support, enhancements and maintenance post launch.

Source- What is Product Management | 280 Group

Which are the Key Aims of Product Management?

The 3 Key aims of product management are:

• Build once, sell many times: This gets the economies of scale that result in higher profitability

• Being an expert on the market as well as the product: this makes sure you build products that customers will buy

• Lead within the business with a balanced view across all the different aspects of the product.

Which are the steps to development of a product?

But most product professionals spend the majority of their time focused on the following:

• Market Research:

Researching to gain expertise about the company’s market, user personas, and competitors

• Developing Strategy: 

Shaping the industry knowledge into a high-level strategic plan for their product—including goals and objectives, a broad- overview of the product itself, and maybe a rough timeline. Learn more about What is product?

• Communicating Plans: 

Developing a working strategic plan using a product roadmap and presenting it to key stakeholders across the organization: executives, investors, development teams, etc. Ongoing communication across their cross-functional teams throughout the development process and beyond.

• Coordinating Development: Assuming they have received a green light to move forward with their product’s strategic plan, coordinating with the relevant teams—product marketing, development, etc.—to begin executing the plan.

• Acting on Feedback and Data Analysis: Finally, after building, testing, and introducing the product to the marketplace, learning via data analysis and soliciting direct feedback from users, what works, what doesn’t, and what to add. Working with the relevant teams to incorporate this feedback into future iterations of the product.

      Source- Product Development Process

The Various Product Management Roles

Product management is done differently from one business to the next. It depends on the size of your company, whether you work with software, physical products, or services, and if you’re selling to businesses or consumers. You may have only internal customers, or be into selling customized solutions, or managing a service – and still be called a Product Manager.

There are lots of different job titles that focus on product-related activities. Also, Various Product Management roles

Three of the most common are Product Manager, Product Owner, and Product Marketing Manager. And, to make things even more confusing, these product roles often overlap and are implemented differently from one company to the next.

Ultimately, our answer to the “What is Product Management?” question is that the role is all about strategy. First, product managers develop the product’s strategy and persuasively communicate it. Then they ensure all decisions concerning development, marketing, etc., reflect and support the strategy.

Project Manager

Project managers (PMs) are in charge of planning, organizing, and supervising the execution of specific projects for an organization while ensuring that they are completed on time, within budget, and within scope.

In essence, a qualified project manager possesses the temperament, abilities, and experience required for the job. At least three years of experience in a relevant function, the ability to communicate, formal training, and a PMP certification are all common prerequisites.

   Source- Product Focus

Project Owner

The Project Owner is in charge of determining the project's scope, as well as the "What?" and "Why?" questions. They are in charge of gathering all of a product's requirements. The Project Manager is in charge of ensuring that the project is completed on schedule and within budget. 

The project owner is usually, but not always, the leader of the business unit that will receive the product, and he or she is responsible for the project's success. In collaboration with the sponsor, the project owner may function as a "champion" for the project.

Product Marketing Manager

Product marketing managers are in charge of informing potential buyers and internal teams on the "why," "what," and "when" of what is built. They use their product knowledge, as well as their knowledge of the market, consumers, and competitors, to succinctly convey the product's distinct value.

Ramandeep Singh Bakshi Product Management Specialist