This is How You Can Successfully Transition to Product Management

Changing jobs can be stressful and challenging. Career transitions make things even more complicated. Doing both and moving into Product Management takes the situation to a whole different level.

Product Management is a distinct profession that is unique in a variety of ways. There isn't a university degree that prepares you for it, like Computer Science does if you want to become a software engineer for example. There are majors like Business Administration that cover many subjects which are useful in the day-to-day life of a product manager. However, the skill set required to be successful in this profession goes beyond that.

I've had the opportunity to interview, hire, train, and mentor many aspiring product managers over the course of my career. One of the main challenges people face at first, especially if they are transitioning from a more operationally driven role, is that they have to prioritize and control their own time and make the most out of it without anyone else dictating what's the best approach to do so. Additionally, there is a steep learning curve that's not easy to overcome if you don't receive proper training and/or your motivation is not strong enough.

What is Product Management?

To get started, you need to understand what Product Management is and what's the job of the product manager. There are many definitions you can find online and in various books, but the one I tend to use the most is from Wikipedia:

"Product management?is the business process of planning, developing, launching, and managing a product or service. It includes the entire lifecycle of a product, from ideation to development to?go to market.?Product managers?are responsible for ensuring that a product meets the needs of its target market and contributes to the business strategy while managing a product or products at all stages of the?product lifecycle."

This definition has many nuances, and each company will have its own interpretation, so be mindful of that.

Is Product Management right for me?

This is a tough question. Product Management isn't for everyone. It's a strategic role that requires a lot of self-organization and discipline, constant learning, empathy, and good communication skills among others. Creating new products and features is often a challenging endeavor that starts from a single mission statement and a blank piece of paper.?

On the other hand, Product Management is very rewarding when you finally see your product being used. It also offers a great career path that can lead all the way to senior management and C-level roles.

To simplify, if you like building things and you enjoy being your own boss when it comes to your day-to-day activities, then Product Management will likely be a good fit for you.

What's my personal journey been?

I've been working in Tech for the past 17 years, spending my first 4 years as a quality assurance (QA) engineer. This experience helped me get a unique perspective on how the product lifecycle works, both from a waterfall and agile perspective. The QA role required a lot of analysis, so I was already familiar with how requirements gathering is done. Once I got exposure to Product Management, which wasn't so popular back then, I immediately got hooked and I knew that it was the right path for me.

Fast forward 10+ years, I realized that like many other fellow product people from those days, I've gone through a self-thought route of getting up to speed with my craft. There weren't that many, if at all, training materials, online courses, and academies where you can get access to invaluable knowledge right away. This only shows that it's entirely possible to make the switch and be successful at it, as long as you're willing to put in the work.?

7 Tips to help you be successful in your transition

So how should you approach this career switch in order for it to be a success? I've listed 7 tips below that have helped me get where I am today.

Go deeper into the product management theory?

This shouldn't come as a surprise, as the most important part of your switch to being a product manager is to know what it means to be one. There are many good courses available on the most common training platforms such as LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, and Skillshare. There are also tons of free learning materials online to read or watch on YouTube. My recommendation would be to pick a course with a high enough rating, which will be an investment, but it's likely to get you up to speed faster and save you a lot of time going through uncategorized materials.

Know your consumer

A product manager's main goal is to act as a consumer's advocate. In order to be effective in that role, you need to know the granular details of how your chosen industry operates and what are the key consumer behaviors that trigger them to buy or use a particular product. That's a knowledge pool that requires time and effort to build, but it's a must if you want to be successful.

Build a knowledge pool

Picking up from the previous point, building a knowledge pool is a key factor for your transition into Product Management and then further developing into the role. There are many different sources of information you can get access to, which I've grouped as follows:

1. Common knowledge websites like Wikipedia and YouTube

Ideal to get you started on a given topic.

2. Industry-dedicated news websites, publications, podcasts, company and industry experts' blog posts, social media channels, and forums

The next step is to subscribe to sources that specialize in your industry of choice. That way you will get direct access to valuable news and trends as they happen.

3. Paid research publications

In case you need to perform a deeper analysis and the information you are seeking is not publicly available or hard to get access to, going for paid publications may save you a lot of time and effort.

Build relationships

One of the key ingredients of being a great product manager is having the ability to build and maintain strong relationships with consumers, partners, stakeholders, engineering teams, and fellow product managers. You will often need to interact and coordinate activities with people with different professional and cultural backgrounds, so having the flexibility and emotional intelligence required to do so is instrumental. It requires patience and consistency, but they will be well-rewarded.

A good starting point is to identify the most important people based on your exact role and how the company is structured. The list should include your manager (ideally you should get along well), your peers, and key stakeholders from the departments you most frequently interact with. Additionally, one thing that has helped me a lot and I strongly encourage is to get exposure to senior leadership. There are many ways you can achieve that, so in case you are interested in this topic, you can check my article on how "1-on-1 Conversations Can Be a Powerful Tool When Used Wisely".

Time management

One of the crucial product management skills that many people neglect and don't invest enough time into is time management. Especially if you are transitioning from a more operational role, acquiring good time management skills can help you immensely in your career transformation journey.

As part of this, the ability to say "no" in a constructive and reasoned way can help you free time for the things that are important towards achieving your goals.

You can check my article "Take Control of Your Busy Schedule By Relentlessly Prioritizing", where I cover this topic in more detail.

Learn from your mistakes?

Nobody is immune to making mistakes. The sooner you realize that the better. As a matter of fact, mistakes are the main fuel that drives progress. This is of course, if we don't repeat one and the same failures over and over again.

Don't be afraid to receive negative feedback. Be humble and work to turn it around to your advantage.

Find a mentor

If there is one thing that I wish I had done sooner in my career, that would be to find a suitable mentor. That relationship provided me with the missing piece of the puzzle for my senior management promotion.

Having someone who can guide and root for you from the sidelines is priceless. As with many other things, finding a good match for a mentor is not an easy task, but once done, it can transform your career.

I'm planning on writing a separate article on this topic, as I find it really fascinating. Stay tuned.

Closing words

As shared above, making a career switch to Product Management is not straightforward and will require you to prepare well, and then continuously invest in your development once you land your first role. Having that said, if you are serious about it, Product Management can open a lot of doors and provide you with many opportunities.

Be bold and make the move!